Auramar Beach Resort Reviews

A very tired and dark hotel, in need of modernisation, especially the bathrooms. Food was below average for a three star hotel. Everywhere is reached buy steps throughout the entire complex, so not suitable for anyone with the slightest walking problems. We were overlooking a lovely pool that we were not allowed to use as we were with a different tour operator and were told that the area was for German guests use only - so why were we put in a room overlooking the pool for heavens sake. Staff were ok, polite and helpful, however, because we made our own beds on the first day, the maid never made them for the rest of the week. I would not revisit this hotel nor would I advise anyone else to do so.

We found the hotel to be above average. Plus points were the food (breakfast buffet hot with great coffee and a wide variety of choice - pretty normal stuff though).Lunch good as you could help yourself to rolls and different fillings for a lighter option or go for meat/fish and rice etc full lunch. We were B&B so tried the evening buffet once and weren't disappointed. The pool is large with a great shallow area on the periphery which you could sit with your feet in. Water v v cold!! Too many children around for our liking. Lounger area could be noisy but this was mainly because they were in close proximity to each other. Lots of wasps!!! My big issue was with the fact that there was a very nice and much quieter pool that our room overlooked, we thought great...BUT, it is for sole use by Germans and on the other side of a pin-operated gate!! Wasn't happy about this especially as our room overlooked it.The room - this was clean and well maintained, a bit dated. two twin beds pushed together not ideal. Shower good, powerful and warm. Room could be drain-smelly at times. Air con worked wonderfully. Reception staff were not that great - on arrival we were told it was a 10 euro deposit for the key - not expected or informed by Expedia .There wasn't a safety deposit box key available until the next day so we had to carry all our valuables with us until then.

i went to this hotel hotel with my family and after a early morning flight and long journey was nice to get to the hotel, it was massive our roooms where ready straight away with staff showing us where to go. we had 2 rooms with both seaside views which was unexpected. the pool was the best its views was amazing i loved just sitting on the lounger looking at the sea as it was so close. the food was ok seemed to be the same sort of stuff everyday but was tasty. it was just the night entertainment which was dissapointing, because we were there for 2 weeks, after the 1st week the 30mins entertainment repeated itself on the 2nd week. after the 30mins of the entertainment it be a man playing a keyboard which was boring and miserable but just have to learn to blank it out. i loved this hotel and going back again this september for a week.

Ok before i went i read the reviews on here and was dreading it. No need. Its a massive hotel on the side of cliff with about 70 steps from reception at the top to the pool at the bottom. Litterally 2 mins down some steps then your on the beach. 5 min walk to the main strip which is full of bars and resturants. Near to the old town which is so much nicer loads of bars and beach front resturants, at night live bands in the streets with loads of little markets stalls dotted around. The hotel puts a bus on to the old town 3 times day 10,12.30 and 4. Or walk along the beach 20 mins. Or get the train from the strip 4 euro for a days pass so you can use as many times as you want during the same day. Think it runs from 08.00 till midnight, only has 3 stops so you wont get lost. Our room was perfectally fine, big enough bathroom, fridge, TV and kettle if you ask at reception, balcony. Now im not a fussy eater but even if i was i dont think it would of been a problem, its not top notch food as its a 3* so some of the comments ive read i dont think are realistic, if you want fillet steak every night then book in at a 4-5*. Plenty of choice cooked breakfast or meats and cheeses and fruits for breakfast, always a meat dish, a fish dish, pasta, salad, chips, potatoes, soup, really nice desserts for dinner, these are in the resturant. Lunch is a mini version of the dinners, meat, fish, pasta etc in the poolside bar, this is where the snacks are too. I never had any problem getting a drink at the bar. The only bad thing i think is that the entertainment is geared up more for the germans (who i found exceptionally rude the english holiday makers) one night the singer was introducing himself to the english and a german man started to boo and hiss. There is also a private pool this is for the german holiday club and has a code to get in the gate, but the main pool is big enough with plenty of sunbeds, although those really irritating people who put the towles out at 4 in the morning are in abundance. Only warning is the steps which are everywhere they are marble and very very slippy i slipped down em within the first 2 hours of being there be careful. Mostly older people and couples with young kids staying there not many other around my age 28 seemed mostly 45+ but all in all then i would stay here again. Oh and mid sept weather is great 28 degrees, lovely.

