INATEL Albufeira

There are a lot of positives but also a lot of negatives, I want to write a fair & honest review. Initially the welcome was awful the man on reception spoke no English (not a problem in itself) but he also didn't smile at all and acted as if we were a major inconvenience. He was not all welcoming or forthcoming with any information. The rooms were basic and clean but need updating, no baths only showers, poor wifi & only 2 lifts for lots of rooms. The breakfast was fine, lots of options in a clean dining room with very attentive staff. The evening meal however was much more hit & miss & if you are vegetarian or don't like fish you will struggle. Generally this hotel is for French people & if your kids want to join in the entertainment they will miss out. The bar entertainment is full of old people waltzing & also not very welcoming. The pool is clean & nice with plenty of loungers, the bar is open as & when with no notification re closing for lunch etc. The hotel is in a good location right on the beach & only 5-10 mins from Old Town. So to summarise if you are a joiner and want to participate in entertainment etc then this is not the hotel for you however if you just want a basic base in a good location then go for it.

Superb location near to the pedestrian town of Albufeira. Sit on the decks on the beach and get drinks and food from the little cafe. Amazing breakfast was included in the cost - which was amazingly reasonable. Our room had a private balcony and overlooked the ocean. Rooms were clean, beautifully appointed with great facilities. Above all a quiet and delightful location if you wish to stay away from the activity of the local town and celebrations. The whole beach offers optional topless bathing and is so expansive you feel quite safe and peaceful. Would highly recommend this hotel and the location.

This hotel is not for you if: 1) You are xenophobic / Francophobic 2) You expect everything to cater for British tastes and that all guests have to speak English 3) You expect 5 star catering at budget prices 4) You enjoy hotel entertainment However, this hotel is for you if none of the above applies to your wants or needs. We spent a week at this hotel as part of my parent's Golden Wedding anniversary celebrations. We found the staff to be very helpful, the rooms cleaned to a high standard and the location excellent for the beach and the Old Town. Because the hotel is located away from the strip and Old Town made it quite peaceful, which meant we got a decent sleep each night. As stated in other reviews, the Old town is approx. 10-15 walk uphill away, and similar for the Strip in the opposite direction. There are also regular buses and the hotel will happily book a taxi for you. For us, the only real negative was the food. At times it was not warm and you were elbowed out of the way by other guests so they could get to what they wanted. The main dishes were quite similar each day. The good news is that it's very reasonable to eat out, so once you've had enough of the dining room experience there are plenty of good options in the Old Town. Finally, if you are looking for hotel entertainment then you will need to brush up on your French as none of it is geared towards other non-French speaking nationalities. Tbh, you are mostly ignored by the entertainment crew if they know you are not part of their group, however they did say to us a couple of times to join them in the evening, which was nice. We all said we would stay at the hotel again, however on a room only / B&B basis. The location to me is the key selling point of the hotel.

Good location and pool area but taken over by the French and their silly entertainment team between 12.00 and 12.30pm with noisy silly games. The team ignored other nationalities to the point of rudeness"!

This was our first time at this Hotel and our last, we are in our 60s and like to go out all day site seeing this fantastic place, but at night we like to have a our meal and a drink followed by a night of entertainment forget the entertainment, There isn't any we went out after the 2nd night in to the old town. The Hotel only caters for the portuguese. The Meals were basic but ok, the rooms were very nice and cleaned every day. 15 min walk to the old town plenty of night life there and meals are not to expensive. Bus stop at the end of the drive takes you to the main bus station were you can go anywere in the algarve.

3 Star hotel nice hotel, food good what you would expect of a 3 star. Nice pool area good facilities. Mainly French & Portuguese guests which wasnt a problem for us. Waiters in restaurant nice not many speak english but they are helpful all the same and a little more cheerful than the ones in the bar. We dont expect people to speak english fine with us. Bar area in main hotel could do with a bit of modernising and comfy seating and lower lighting etc. It looks a little like a school canteen. Inatel on the beach great area to sit out and get drinks and snacks but again they dont have many staff that speak english. The people on the reception in this part of the hotel are pleasant and helpful. Generally speaking the staff are not rude but could do with being a little more cheerful. Other than that we stayed in the Beach part of the hotel very nice rooms, lovely view right over the beach,safe free, free toiletries, fridge in room, air con worked well as it was hot while we were there last week. I would go back as it is well placed for the beach and old town, food is ok always, drink prices ok too, house wine nice and cheap.

It is only 10 min to top of a hill to escalator then your in town.there is a little shop called evas for a bus pass €3 then load it with money one card for all with you it's then only 80 cents per trip instead of 1.40.hope you find this useful.

We are staying in the inatel prarie at the back of the hotel, with no sea view. The Inatel is across the road with a pool and main restaurant. The atmosphere is very dreary and seems old fashioned all round especially the dining room which is more like a canteen. The facilities outside the room are definitely lacking in general especially the food. Id go as far to say its awful. Even the coffee tastes strange. We are only a couple of days into the holiday and I havent got that same upbeat mood as I usually do on holiday. Theres no local shops or bars, you have to walk a good 10 minutes and theres no bar in our hotel or any entertainment. On appearance when you first walk in it seems a good 3 star but all the other things let it down and definitely wouldn't return to this hotel. If your thinking of booking, think again especially if you enjoy your food. A big thumbs down from me unfortunately.

Our 3rd time back so we must like it, yes it's everything you could want for a quiet break, so clean and well maintained, good facilities, we go for 28 days, well positioned and it seems that many brits go back time and again. But I still feel the Inatel lacks any holiday buzz or sociable vibe. The only bar is tucked away behind the restaurant and seeems to be geared up for the local dance club meet. As other reviewers have mentioned the majority of guests are large groups of Portuguese and French visitors. Perhaps not for the traveller looking for fun! Wifi connection was great and throughout the hotel and the food was often above average, especially if you like fish.