Hotel Vila Galé Lagos — Hotel in Lagos

We have just returned from a lovely family holiday (with 2 kids aged 4 and 6) and after being slightly concerned at some of the mixed reviews on here, I feel I have to give the perspective from a young family with children (Scottish). We have previously stayed in a 4 star plus hotel further away but were determined to return to Lagos (we holidayed there pre-children). We were overall delighted with our experience at Vila Gale and will return!||Positives - where do I begin! The hotel is situated in a stunning location, pool areas are beautiful, it feels like you are nowhere near a busy town. The tourist train is a great way to get about and stops just outside, and taxis can be called from reception and cost about 6 /8 euros to go into town or back at night (so easy to get into town). Lagos itself is brilliant and great for families, we went on boat trips, went to the zoo, went to Zoomarine etc. There is lovely vegetation / flowers all surrounding the pools. Our kids especially loved the kids pool and slides, the snack bar menu and drinks were fab, and staff lovely. We were all inclusive and delighted at the food choices, including the drinks available. Our kids loved the dinners, especially the bbq and Portuguese night, and our visits to the Italian on-site. We were happy with the food variety and quality (I even had prawns and oysters one night, which were delicious). Evening entertainment was lovely, not too loud and we loved sitting out in the evening with a drink whilst our kids made friends with other children and played on the lawn area. It never felt too crowded, but the atmosphere was at the same time lovely. The children's entertainment seemed good (our kids dipped in and out). Overall staff very friendly. The hotel benefits from having a mix of guests - GB do not dominate and this is a positive!||Our room was perfect - air con fab. On arrival our kids were very tired and the man on reception made a special effort to get us a room immediately, even though it was only 12 noon. This made such an impression and set us off to begin such a positive holiday experience! As a mum, I am very grateful!||Our little boy was 4 during our stay and although we never said anything, we came back to some chocolate cake and a bottle of wine that afternoon, which was a lovely gesture and made us feel special!||My only negative - there seems to be a slight disconnect between reception staff and housekeeping which can be frustrating. For example, being all inclusive we had a mini-bar which was to be refilled when used (this was told to us on arrival at reception). It was handy with kids, to return to colas, waters and beer (for my husband) already in the room whilst we were getting washed and ready for dinner! However - no bottle opener! I asked reception and it was promised that one would be put in the room next day: it was not, I asked again, and once again it was not! Instead I had to purchase one in town! Similarly, the fridge was empty of water and cola and not replaced. I asked at reception and again, it was promised this would be sorted. However, it was not. Again, I spoke with reception and again it was promised but once again, arriving in our room, there were no drinks. I had to go to reception again and be polite but assertive, for housekeeping to appear that night to refill it. Whilst this is a very minor issue, it was very frustrating and felt as if staff perhaps hope you won't use these items or ask for them to be refilled. The person on reception did sort this eventually (after 4 days), however they were not really apologetic or able to give a reason for this issue. For a 4 star hotel, this should not happen and was a shame.||However, the above is a minor complaint, but it did frustrate me (and seemed so needless!) so I feel I have to include it as part of an honest review. It will not stop us returning. The hotel overall is lovely and the food, drink, pool, location is stunning. Thank you for such a lovely holiday - we hope to see...

