Solaqua Hotel Albufeira — Hotel in Albufeira

The hotel room is spacious and comfortable. However, the welcoming area is dull, and the indoor breakfast options are limited. Additionally, the website does not clearly declare the extra charges. |As a family of four, we were disappointed to discover that we had to pay additional fees for basic excesses like towels, the safe, and parking. While the website mentions that the tourist tax is included, the reality is that only breakfast was covered. This lack of transparency left us feeling fooled.||The limited number of staff results in slow service that does not meet expectations. The food lacks variety, and even at the bar, the prices do not reflect the quality offered.|At breakfast, the English breakfast selection is quite limited, which is disappointing. One of the eggs served had clearly been left out for too long, as the inside had darkened (definitely not fresh), there were frustrating delays in replenishing utensils and food, making it seem like cost-cutting was prioritised over guest satisfaction.|The service is so minimal that even the dishes for the paid meals at the restaurant are served on cardboard plates.|Our first meal was disappointing: the boloñesa pasta was dry and lacked sauce, and the chicken burger tasted nothing like chicken. ||The hairdryer provided in the room is outdated and stops functioning after just one minute of use. On our first night, we inquired about a spare, and the staff assured us they would deliver one to our room. Unfortunately, the next day we were informed that no replacement was available, and kept the promise of “someone would have a look for us” Additionally, there was no iron in the room. When we approached reception to ask for assistance, the staff responded with indifference, making us feel as though our request was an inconvenience, and offered no helpful solutions.||The outdoor area feels like it lacks a lack of lively atmosphere. Although diving, ball games, inflatables, and food are restricted in the pool area, without any staff supervision, guests often disregard these rules. |There is a pool table available; however, keep in mind that using it requires an additional fee. (of course not mentioned on the website ) |For the indoor pool, swimming caps are mandatory, but they are not supplied on-site (if they are available, they typically come with an extra charge).||The hotel has great potential, about a 12 to 15-minute walk from Praia dos Alemães, with taxi services available in under 2 minutes. A trip to Old Town costs only €5 to €6. There’s a shopping conveniently located next to the hotel. However, I personally wouldn’t choose to return to this hotel. The pricing doesn’t align with the level of service and facilities provided, which eventually leaves room for...

Just back from a week stay here. This hotel has good and bad points as follows:

Good:

Location 👍- Located within a 10 minute walk of both the chilled old town and the mad new town / strip.

Cleanliness 👍- Rooms are clean and tidy and serviced daily with fresh towels etc. as you’d expect.

Pool area 👍- Also clean and tidy with plenty of sun loungers (however I was there in September so not sure what this is like during the peak summer season). Please also note that there is NO Lifeguard at the pool whatsoever so if that’s something you would prefer this is not the hotel for you. It didn’t bother me but I didn’t have children with me so felt that’s noteworthy.

Bad:

Noise 👎- I can’t stress enough how noisy this hotel is. If you value your sleep this is not the hotel for you. We stayed on floor zero where the reception is located and each night there was a very loud screaming / screeching sound coming from the floor above us which kept us awake all night. Not sure if it was from plumbing or air con system or what it came from but it was loud and constant for the entire night. Once the sun comes up you’re then greeted with the noise of bin trucks at 5am every day too. Then from around 7am and throughout the entire day all you can hear are noisy wheeled trolleys on hard tiled floors beside you and from the floors above. The cleaners also drag beds and room furniture around the hard tiled floors all day too. It’s non stop noise of some sort which was infuriating for me and I’ve come home from my holiday more tired than when I left. If I could give minus stars for this I would.

Staff / Service 👎 - Although the reception staff are all very polite and friendly it is not the same at the pool bar / restaurant. The bar was clearly understaffed and was always busy with long queues to order food or drinks. When you do get to the top of the queue if you ask for any drink such as a cocktail that takes a little time to make you get side eye and dirty looks from one of the barmen (not all of them just one older man who clearly wasn’t enjoying his job because it was so busy). So much so I stopped going to the bar if he was there and might serve me.

Breakfast Buffet 👎- If you are going to stay at this hotel I suggest not availing of the breakfast option. It’s basic at best and COLD every day. The hot plates used for the buffet do not keep the food hot at all. If you like cold eggs and beans go for it but there are lots of restaurants nearby that are open for breakfast which serve hot food.

Again I was here in September so it wasn’t as expensive as peak summer but yet I still feel it wasn’t worth the money I paid. I love Albufeira and will definitely return but not to this hotel...

Would give it a 0 if possible. My friend and I stayed at this hotel, we had a scary encounter in the middle of the night, when an unfamiliar man came into our room. As two females this for obvious reasons is very distressing and traumatising as the situation could have gone a different way. We had to scream for this man to leave our room before he decided to leave and we were unaware as how long he had been stood there for or as to how he entered. We immediately contacted the receptionist who basically shrugged when we told him about the incident. To ensure our safety we had to beg to be moved to a different floor and room so this same stranger won’t attempt this again which again was another massive inconvenience for us. The following morning we went to the reception again to report to a different member of staff who spoke better English as there was a language barrier with the overnight receptionist. He said he will discuss the situation with the manager who will also be in the hotel from the afternoon onwards and we can also speak to her. In the afternoon after being further inconvenienced we had to go back down to the reception to speak to this manager. Without making this review too long both the manager and a male member of staff took our complaint with a pinch of salt and implied it may have been our fault this man had access to our room as we may not have locked the door behind us or we may have flirted with this UNKNOWN man previously. They said in accordance with Portuguese Law they have no rights to review CCTV footage unless we raise a Police report. This conversation was really distressing for my friend and I and brought my friend to tears. The male member of staff told her that he doesn’t understand why she’s crying and also proceeded to laugh in her face. Overall they did nothing to make us feel safe and essentially blamed us for the incident. As two females it is extremely horrifying and distressing that this happened to us and there was nothing the hotel could do to stop this from happening again. Zero customer service and would not recommend unless you’re looking to feel unsafe and have peeping Toms enter your room at 1:00am then this is the...