The hotel room we were given was awful , very dirty and dated we couldnot get a change as we we told no other rooms available , one day a great big cockroach ran accross the floor in our room , the hotel smells funny the bar service and entertainment were poor . food wasnt that bad and the pool area and sunbathing area were fine , the hotel does have a lot of steps , the location is excellent if the hotel was updated and renovated it could easily be one of the best hotels in Albuferia

Upon arrival at the Hotel, from the outside it looked very promising! However, once we entered the Foyer of the Hotel it's like being transported back in time to the 60's/70's!!! The Hotel has a real retro feel and the decor and furniture is very dated! The Hotel is ideally situated for people that are quite agile and mobile, but not at all suitable for people with mobility problems. The hotel is situated on the edge of a cliff overlooking the beautiful Atlantic Ocean with panormamic views all around of the beautiful clean beach and the old and new town. It is not easy to get down to the beach, but the easiest way is to go down either to the right of the hotel, past the Tennis Courts, within the hotel grounds, where there is a very steep ramp down to the Beach, and to the left of the Hotel you need to go out of the Hotel and negotiate some steep steps, and this route is not for the feint hearted as is very precarious and not ideal for people with mobility problems! Within the Hotel itself there are a lot of steps to negotiate to get down to the Hotel restaurants and the pool area, although you can find lifts to get down, but have to walk over to the other side of the Hotel. The rooms are different shapes, sizes and decor, you have just got to hope that you get one of the more decent rooms. The first room we were given was an absolute cess pit, and after some intense negotiation with the Reception staff we were eventually moved to a better room. The decor and the furniture and fittings in the room desperately needed updating and renovating, but we had two balconies which gave us a wonderful panoramic view of the Beach, Old and New Town (The Strip). The Sun loungers were provided on the larger balcony, but were covered in Seagull poo and the loungers were very tatty and not safe to lie on! The bedding was only changed once in the week we were there, despite us repeatedly asking the Recption Staff if they could be changed. We resorted to pinching some clean linen off of one of the cleaners trollies and doing it ourselves. The room was absolutely filthy when we first entered it, and although the cleaner came in everyday she did not really clean the room at all, other than to superficially clean the loo and change the toilet rolls. The outdoor Pool although very nice, is full of segull pool and the childs pool was the same. The Indoor pool is absolutely disgusting and there were ants crawling everywhere. This is probably the worst area in the Hotel and seriously needs renovating! The food in general is awful and the utensils that the food is served from and the serving areas were absolutely disgusting, and the only food that was acceptable was the Breakfast where at least you could have fruit and yoghurts which they cannot do anything to! There is a good choice overall, although some of the food was a bit strange like the poached pairs in wine which is not something you would usually eat at breakfast and the Portugese sausages are a bit iffy! In addition, what they refer to as fruit juice, is actually very diluted and watery squash with no taste. The entertainment consists of an Organist most nights, who it has to be said is very unique, but not in a good way!!! There was a Disco one night which was ok, and a Karyoke Night which was good fun, but that was about it! Overall the staff in the Hotel are very austere and standoffish, not at all helpful, and quite frankly very rude!!!