Can't tell you how amazing this hotel is - we go to it every 6 months. I wouldn't go anywhere else now. Im ridiculously fussy and drive myself mad to be honest, I've always had issues with my childs health from he was little so we have always needed to bleach everywhere and travel with Dettol wipes and anti- mite plug ins and goodness what else but I have come to learn that i dont need to do this in this hotel, you could eat your dinner off the floor as we say in Belfast. We took my pops away this time with us because unbelievablyhe has never had a foreign holiday, and he's nearly 70 years old - he was blew away. Food is amazing - My son has ADHD &Autism, and he is extremely fussy about his food, what it looks like, what it feels like, the textures, the colours. It's a nightmare, but he loves the grub at Vila Galé. There's never an issue. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, pool bar, Alá Carté restaurant, "The Masafina". There is so much to choose from. My daughter loves the food too, she's usually eats like a mouse but eats like a horse when we stay here, haha. There's nothing better for a parent in my humble opinion, to see your children sitting down to lovely big plates of healthy food from all different continents. There's a spa, 3 different steam rooms, massage rooms, yoga room, a big Gym, jacuzzi, large heated indoor pool, tennis courts, golf course, splash pool Park especially for the children(and big kids ie: adults haha), volleyball pitch, football pitch, table tennis, adventure park, big trampoline (which is really good fun), fruit tree orchards, herb gardens, pool tables, darts tables. There's things I will be leaving out because they weren't as important to us. This hotel works hard for conservation, they grow their own fruit. There's olive trees everywhere all over the hotel grounds too. The grounds that surround the hotel span a couple of miles- it's a beautiful walk. Obviously they have an outdoor pool too, but you see it in the brochures and yes, it really does look that stunning. I should probably mention that the pool bar don't just do "run of the mill" food- we are all vegetarians so we always get stuck with things that way. They do the most gorgeous veggie wraps, salads, veg burgers etc. The pool bar menu is stunning. The ice cream is Carté Ďor and they have an amazing sugar free range as we also have a type 1 diabetic, which has led us all not to take sugary drinks. The public toilets are always in immaculate condition, always spotless, shining, soap, toilet roll. No problems there. Rooms are lovely too. Housemaid are amazing and do an amazing job. The restaurant staff are amazing. The hotel staff at reception are great too. I hope this review helps, I highly recommend the Vila Galé Lagos, Preia Meia, Portugal. Its expensive in some peoples opinion but- to me I always believe you get what you pay for and if my children are looked after and happy, that's all I want. I'm 100% happy. Book a room- you...

We just got back from a week at this hotel. We stayed in room 3029. We loved Lagos but not this hotel!

The food is TERRIBLE! We ate at the Al a carte the first night we arrived. Ordered a tenderloin steak with au gratin vegetables. The steak was TINY. The vegetables tasted like they just come out of the refrigerator. When we told the waiter, he did nothing but made excuses for why they were 'probably' cold and how they could not heat them. I think they would have been good if they would have been heated. I ordered dessert and was brought something totally different than what I ordered but no comment when I said I didn't want that. It was just terrible service. We had breakfast room service one day. It was also cold and the food was a waste of time and money. The bacon is raw and the eggs are full of water or something. We chose to walk 20 mins into Lagos to eat from then on.

The bar has good (but expensive) drinks. We did complain because the bar closes at midnight but at 11:30 we couldn't get another drink because they were cleaning. The bartender that starts with a B is very good and did not treat the customers that way. He served until closing time. The bartender that started with an A, was very rude to elderly people on 2 occasions. Once he refused to show an elderly man his watch so he could see what time it is. We showed the nice man our watch so he would know the time. The second time an elderly couple tried to order a drink and this particular bartender (A) just walked away and would not take their order. He took everyone else's order that was outside but not their's. It was sad to watch! Susana at reception is the best but I can't say much for the rest of reception.

The rooms were so dark we could barely see to get ready for a night out. The rooms do have good air conditioning and if you are lucky you can get a kettle. We bought our own instant coffee after we got a kettle. I am not sure about a mini bar in the rooms. We had 3 bottles of water. Our balcony looked on to some apartments. We could lean over the balcony and see the sea (kind of) so not all rooms have a sea view.

We did complain while we were there about the food and the rude staff member in the bar but were just told to fill out a complaint form and hand it in when we check out. LOL

We will not be going back to this hotel! We will go back to Lagos as it is beautiful but we will stay at a better hotel than this. I am amazed anyone thinks this is a wonderful place to stay. Maybe people with kids find this an easy place to stay because the kids can run up and down the halls and scream and wake everyone without anyone saying anything. I think they may have programs for kids also. We did not go for a kiddie holiday. We went for the sun and sight seeing. The walls are just too thin for adults...