Hotel Vila Gale Albacora

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at this hotel. I found the staff to be very helpful, friendly, and attentive to their customer's needs. On arrival a young chap rushed to help me wth my luggage, and again on departure. My room was spacious and very clean (as was the bathroom). I enjoyed the food here, and was spoilt for choice by the sumptuous buffet breakfast. The hotel was a former village for the tuna fishermen and their families, and it still has a beautiful little chapel, and a school (now used as a kiddies club). A unique hotel - a true gem!

A great hotel, but a good 1.5 miles from Tavira itself, so I would really only recommend it if you have a car. However, the complex itself is very peaceful, set in well maintained gardens with 2 restaurants, a bar serving snacks, good keep-fit facilities (gym/indoor pool/steam room) and a very nice outdoor pool. The rooms are comfortable and clean - we had a terrace with a view of the river. Breakfast was fantastic - for variety, quality and quantity. There was cereal, pastries, toast, fruit, yoghurt, cheeses and meats, or a full English. We were so full we didn't eat lunch once that week! We also had a couple of evening meals in the restaurant which were nice, although generally the meals we had in Tavira itself were better. Boat trips go from the hotel to the island of Tavira, a 5 minute trip costing about 1 euro, which is well worth it (lovely beach). We stayed here at the end of April, so it wasn't peak season, when I imagine it would get quite busy. We found it a good base for exploring the Algarve and it's also only about 25 mins from the Spanish border, so a day trip to Seville is a must.

I took my 2 young daughters here for a week at the beginning of August with Expedia. Transfers from Faro airport to the hotel were spot on (Both ways) which set the tone. Unlike some others doing the reviews, I was met with only kindness by the hotel staff. Our room, in the older part of complex, was ideal as we had a small garden overlooking the mouth of the river and as we had brought along a number of our own travel games spent some time there. We visited the beach only once as by popular choice the swimming pool won hands down. This is not to say that there was anything wrong with the beach but the boat transfers could have been a bit more frequent. Children can get bored on the beach even with the best of wills. It should be noted that the boat also calls at the sister hotel in Tavira. The swimming pool however was excellent. Both girls being good swimmers it was still a boon to have a swimming pool with no obvious dangers. Tested on a regular basis I noted that it was also cleaned every morning. The food was also enjoyable - I personally thought that for adults it was good value for money after having eaten in Tavira a couple of times and finding the meals there more expensive. I also found nothing wrong with the quality that was on offer and a number of dishes gave me the chance to try out my more adventurous tastes. Breakfast was good with a good choice but the lunchtime menu was somewhat limited.The only thing I would say with regard to the evening meal is that there is very little to tempt young British tastes - with the exception of the desserts table. The client base, it should be noted, was I would say about 80% Portuguese or Spanish which I would say proves a point about its popularity. All the staff that I encountered were bi or tri lingual. All in all the holiday was a good one and was glad that i chose here.

A beautifully situated hotel, excellent food and facilities, rooms are on the small side. Entertainment in bar could be improved. Also watch out for the mosquitoes in this area they are deadly.

We loved this Hotel in an unused fisherman's village in eastern Algarve. A little out of the way is the price we paid for the great natural beauty and the quite and relaxing sorroundings of the estuary of the Gilao River. The standards and amenities are in-line with good 3/4 star hotels, but it is the unusual environment that makes this hotel an outstanding choice in the area. The ferry from the hotel to the beach of Terra Estreita in the Tavira Island could be more frequent though.

My girlfriend and I stayed at the Villa Gale Albacore for a week in July before setting off to Seville for a few days and then returning to the hotel. This is a very clean, comfortable hotel, a retreat. If you want to force yourself to escape from the stresses of work this is an excellent place to be. The rooms are good, we'd question the value in the additional cost of a river view room as there are a lot of mosquitos and would advise against sitting outside after dark. The pool is great with a mix of English, Spanish, Portuguese and Germans, families and couples. The buffet is OK but would recommend going out into Tavira in the evening. The hotel is a bit solated, a boat to the beach (10 mins) or a bus into town (10 mins). The beach is fantastic, no child noise and the only place worth eating at in Tavira is the Barquinha. Well worth hiring a car, exploring the Algarve and going to Seville, only an hour and a half away.

We stayed in this beautifull hotel for 10 days in July 2005, it is a gorgeous hotel if a little isolated. We were there with our toddler who loved the kids small pool, the school building and the swings. We stayed out of the bar at night and sat on the lovely terrace, we did get eaten alive by mozzies but a good insect repellant did the trick. The hotel is on one level so excellant in terms of moving around and the beach behind was clean and secluded. The breakfast was first class with a good variety every morning, the bar served food until 7pm then you could eat in the main restarant for E18 or the a la carte restaurnt in the grounds. We would howver have two resertvations - You cannot walk into town during the day as it is too far and too hot, the hotel does however provide a bus 6 times a day (last one at 7.30pm). The rooms are really quite small but beautifully decorated with sumptuous soft furnishings, towels changed every day and sheets 3 times a week. All in all a lovely hotel well worth a visit if you want to get away form it all.

