Albufeira Sol Hotel and Spa

We were so looking forward to our return visit, this our third time visiting this hotel. I have left feeling so disappointed and shocked by the negative change in atmosphere and poor level of service this time. We stayed 10-14th August 2026 as a family of six.

Most of the staff were incredibly rude and unhelpful throughout the duration of the stay; to the point it left myself and my mother in tears. I approached the indoor bar during one afternoon and was shouted at ‘Outside,outside!’ aggressively by the male member of staff when asked could I please have a cup of water. The water fountain outside wasn’t working throughout the whole of our stay. There was never any issues previously with drinks and a drinks policy, not even alcoholic but soft drinks and water, we were only able to have 2 drinks and even when as a family sitting close by and visible, everyone had to go to the bar individually like a lower-rated hotel, which I actively wouldn’t choose.

As a family we are quiet and polite and wanted to go for a true family, relaxed holiday. My daughter is autistic, she was flinching the kitchen area was so loud in the dining room, plates being slammed around and a stressful vibe created by staff and lack of staff adding pressure. When we asked to sit further away up the other end of the dining room, we were met with hostility at every opportunity by one particular staff member who was extremely rude. One evening we were shouted out and told ‘It’s impossible!’ to accommodate sitting together. I felt anxious every meal time, as there was so many issues with seating, huge queues of people as the hotel was over capacity. There was a large queue every lunchtime and evening and when greeted with hostility asking politely for a table for 6 in slightly quieter areas trying to explain it was due to my daughter’s sound aversion and needs, I felt upset and on-edge constantly. My daughter also has a severe tree nut allergy with epi pens, previous visits staff checked on the ice cream ingredients for us and were accommodating, this time a female member of staff shrugged at us, saying ‘I don’t know’ when I asked if a cake contained any nuts. She scowled and just walked off and didn’t ask anyone if they could check ingredients. All food this time wasn’t clearly labelled as before, there was such a marked difference from last year.

Sunbeds were not a problem previously, but was a huge issue this year. People going out before 7am booking sun-beds with single hotel towels; after querying this, notes were put on saying after half an hour towels would be removed, but this was never unforced once during our four day stay. My mother didn’t have a sunbed, she had to always sit on a towel on the hard ground and is an old-aged pensioner!

The issues raised with evening meals sitting as a family, were not resolved, instead they continued every night. To the point that I had to go up to reception in tears and say it was happening again and it was still an issue and we couldn’t sit in a quieter area, which apparently other spaces in the dining room seemed sectioned off for other nationalities. The whole demeanour towards us I felt was hostile, rude and disrespectful and just bared no resemblance whatsoever to our previous visits.

I feel so saddened this was our experience this time, I don’t understand what has happened in regard to staffing and management. I felt upset, frustrated and disappointed numerous times each day throughout our holiday. Every interaction with staff members left me feeling this way, on unmanned bars trying to be served in the day, even the activities around the pool with my daughter and our dealings with the animation team . Crucially. it was all the hotel staff didn’t behave as respectfully or with much kindness even when treated with respect by us as paying, and returning customers. I can’t see us returning again which is really such a shame. This time it was like staying in a completely different hotel. We stayed the same week a year apart, and this year was truly awful in comparison.

Stayed at the hotel for 10 days in August,the hotel itself is very dated and Not a 4 star ,3 max.The rooms are huge ,but ours was full of ants ,when i told reception they just said ok,the balconys are tiny and 2 people cant sit outside together as the aircon unit blows out very hot air .Some of the bar staff are very rude and serve the french before you ,like youre not even stood there.You can only have 2 drinks per time and theres only 1 serving most of the time,so your constantly going back,plastic glasses all the time and the dirty ones are left outside all day in a bin and never collected.The pool area is good and kept looked after by Alejandra the pool man ,he was great and went out of his way to be polite daily .You need to be up by 630 am daily to get a sunbed as by 8am they are all gone.The all inclusive(if thats what you can call it) is awful ,there are repeat salad ,veg daily ,no themed nights so if you like salad veg n spuds this is the place for you .Most of the food is barely warm and lots of people were ill whilst there .The snack bar is only open 15:30 until 18:30 pm,serving the cheapest of the cheap food . On the plus side the location of the hotel is good if you want to be out (which you will) there is a free shuttle bus that takes you to the beach /old town ,only 6 euros for taxi if you choose ,if you stay in the hotel you can use there towel but if you loose them or someone takes them they charge you 20 euros per towl.They also charge you 150 euros when you arrive as a deposit incase you damage anything .The adult evening entertaintment is crap unless you are over 60 .Finishing on a good point,the entertainment for the kids under 7 is very good ,they keep them entertained through the day and early evening .