Vila Gale Collection Praia

“Adult Only Holiday”

Stayed here for 4 nights as a Birthday Break for the good lady, can only say it was fantastic. The room was well presented and spotless, the Restaurant delivered some of the best hotel food I have ever had, the breakfast buffet was magnificent with so much choice of hot and cold food choices, jui... more

Stayed here for 4 nights as a Birthday Break for the good lady, can only say it was fantastic. The room was well presented and spotless, the Restaurant delivered some of the best hotel food I have ever had, the breakfast buffet was magnificent with so much choice of hot and cold food choices, juices of all kinds. The pool looked really inviting but for medical reasons I couldn't use it, but it was well maintained and cleaned daily. The staff were very friendly and attentive, I really couldn't think of a reason to complain but maybe just a suggestion to the management, the provision of tea and coffee making facilities in the room would be lovely, personally I like a hot drink first thing in the afternoon and last thing at night .

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“Super eight nights stay arriving 29th April”

We have just returned from an eight night stay at this lovely hotel. We did a short stay here some years ago and always planned to return.We booked directly with the hotel which proved to be the cheapest option and we also got a discount as a returning customer to a Vila Gale property. We arrived... more

We have just returned from an eight night stay at this lovely hotel. We did a short stay here some years ago and always planned to return.We booked directly with the hotel which proved to be the cheapest option and we also got a discount as a returning customer to a Vila Gale property. We arrived very early and were delighted we were able to access our room immediately. Our room (209) was very comfortable, good air-con, huge bed, great shower pressure, large bath towels and nice robe and slippers provided. There was a complimentary bottle of water in the room …there is also a mini bar.No kettle but I think you can hire one. Not all rooms have a pool view, we were on the ground floor with a small patio looking on to a courtyard. We hardly used the patio but it might be a disappointment to some so worth looking , at this at booking time. The pool area was lovely, very quiet while we were there. The pool is unheated but I enjoyed my swims. Most of the reviews here mention how lovely the staff are and I totally agree. Gale is a very quiet resort and it feels very safe. The beach is amazing ..the sea is often too rough for swimming and is absolutely freezing! We had one cooler cloudy morning so we took the walk over the boardwalk to the next town, Armacao de Pera. The walk will take you about an hour, it runs through the wonderful Praia Grande nature reserve. We had a ramble around Armacao de Pera, ate a nice lunch and walked back. Whoever is responsible for erecting all the boardwalks in the Algarve deserves a Nobel prize, what a fabulous amenity. Breakfast was lovely and we ate all other meals out and about in Gale. Like everywhere else, eating out is no longer cheap, at lunchtime we almost always had to ask to see the snack menu, this is worth remembering as sometimes you just want a wrap or a toastie. The cafe attached to the supermarked Apolonia is very good. As is the Italian restaurant attached to the hotel. San Domingos is also really good and well worth the 25 minute walk. We had a lovely holiday and are looking forward to returning later in the year when we might divide our time between here and the Vile Gale, Lagos which we also love.

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“Not enough staff”

Not nearly enough staff anywhere. Libby, bar, restaurant and inside bar all queued down the road. The staff was overwhelmed. Two staff in any area for a full hotel is ridiculous. It's a lovely clean place, but waiting half an hour for a cold drink by the pool was simply annoying

“Nice hotel but sadly lacking for anyone disabled.”

We had high hopes for this boutique hotel given the good reviews but we were quite disappointed overall during our 9 day stay. We arrived in adapted private transport due to my being disabled and using a mobility scooter. We were greeted and checked in by a male staff member. Given a cold mint g... more

We had high hopes for this boutique hotel given the good reviews but we were quite disappointed overall during our 9 day stay. We arrived in adapted private transport due to my being disabled and using a mobility scooter. We were greeted and checked in by a male staff member. Given a cold mint green tea and warm flannel and told about the hotel. Our room was on 2nd floor (same as reception). The corridors are extremely dark and it was 2 days before we found the light switches which only dimly lit the corridors anyway. We were very disappointed in the room which had a “garden view” there is no garden just a large wall two metres from the patio and some large pots of plants. We asked 3 times to be moved to a pool view room (even offering to pay a supplement) but they kept telling us there weren’t any. So we remained disappointed for all 9 days. There was a public footpath behind (this was often noisy). The room was very dark due to the garden patio and the sun only appeared on it early morning…. Hence we never sat out there - but, it was good for drying our towels etc. The room was pretty nice, large bed a tv (didn’t find any English channels bar sky news) decent bathroom with bath and shower. Shower gel at sink and another one half way up the bath wall are attached to the wall. So if you’re bathing and like me unable to keep getting up and down you can’t reach the shower gel! So I ended up having to go and buy a bar of soap to use. Our room was rarely serviced before the end of the day so on a few occasions we put the don’t disturb sign up as it was too late and we were back in the room. There is wardrobe space but only 2 tiny drawers. We struggled to keep the room tidy because there was not enough space. Bedside tables not drawers and a dressing table ….. no drawers or cupboard space. Disabled access is poor. I had to clatter into the reception on my scooter because of the high threshold entering the hotel. This continued without assistance from anyone. I asked a female on reception if there was a ramp or something - she said she’d look - nothing materialised until after 3 days Ricardo was on duty… he saw my struggles and asked me wait “I think I have something”. He came back with a small, but perfect wooden ramp! Ricardo was the only person who helped he jumped up to open doors at every chance he got. Others just watched me struggle. There is a very small gym air con not working and no towels or water. Also my husband went down two mornings running and the door had not been unlocked (a trip to reception both times to rectify this). Access to the pool is either steps or a door near the bar which had a five inch steep ramp that would have broken my scooter. There are disabled parking spaces outside the hotel but no dropped kerbs (unbelievable). The pavements are awful cobbled and bumpy). We had x a bad experience at the Italian attached to the hotel. Reserved table, were seated but then ignored for 20 minutes whist the staff all chatted and flirted with each other. Eventually having flagged a waiter down he took our order. No explanation about limits to what we could order…. They didn’t even seem to know we were from the hotel. Communication was poor generally! There is one other person who deserves a mention Ely from the bar. He was quite charming and chatted like he knew us. We won’t return - it’s not for us. But is perfectly situated for the Galé beach. Oh and the al a carte food in the hotel is truly lovely. Could not fault that.

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