Kimpton Atlantico Algarve

Clean room, nice pools and nice staff.

We recently stayed here the day of our wedding. My in laws paid for this as a wedding gift. Although the hotel itself is stunning, the staff and service was poor. On arrival we were told our family had put money on our room for us. We went to the pool and hadn’t been given any towel cards during check in so had to head back to reception where it took 25 minutes to get to the front of the queue to get a towel cards. We then sat and ordered a drink by the pool where they didn’t bring the drink we asked for. And when we asked to add it to the room we were told we had no room credit… We paid with €40 for our €32 bill and were never given our change. Our plates were never cleared when we finished our food and the seagulls enjoyed our leftovers. We then went to the sky bar for a drink later and asked to add the drinks to the room (to use the money on our tab) a lady from the sky bar then came charging into the restaurant when we went to eat to tell us we had no credit on our room. (Second time this had happened may I add) after our meal we headed back to reception where they told us again we had a €200 room credit so plenty of money to pay for the food and drinks we had! We were given a voucher to have a free drink in the sky bar, a gesture to say sorry for the mess around. We got to the sky bar, ordered our drinks, took a seat and then AGAIN were told the voucher doesn’t cover any drinks other than wine and beer (which we hadn’t been told at reception) Overall the staff issues and the way no one seemed to communicate with each other let down this hotel and I wouldn’t return.

We spent three nights in this hotel as a family. We booked two garden view superior rooms and when we arrived were told we had been upgraded to garden view superior rooms! I explained that was what we booked also that we had booked one room as a twin - none of this seemed to have arrived at the hotel despite booking on the Kimpton web site.

In the end me and my wife had a lovely room with great views over the gardens to the sea beyond. But our kids ended up in a nearby room with a disappointing view of a courtyard area. I would be curious to know the difference between superior and ordinary rooms as it seems to me the view is the only thing that could separate them as all rooms seem similar size and layout?

Anyway the hotel has a beautiful design aesthetic and is only one year old so in generally good condition. Our room was lovely and great interior design. The pool areas are large and relaxing and generally we could find loungers to suit in the day. As others note there is no management of the loungers though with towels left for hours on end with no-one in sight.

The main issue is the the food and drink offerings which as noted elsewhere are not up to the standard you would expect in a hotel like this. We ate the first night in the restaurant and this was an underwhelming experience. Food was OK but service downbeat and there is no attempt made anywhere to make the restaurant spaces welcoming - not table lights and a generally unloved feel.

The lobby bar did not seem to be in use at all despite a buzzing lobby bar scene being an important part of such a cool hotel?

The rooftop bar seemed neglected - dark with several feature lights not working. One night the next table asked for some table lights so they could see what they were eating. A succession of faulty lights was then brought out by the staff! The whole bar area seems sad, badly illuminated and no attempt made to encourage guests to spend their time and money there! On our last night a singer attended - took an hour or so to get the hotel equipment working for her!

In summary nice buildings and pool area but the management don't seem interested in the success of the hospitality areas or therefore the whole the customer experience!