The Patio Suite Hotel

Lovely hotel and apartments, but food and location let it down

We recently returned from a week's all-inclusive stay at the Patio Suite Hotel in Albufeira.

Firstly, the hotel itself is lovely. Our one-bedroom apartment was spacious, clean and comfortable, and we were extremely pleased with our accommodation. The pool areas were lovely, and we enjoyed a relaxing week. The staff were also very friendly and helpful throughout our stay.

Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment was the food. For much of the week, we found the choices limited, particularly when it came to meat dishes and how they were cooked. We actually went out for a Chinese meal twice during our stay because we weren't enjoying the hotel food.

Another disappointment was the all-inclusive snack provision. Snacks were only available between 4pm and 5.30pm, which seemed very restrictive for an all-inclusive hotel. We would have expected to be able to get something light to eat throughout the day, particularly around the pool.

However, I do want to give credit where it's due. I raised my concerns with the Jet2 representative, and the hotel manager personally came over to speak with us. She seemed genuinely interested in our feedback and explained that she had already spoken with the chef about improving the food, particularly how the meat was cooked.

We actually noticed a definite improvement in the lunch menus during our final two days, which was encouraging. The manager also explained that they were hoping to introduce an outdoor barbecue serving food throughout the day next year, which would be a fantastic improvement.

The other downside for us was the location. Although there are a few small tourist shops and a supermarket within walking distance, there is very little else nearby. To visit the main shopping areas, restaurants or other attractions, we needed to use Ubers.

The hotel does provide a free shuttle bus to the beach, which is helpful. However, I feel it's particularly important to highlight the accessibility of the beach for anyone with mobility difficulties. The road leading down to the beach is extremely steep, and there are a large number of very steep steps down onto the beach itself. This makes access particularly difficult, if not impossible, for people with limited mobility. There also wasn't much around that particular beach in terms of shops or places to explore.

Overall, we enjoyed our holiday, and the hotel has a lot going for it. The apartments are excellent, the staff are lovely, and it was reassuring to see management taking feedback seriously.

With improvements to the food and daytime snack options, this could be a really good all-inclusive hotel. However, I would particularly recommend considering the location and beach accessibility before booking, especially if you enjoy walking out in the evenings or have mobility difficulties.

A lovely hotel with plenty of potential, but a few important areas that need improving.

We had a very relaxing family holiday for a week in this hotel. Although there were a few partying, noisy neighbors outside practicing karaoke late evening hours, we didn’t notice much due to good sound isolation. And the variety of food was absolutely amazing and delicious at all times. Recommended!

We've stayed here over five times because it ticks our boxes for location, cleanliness, service, and overall value for money. We knew this place from its former days of the "Luna Alpinus" and since then, so many improvements have been made. The apartments are spacious, spotlessly clean with comfy beds and we particularly love the huge patio areas and splendid views that come with the larger suites. These rooms really are worth the extra cost if there's more than a couple of you staying. For us, the location is perfect because we like to be active--the beach is only 10-15 minutes away and it's also easy to walk to neighbouring Olhos d'Agua which is a lovely town with so many bars and restaurants. It's great to have the hotel bus as an option, but Ubers and Bolts are also quick and easy to book if you want to go further to Albufeira or Vilamoura. We hired a car through the hotel and the service and cost was outstanding. The reception staff are always warm and friendly, we didn't spend much time around the pools or bars but appreciated the good and fair system of towel hire. We were self catering but ate out every night as there's a great selection of bars and restaurants around the corner or in Olhos, Albufeira or Vilamoura. We ate breakfast in the restaurant on our last day, and the only feedback I have in terms of improvement is the lack of vegan options. There was lovely fresh bread, alpro yogurts, but some vegan pastries would be great. We're looking forward to returning hopefully next year!