Ukino Palmeiras Village

I am extremely disappointed with the level of hospitality and customer service we received during our recent stay at Ukino Palmeiras Village Family Hotel & Resort. Sadly, this experience was nothing like the wonderful stay we had when we visited six years ago. We returned because of the fantastic memories we had from our previous visit, expecting the same high standards of service, but unfortunately, we were let down at a crucial moment.

Due to the nature of my work, I politely requested a room change. I was even willing to give up our sea view room if it meant being moved closer to our family. This wasn’t about getting an upgrade or asking for anything extra—it was simply about being together to make the most of our holiday and to allow me to properly document and review my experience at the hotel. I made it clear that I was happy to accept a room of a lower category if that helped make the move possible.

Instead of being met with empathy or professionalism, I was referred to the supervisor, Alina.

The interaction with Alina was one of the most disappointing parts of our stay. Rather than listening to my concerns or attempting to find a solution, she came across as rude, dismissive, and completely uninterested in helping. What shocked me most was when she told me to “go and knock on the doors of the other guests and ask if they would like to swap rooms.” I genuinely couldn’t believe this was the response from someone in a supervisory position. Asking a paying guest to solve the hotel’s room allocation issues themselves is completely inappropriate, embarrassing, and far below the level of customer service I would expect from a family resort that prides itself on hospitality.

I explained the reason behind my request and made it clear that I wasn’t asking for special treatment. I also explained that the purpose of my trip was to create an honest review of my experience and encourage others to visit based on the hospitality and service the hotel provides. Having had such a fantastic experience six years ago, I was looking forward to sharing another positive review. Instead, from the very first day, I found myself experiencing customer service that has completely changed my perception of how guest concerns are handled.

Hospitality is about making guests feel welcome, valued, and listened to. Even if a room change wasn’t possible, a simple explanation, a genuine apology, or an effort to explore alternative options would have shown that the hotel cared about its guests. Unfortunately, none of that happened. Instead, my concerns were dismissed, leaving me feeling like my custom didn’t matter.

That being said, I do want to be fair. Apart from my interaction with the supervisor, our overall stay was enjoyable. The rest of the staff we encountered were pleasant, and we enjoyed many aspects of the hotel, including the facilities and the time spent with our family. This review is not a reflection of every member of staff but rather of how one poor interaction with a supervisor can overshadow what was otherwise a nice holiday.

What makes this even more upsetting is that Ukino Palmeiras Village Family Hotel & Resort once set a very high standard. Six years ago, our stay was exceptional. The staff were friendly, welcoming, and genuinely cared about making our visit enjoyable. That positive experience is exactly why we chose to return. Sadly, this visit has shown a significant decline in the level of customer care from those responsible for dealing with guest concerns.

I sincerely hope the management of Ukino Palmeiras Village Family Hotel & Resort takes this feedback seriously, investigates how this situation was handled, and provides further customer service training where necessary. Every guest deserves to be treated with respect, professionalism, and courtesy, especially when raising a genuine request.

Unfortunately, because of the way this situation was handled, I cannot recommend the hotel as highly as I once would have. It is incredibly disappointing to write this because we had such an amazing stay here six years ago, which is why we chose to return. I genuinely hope the hotel can return to the excellent standards it once had, as with the right leadership and customer care it has the potential to provide a fantastic holiday experience.

This hotel is wonderful. Very big with different sections and loads for the kids to do. Food was lovely with different theme nights so you knew what to expect so could make a choice to go or eat out. Staff very friendly rooms cleaned immaculate every day. Didn’t see a lot of the night entertainment as kids were tired by then but what we did see was good. Would definitely recommend this hotel.

The hotel is about 50 mins transfer from Faro Airport. Check in was quick and easy and the room was recently refurbished so this was a really nice surprise. The room can be cleaned everyday to a very good standard if needed. However the noise at night is horrendous. I feel for families with young children as you can hear every door, every exist, every conversation from people getting in later than yourself, so bare that in mind. The other thing I would point out is they charge for you to use the safe in the room! We found this absurd!

The main Restaurant is good, has plenty of seating but does get extremely busy at peak times. We went to the other buffet restaurant down by the kids pool but they didn’t have anywhere near the same choice of foods. They change the dinner theme everyday and there is some really nice dishes, but with any all inclusive it can get repetitive at breakfast and lunch.

The pools are great, good size and lots for the kids to do all day. The slides were all open and ques weren’t too bad for the little ones to wait, only 5 minutes roughly. All pools were a tad cold to be honest but that’s only our opinion. Plenty of sun loungers but be prepared to get in line at 850am if you want a decent spot and an umbrella for shade. They do some fun daytime activities like water polo and the foam party was great fun!

Beach is gorgeous but no shade and very busy. You can hire 2 sunbeds and a parasol for the day for €22. There’s a lovely beach next door if you go through the tunnel cave to the right. More space on the beach but no facilities like the main beach.

The entertainment at the hotel is pretty poor all round. The entertainment team try their best but it’s not up to standard of many other AI hotels we’ve experienced. They start too late imo for a family with kids. The kids show at 830pm is also very poor. Repetitive and nothing beyond some dancing and rubbish games. They really need to look at the whole show package as they could do so much more to add value.

I saw this mentioned before on a review and now it makes sense. They try to charge for so many things on top of your stay. Most of it isn’t worth it or overpriced. Here is a short list of some of the additional things you can spend your money on - room safe, professional photos, hotel tax, hair braiding, popcorn, candy floss, arcades, vr, bouncy castle, trampolines, high ropes, funfair games, giant water balls,

We left the hotel one night to go on the Land train which cost €5 each for a return, but getting a return is a little confusing where and when. The local town is definitely worth a visit as it has lots of shops, restaurants, and bars.

Overall it was a nice family holiday but I won’t be rushing back anytime soon.