Got to get this in first, we all noticed one night as we sat on the bar that if a que formed at the bar one out of the two barmen would either spend a long time serving the paying customers, clean and pretend to fiddle with something on the bar or completely dissapear, I can honestly say I did not get my moneys worth on this AI , you can't get drunk or even tipsey as the drinks are so weak and from 8.30pm to 11pm we had 4 drinks each because of queing, after 11pm they start charging and that is the only time the bar is empty of customers. Very foul smelly place, got used to it th last day. Very loud noise above our room as if someone was moving a bed or drilling from 6 am to 2 , complained but they just shrugged shoulders and looked baffled to what the noise could be, we gave up and bought earplugs. Breakfast, juice like p---, very very streaky bacon, eggs cold, toast put in twice to get a tint of brown on it, dinner same bloomin fish every night, cold chips every night, same dessert every night All inclusive? mmm, the snack bar was just that, should have been providing food untill 5pm but there was only crisps left after 2.30pm, coffee vile, the tub of ice cream all of 3 spoonfulls, very dissapointing, evening entertainment looked like it was from the local school using the Auramar as an experience and we were sure that the pianist was put there to turn off AL customers, same thing every night, it was funny though. been to AL before, this is the worst.

i stayed in this hotel in may 07, its right at the bottom of "the strip" which takes about 15mins to walk onto. its st into a cliff side with lots of steps or a VERY steep hill down to the beach. the food was very average and the hotel catered mainly or eldery couples and the entertainment was based mainly for this cliental. personally i wouldnt go back although Albufeira was lovely - a trip to Seville in Spain is well worth it!

We have just returned from the Auramar and asked to leave after a weeks stay! We went with our 1 year old son and it was a nightmare! 74 steps down to the restaurant and bar - where we had to go to get every drink and meal as we were on an all inclusive basis! There are steps everywhere even in reception area! High chairs in restaurant were always dirty and broken - had to clean them every time before using! We asked to move after a week and we enjoyed the rest of our stay in another Hotel. Please, do not consider this Hotel is you have a baby, pushchair or wheelchair!

We have just returned from the Auramar and asked to leave after a weeks stay! We went with our 1 year old son and it was a nightmare! 74 steps down to the restaurant and bar - where we had to go to get every drink and meal as we were on an all inclusive basis! There are steps everywhere even in reception area! High chairs in restaurant were always dirty and broken - had to clean them every time before using! We asked to move after a week and we enjoyed the rest of our stay in another Hotel. Please, do not consider this Hotel is you have a baby, pushchair or wheelchair!

We had a good holiday BUT I must say the Germans are very rude. I would have to say that if we had been all inclusive we would have enjoyed our stay at the hotel a lot more as we had only booked B&B and we felt discriminated against. There was no facilities for paying guests to buy food or drinks easily within the hotel and when we did try to buy food or drink they never had any change. Everything was a hassel for the Portuguese, even int her restaraunts, the service was the worst I have ever experienced. We got a lovely sea view which sort of made up fo the fact that we felt like 2nd class citizens, there was even a special section for the Germans at the pool, infact some of them who had yellow arms bands (whatever thats all about) even had their own private pool! Even though the hotel is advertised as having 2 out door pools and one indoor nowhere did it mention at the time of booking that one of the pools was out of bounds unless you had a yellow arm band. this may have been the fault of the tour operator or maybe they awere not informed of this by the hotel either so were unable to pass this info on to prespective travellers. we were disapointed with the service the hotel provided, we thought they could have made the facilities a lot more fair to the guests who were not all inclusive. We had to pay €1.70 for a glass of beer that had about tow mouthfulls in it. Also the entertainment was useless and all in GERMAN!!! We liked Portugal, especially the old town and if we were going back we would try and stay within walking distance of it rather than the strip which we were right beside. I can't understand all these people who say this hotel has a great location, to me it was not in a good location at all. I would not stay in this hotel again and I would not reccommensd it either, unless they started to provide a better service to their non all inclusive guests and provided a better entertainment programme, afterall the costs for the entertainment are buiilt in to the cost of your holiday so why should you settle for less than you expect??

