Sao Rafael Suite Hotel

The service at this all-inclusive hotel was so nonexistent that I honestly should have been awarded 'Employee of the Week'. Even though the main restaurant is a buffet, the attendants were useless, leaving me to fetch our own drinks, clear our plates, and essentially act as my family's personal server. I then promoted myself to 'Employee of the Year' after surviving the absolute disaster that was the à la carte restaurant. Ironically, what should have been a premium dining experience was actually the worst part of the trip. We were held hostage for two hours over a rigid set menu and received exactly one drink the entire time. What a joke! Beyond the terrible service, the hotel itself is incredibly tired and in desperate need of a full refurbishment. The one and only saving grace of this entire property was the entertainment manager, who was genuinely amazing.

Rooms are a bit old and used. Food is average, breakfast is good, snack bar of pool is mostly unhealthy food and no good options for kids/babies. Remaining accomodations are good.

Honest and fair review. Travelled as a couple both under 40, and stayed for 9 nights. First impressions are good but when the novelty wears off, you start to notice things which are not good. The food is appaling for a 5 star hotel, there is hardly any choice and its very samey every day. Other guests we spoke to also mentioned this. The drinks are also questionable. We spent a lot of money eating out and even ordering food from outside the hotel to be delivered to us. On our first day we accidentally smashed an aftershave bottle in our room, which resulted in small shards of glass on the floor. This was not cleaned up for 5 days and I subsequently ended up with a shard of glass stuck in my foot. The balcony was never cleaned the whole time we were there and as we were under a load of trees we ended up with a floor full of leaves. The majority of the staff are miserable and do not interact with guests at all, they look like they would rather be anywhere else in the world. It makes such a difference to holiday goers to have friendly staff in my opinion, especially with it being a so called 5 star hotel. The night time entertainment is none existent barring a live singer in the inside bar. There is no separate area to sit at night time, only the outside tables in the restaurant or inside the lobby bar. Families sit playing board games, there is no music and no atmosphere which was extremely disappointing to us. The queues to get a drink are long as there is one person serving which is ridiculous. The pool areas are nice, reception is lovely to sit in and to look at. The rooms are spacious. It is not really possible to walk to anywhere nearby so we spent a small fortune on taxis. The hotel hardly has any English guests and the ones that were here, we noticed we were all put on the same floor as each other, what that is about i do not know. Overall for what we paid to stay here, im pretty annoyed to be honest. This hotel is more a 3 star, definitely not a 5 star. Albufeira is beautiful but I would stay elsewhere next time.