We stayed at the Vila Gale Albcora on 8th July for 4 nights, 2 girls for a long weekend of sun and relaxing. The Hotel it's self is pleasant, a bit in the middle of nowehere but this does not matter as there is a shuttle bus that goes from the hotel to its sister hotel in the Town every few hours. The town is quaint, rather dusty, with cobbled streets and some rather derelict buildings, a few shops, bars and restaurants. There is a very old castle that you can go and visit also, beware of the steep steps with NO handrail, for me going up was easy but coming down is a different story. The views are great. The Hotel was okay, we had a lovely room situated by the pool, room 212, would reccomend it, standard double room with its own very small garden. The pool area was well kept and clean and the pool was huge! The food i personally thought was horrid, on our first night we went to the hotel BBQ outside, there were millions of mosiqutos but the restaurant manager gave us a insect stick to rub over our arms and ankles, i didnt get bitten but my friend got eaten alive. The food had been left out for a few hours (BBQ 7pm-11pm) and was soggy and i didnt risk eating much as none of it was refrigerated, it was €18 each, €10 would have been better. But this did include free wine, beer or Sangria (which was yummy!). The Bar staff during the day were very rude and would stand around chatting, when you tried to get their attention they seemed to get ruder! How dare i ask for a drink at the bar kind of thing ! Breakfast was not bad actually, lovely strong coffee, breads and ham, cheese and hot English style breakfasts, big selection of fruit, but we decided that it was the same fruit 3 days in a row and on the 3rd day it was fizzy, again not properly refridgerated. Dinner in the restaurant was a buffet and probably all left overs from the BBQ the previous night, yuck! The male restaurant manager knew nothing about the hotels wine, neither did the waiters, even tho there were about 20 on the menu he could not describe 1, so we stuck with water. We would highly reccomend that you go out for dinner, cabs are only €6. We found 2 delightful restaurants on Quatros Argus, lovey waiters, lovely food, lovely views and atmosphere. You can also get a water taxi to the hotel for €8 from the restaurants. The BEACH, for €1.50 you can get a ferry to the hotels private beach, this is a nice relaxing day out, lovely beach with a small bar serving sandwiches and drinks, umbrella and sunbed hire was €11, the hotel staff dont tell you this. The reception staff were not that plasant except for one chap called Luis, he was very funny and helpful, the female manager and other female staff were very rude and made our check out a nightmare, long story. The hotel is most suitable really for families, there were 100's of kids there, of all nationalties, it would not be the most romantic place for couples because of this, but for 2 girls who wanted a relaxing cheap holiday it was ok. I personally would not go back to the hotel, but would reccomend it.

Contrary to the other reviews (which lead me to visiting the hotel). i was disappointed. I cannot fault the hotel, the rooms, and the facilities, however the bar service was patchy to say the least (including lunch service on the terrace). The evening buffet (only choice on Monday's and Tuesday's if you do not want to leave the hotel) was good value E18 but when an dessert was finished that was it no more! the same goes for biscuits for the cheese. The most disappointing thing was the evening bar. there is only one bar a there was always some kind of entertainment on and dozens of kids running around! No place at all if you just wanted a quiet drink. You could not go outside after dark for fear of being eaten alive by mosquito's (something I suspected as the hotel is in a marsh/river area) however the hotel made not effort to deter the bugs after dark. Overall, nice hotel, service patchy, don't go out at night and bring your own booze!

We thought of spending initially 4 nights in this hotel but then extended our staying by one night because we really liked the place. This hotel is juts great for families with young kids as there is a real "school" (probably the same school used in the village when it was used by the local fishermen's kids some years ago) available with animation with plenty of toys and drawing stuff. We liked the quite situation and at the same time the proximity to Tavira (3 min by car) which allows to go and have a walk and a restaurant in this nice little town. We took a junior suite wich allowed us to put the whole family (parents and 2 kids) in 2 rooms. The fodd was great, and taking the little boat to spend your day in the Island of Tavira on the beach is a unique experience highly appreciated by the youngest ones. I would highly recommend everybody to prepare some mosquitos repellent as these little animals are quite agressive in the area. Note as well that in the suites, the sofa beds are extremely uncomfortable if you weigh more than 20 kgs... Finally carefully check your bill when you check-out as we found many mistakes in it (that were rapidly amended by the helpful staff by the way). For those having family we would recommend - if you have a car - to spend a day in the fantastic acuatic park Zoomarina close to Guia, Albufeira (approx. 45 min. by car).