We stayed at the Auramar between 21 June and 5 July 2008. It is difficult to know where to start. Some staff at the reception and bar were short only of ignorant. The smell entering reception was like being close to an effluent plant. Our room was in block B directly above the refuse and recycle bins and close by the rear of the kitchens consequently from 7 30 am the noise was deafening and continued all day. The room was just adequate in size but was dirty. We were joine daily by hundreds of ants that were everywhere. The TV did not work properly (Remote broken and volume control also broken)nor did the aircon. Plug sockets were broken and showing bare wires. The water pressure was nonexistent consequently the bidet could not be used nor could we follow each other to the toilet as it would not flush twice in a row. We had to ask staff to have maids change the bedding although towels were changed regularly. The balcony contained the aircon unit and a broken patio set that was filthy. Never mind a view of the service road ensured we never sat out there. On our first day a guest cut themselves on the stairs leading to our room. Despite being reported it took 8 days to clean. We discovered that the hotel catered mainly for All Inclusive clients consequently the entertainment bar was not available to paying guests. A similar story at the poolside bar but where you could order food and drink but we had no idea what the charge would be and staff took full advantage for the first 2-3 days then we stopped using those facilities. Staff at the only bar available to us either ignored us or charged whatever came to mind. The so called restaurant was dreadful. We ate 4 breakfasts in 2 weeks principally because we had to clear our own table to be able to eat. In any case the food was mass prepared and very poor in quality in fact some items that had been exhausted were not replenished quickly enough to allow a full breakfast. On leaving the member of staff who checked us out was rude and ignorant and had no idea whatsoever about public relations nor was she the slightest bit interested in providing even the most basic of service. We witnessed a German, with the assistance of a member of staff; take an umbrella from a deaf family who were unable to communicate their protest. On that note the sun beds must have been purchased some years ago and were in need of being replaced. Please think carefully before booking this 'hotel' especially if you have children with you!

Have just returned from a golf trip with 7 guys from work. To be honest having read some of the negative comments about the hotel from previous reviews, I was a bit anxious. However we have no complaints, this hotel is 3 star so you get what you pay for, in our case 35 pounds per person all inclusive. We were in A block room 323, room was clean, had air con and had some UK channels on the TV. The food was okay lots of salad, fish and pork.I would warn families with young children that you may find it difficult to find food for the kids as it is very rich. The restraunt can be busy 7.15-8.30 and service can be slow. After dinner at the all inclusive bar there are queues but its not excessive and once served you are not limited to one drink. The pool area is very impressive, big deep pool and plenty of sunbeds.There is security gate access down steep steps to the excellent beach. All in all great value for money.

Hotel was clean and reception made you feel welcome.
Rooms were spacious with good facilities,cleaned daily,and about average in decor
Restaurant had plenty of seating but can get conjested during busy times.Food was well cooked and presented to a good standard.There was plenty of variety and catered for all tastes.Breakfast can be at times repetitive but again well cooked.

Poolside bar/snacks had a good variety of food but again seating can be a problem during peak eating times.
Most of the staff were friendly although the bar staff seem to like the europeans more than the british.
The only downside was the daytime and evening entertainment.During the day it was poorly organised,the animators did not really encourage you to get involved and they seem to cater more for the Germans.If you have teenagers they had to arrange their own sports or activities.This was not the fault of First Choice as the hotel have their own team. At night take a pack of cards or visit the strip or old town to get your entertainment.

Overall the location was fantastic,we enjoyed the holiday,shame about the entertainment

Well i dont suppose i should be writing negative comments as i had an excellent deal but there are some points you should consider before booking this hotel.

1. Plenty of sun loungers and parasols
2. Brochure states exclusive All Inclusive Pool which there is not.
3. No childs menu at all. (except Burgers for lunch and evening meal.
4. No or very little evening entertainment which when on lasted 30min exactly and didnt start til 9.30pm.
5. Lots and lots of steps (not really suitable for pushchairs or disabled users)
6. Not enough staff in restaurant clearing tables and serving drinks.
7. Choice of food very limited and repetative (even for 7days). Lots of different fish though.
8. Rooms cleaned and towels changed daily.
9. Staff were ok, not over friendly.
10. Fridges in all rooms.

Hotel was very clean, although the reception/bar area did get a little smokey on times. We also asked to change rooms as when we booked we were told all rooms have sea view. This is not true. Blocks of accomodation are only 3 high so advisable not to ask for low floor if you want a nice view from your balcony. Free bus into Albuferia 3 times a day.