Jupiter Albufeira Hotel - Family & Fun — Hotel in Albufeira

Just returned from a weeks stay during the Scottish schools October holidays. Booked into a family suite with a pool view. Room was first class. Spacious and bright with a massive shower and double sinks. “Mini bar” was empty and stayed that way. Balcony was very large but wasted with a really small garden patio set of a circular table and 2 chairs. Being a family room you would have expected more than just two chairs on the balcony. Especially in a supposed 5 star hotel. The hotel itself is very big, it has recently went through a full renovation and name change and this is apparent throughout. From immaculate carpets on every floor, all ten, to bright white walls and brand new furniture and large lcd tv’s. The lift system is unbelievable. 5 lifts, 2 of which are glass fronted and provide a brilliant view of the area. These are also the only ones that go to the very bottom and to the spa. It’s a weird feeling as you go past the lobby and the lift sinks into the ground and the view disappears. The lifts work on a computerised system that selects the quickest lift for you based on the floor you are on and where you are going etc. the pool area and flumes are first class. The large main pool has a swim up pool bar and the flumes are nearby laid out on Astro turf grass. There’s also a great little kids pool and on the upper level next to the pizza bar is a further 2 pools. These are more adult based and very quiet. No dive bombing here. You will see from my photos the rest of the amenities around the hotel. It’s certainly the biggest hotel in the area and is very imposing from his lofty position looking down over the much louder strip area.

There are some negatives. Some are small but a few are big and disappointing given the 5 star rating. *seagulls around the pool area and their love of an afternoon swim in the pool. *the disgusting soft drinks served to all inclusive guests. snappy cola and similar branded lemon and lime fizzy drink and An orange drink. No Coca Cola or Fanta or Sprite. Even worse I asked to purchase 2 cans of Red Bull at the bar and was charged €10! Scandalous. A 5 star hotel shouldn’t be serving cheap nasty snappy cola. *long queues for dinner in the buffet restaurant which sometimes took up to 40 minutes to clear only to receive really poor options with regards to the food served. Every meal included some elements of the previous meal. Once the Chicken curry served was raw and pink and made my wife sick. The beef Wellington was so raw no one wanted it. I like medium rare. This was closer to raw. The salads were always good and the soup was nice but by far the best thing was the fresh pizza from the stone baked oven. The poor chef couldn’t make them quick enough. I love pizza and have had it all around the world. But this was by far the best pizza I’ve had. No joke. My son loved it. *Staff- on the whole they were brilliant. Big shout out to the restaurant staff. The guys in there worked non stop and brought drinks and cleared plates like champions. Always got a smile and a hello from them. The “bosses” in the suits never made eye contact or interacted with guests and the chefs behind the counters in the buffet area were sometimes rude and rarely smiled or acknowledged anyone.

On the whole I was impressed with the majority of the hotel. I personally don’t think it’s a 5 star hotel given the quality of food and the poor drinks on offer. The seagulls in the pool is a problem and the staff (bosses) friendliness could be better. That aside I would definitely return to the area but maybe a different...

My wife and I stayed here for a week with our 2 1/2 year old son, and we all really enjoyed our stay. The large pool area is great with a small splash pool and slides aimed at younger kinds and the larger slides for older kids (and adults!). There is a pool bar and music and entertainment throughout the day. Also a quieter pool at the front of the hotel which we didn’t need to go to.||There is a Roof top bar which was a great space to wind down after dinner and enjoy the sunset.||We both went to spa, and had good, fairly priced massage, sauna was good but steam room too cold.||Free and regular shuttle bus service to the beach/old town was also really handy||The main restaurant which was a buffet was fine for what we needed for a relatively quick meal with a toddler. There were a good selection of nice salads and deserts. Hot meals were ok but room for improvement here, as some of the other reviews pick up on. Probably at the standard of 3 to 4 star hotel, rather than 5.||My main gripe with the restaurant, which is quite specific as I have a nut allergy, was the small signs in front of each dish telling you what allergens were in the meal. This is normally great for me as it saves me having to ask the chefs. However, almost everything said it had peanuts and nuts in it, even down to the French fries and plain steamed broccoli. I did speak to one of chefs about this and they said it may be due to traces and they could prepare something separately for me. I decided to just ignore the signs and use my judgment as to what I could eat or not otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to eat anything. So the result of these allergy signs were actually more dangerous than not having signs at all. Suggestion would be to only put the allergens that are actually in the food and have a comment saying ‘may contain traces of… and speak to the chef for more info”||Staff and other guests were all really friendly, most of guests were in a similar situation with young kids. Probably wouldn’t recommend the hotel to those travelling without kids - but if you are then this is a great hotel to entertain young ones.||All in all an excellent and memorable week...

Overall, we are not leaving with an absolute disappointment, but this hotel (so called a '5 star' hotel) leaves much much to be desired and I feel like we were tricked to believe it was 5 star at the time of booking on Jet2 Holidays. The only bit I was happy was the kids pool areas, the splash pool with slides etc and kids entertainment in general. Overall cleanliness was also very good. Our room was on floor 2, overlooking literally the roof of the restaurant by the pool - a bit disappointing. The main bed is OK, but the second bed (sofa bed) is very uncomfortable to sleep on. Families with kids should keep this inconvenience in mind, it becomes very bothering after a few nights. The balcony door lock was disfunctional, but when we reported it a technician came next day to fix it. A strange smell was hanging in the air all the time, I assume due to the restaurant area not being too far. Room safe is free to use, that is positive. The food is not on par with what I have experienced at multiple other 4 star establishments let alone 5 star. Food is extremely monotonous, to be bored with in just 2 days, drinks not varied, desserts too much cream-based. I pretty much ate the same stuff every day! Breakfast is poor with the only item I liked eating being the cooked eggs and small pastries. Lifts to floors are beyond horrible, many times I had to wait 5 or 6 turns before an empty lift arrived. I had to even carry my daughter's buggy from the stairs due to frustration. Families with a carry cot or buggy, beware and look elsewhere! Adults entertainment was just mediocre, but kids seemed to engage with the energetic animators providing bespoke dance performances for them. Day time pool side activities, though, are next to inexistent. We will definitely not be coming back to Jupiter hotel, just not value for money and overrated thanks to its deceptive 5...