Sao Rafael Suite Hotel

We stayed at NAU São Rafael Suites for our wedding celebrations and hosted our wedding party there, and we honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

From the moment we arrived, the team went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect for us and our guests. What really stood out was the level of care and attention to detail. They even made sure every room had water and coffee and catered for more vegetarian options for food which was such a thoughtful touch and really appreciated by our friends and family.

The atmosphere was fantastic, the service was excellent throughout, and the whole team made us feel completely looked after during such an important time. They also had their Indian chef make us traditional Indian desserts and it was truly incredible!

A very special thank you to Diogo and Deborah, who were both incredible. They were always helpful, attentive and genuinely wanted everything to run smoothly. Their support made a huge difference and helped make the whole experience feel stress-free and enjoyable.

We’re so grateful to the entire team at NAU São Rafael Suites for making our wedding celebrations so memorable. Our guests had an amazing time, and we will always look back on our stay with very happy memories. Thank you for going above and beyond for us! ❤️

We will be back for our anniversary next year!

Amazing staff, amazing hospitality they have gone over and beyond to make our every day stay exceptional. Very hygienic, consistent and prompt. Extremely friendly. Comforting in all aspects, no rush for anything. Good food different every day, long serving hours in multiple areas of the hotel.

We stayed at this hotel July 2026 for our family holiday. We opted for a 2 bedroom family suite, and all I can say is Wow! The amount of space was amazing, by far the biggest room we have ever had!

The pools were great (apart from the water being cold which took time to get used to) and the pool bar was a great place for drinks and daily snacks which unfortunately we found better than the actual food served in the hotel’s main restaurant!!

The reception staff were nice enough, and helpful when called upon, however the restaurant staff and hotel bar staff lacked any real degree of customer service, bare minimum interaction at best and never went out of their way to see if food/drinks were okay, with a lot of them not speaking good English.

With regards to the food, we went all inclusive hoping that the standard of food would be high given that the hotel is allegedly a 5-star resort, but it didn’t take long for us to realise that we certainly wished we hadn’t now knowing the food on offer was at times sub-standard at best, but mostly really really poor quality. Another thing that we weren’t warned about is that there was an upgrade charge to having all-inclusive branded drinks, which we refused to pay, but by doing so were left with basic local beer and soft drinks as the spirits on offer to us tasted like paint stripper!!

The location of the hotel is okay, short taxi rides via Uber to Marina, Old Town and New Town all within reasonable distance and cost. Local beach within walking distance (about 10 minutes maximum) with a great beach side bar for food and drinks (obviously not included)

Overall, we think this is a nice hotel for families, however it certainly needs to be looking to hire a new chef if it doesn’t want to see its ratings plummet, as the food is very poor, so much so we ended up eating out most days. Furthermore, restaurant and bar staff need to be more assertive and friendly towards their guests, and they should be making that extra effort to make your stay better than it was.

I love Portugal and I love the Algarve, and I’m sure I will return in the future, just not sure it will be to this hotel given the price we paid for it, it certainly wasn’t value for money as far as we’re concerned.