Kaur Kang
Review of a Disappointing First Day at NAU Salgados Palm Village, Albufeira
Our first day at NAU Salgados Palm Village has been a major disappointment, to say the least. We are a family of 16, including several children who were excited for a relaxing and fun holiday. Sadly, it’s been anything but.
Restaurant Reservations & Dining
One of our biggest frustrations has been the dining arrangements. We were told reservations were needed for every meal! As we are such a large group this means 6 bookings three times a day! They had no interest in assisting with this process! When we finally got seated, they wouldn’t even accommodate our group together, forcing us to sit at separate tables. The lack of proper signage on the food (we are vegetarian/ allergies) and staff not knowing themselves has meant we have had to have be cautious and eat very little.
Amenities Misleading
The photos and information provided about the hotel were incredibly misleading. We expected facilities like a pool room, an arcade, a spa, and an indoor swimming pool, as clearly shown in the promotional materials. None of these were present! This was especially disappointing for the kids, who were eager to swim, but discovered there wasn’t even an indoor pool. Why are they showing photos of amenities they don’t have!!! Apparently it’s because their sister hotel (a 15 minute drive away) has them, at an extra cost!
No Common Area or Lobby
There is also nowhere to sit indoors. We were surprised to find there’s no proper lobby or communal space inside the hotel where our group could relax together. It’s bizarre that a hotel of this size and standard lacks basic indoor areas to gather.
Live Entertainment Not As Expected
We were looking forward to concerts and live entertainment, which seemed to be a highlight of the hotel. However, there is no information given
On entertainment and it is not of a standard to match a 4star hotel!
Shuttle Service Issues
Adding to the frustration, there was no clear information provided about the shuttle service. We expected to be able to explore the area more easily, but the hotel failed to provide any guidance on how to access the shuttle.
Nightmare Check-In
The experience started on the wrong foot with a chaotic and poorly managed check-in process. The staff seemed overwhelmed, and it took far longer than expected to get settled.
Overall, our group—especially the kids—are hugely disappointed with the first day here. We will be meeting with the manager tomorrow to discuss these issues, and we’re hoping she can still turn things around and salvage what’s left of our holiday. Right now, this has been far from the experience we were promised and expected.
Would not give them even 1 star, 0 star review from us!!!
Martyn Taylor
Unbelievable hotel! The layout and ground are amazing and the room (2 adults 3 kids) was absolutely massive! The balcony is the full length and almost a waste given how big! The food and service was 2nd to none and a nice touch i have not seen elsewhere is the full list of cocktails kids can have but obviously without the alcohol.
Dawn Thankachan
Pros:
This resort is great especially considering it's only rated as a 4 star!
Good value for money. Food was amazing throughout the week. There is isn't a lot of food choices but this meant all the food was tasty. There were wood fire pizzas and barbeques were actual on top of coal.
All the rooms were clean, spacious and housekeeping was good. Lots of swimming pool so it didn't feel crowded which was great.
Lots of choices of drinks, and all were mostly nice although sometimes inconsistent,
Cons
Limited number of staff, it would be great to have more staff around the place. In the dining rooms was enough, but would be good to have more staff around the place.
Idea of reserving table is inconvenient because it's neant to be a relaxing holiday, not spending time reserving as you may not always know when you might be feeling hungry. Having said that, whenever we forgot, no issues getting table
20€ deposit for towel is a bit too much
Beach is around 20 mins away and at night, there is no light on the path.
Christian Adindu
Can do with an upgrade to the rooms, they probably were great many years ago but definitely dated now.
Toilets and bathroom need better cleaning.
Food was very good and there pools great.
Located closer to the beach.
The hotel is quite safe... Kudos. But that feeling of safety disappears once you step away from the hotel into town.
They may want to increase the number of English speakers at the hotel restaurant.. Otherwise the food was great.
Oliver Curtis
Disappointing to say the least. On arrival we were greeted with miserable receptionists, not a hello or a warm welcome in sight. Online information regarding check in was 2pm, we were told 4pm when we arrived so not ideal waiting around with our luggage and because we had no wristbands, we weren't able to have any refreshments. Information was very scarce when eventually checking in, didn't notify us about vouchers needed for the Golf courses when arriving for our round, just an envelope simply handed over so when arriving at the golf course it caused problems.
The food was below par, breakfast buffet was tasteless and the pastries rock solid and dry. Fruit was old and not fresh in the slightest. The rooms are spacious and nice, but are in desperate need of decorating. Paint was flaking off the walls in many places.
Quite possibly the worst thing of it all, NO LIFEGUARDS. 10 pools and no lifeguards, no deep water signs anywhere. Now this was a golfing trip with a friend so we took no children, but we were one of the many that were unfortunate to witness a small boy drown, receive CPR, absolute chaos around the pool with people screaming and full of understandable emotion. Thankfully the child was revived by ambulance staff once they arrived, but the whole ordeal was very traumatic to witness. This wouldn't have happened had their been lifeguards present. Once the ambulance left the pools remained open and music contained to play, I think in this situation it should've been handled differently.
Goes without saying, we shan't be returning in the future.
My Booking
