"We had a really relaxing stay at Falesia hotel. It was the first week in November, so whilst it did get a little chilly occasionally when the clouds were out, it was still hot and sunny for most of the day and we spent most of our time by the outdoor pool. We got a good deal on the hotel through a package holiday, and although we booked a basic room, the room felt very spacious with a seating/TV area and had two balconies. The beds were super comfortable! I believe the hotel has recently been upgraded and even though there were some hints of an older hotel perhaps, it felt very modern! My only critique of the building was there were no obvious staircases that we could see so we found ourselves relying on the elevator which could be a little inconvenient at times given we were only one floor up. The rooms have air conditioning, but on the second night ours stopped working and only blew hot air. My friend told reception who said it turned to hot mode at this time of the year and it was the same for the whole hotel, which seemed absurd since it was still hot at night. We had to sleep with the balcony door open that night. Thankfully it was working again the following night and for the rest of the holiday so maybe they were able to switch it back on to cold mode after all.
All the staff were very friendly and the rooms were always cleaned to a high standard. We arrived at the hotel late on the first night and the staff had prepared some sandwiches and were left in our room which was appreciated. I'm a vegetarian and unfortunately they both had meat, so I was unable to eat them, but the gesture was appreciated and my friend (who's not vegetarian) enjoyed them. We booked through an external site, so perhaps if booking directly you might be asked for allergens/dietary preferences.
The buffet was great and had plenty of different options. As a vegetarian, I always had plenty to fill two plates both breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was mostly the same options each day, whilst dinner had a lot of variation from night to night. There were a lot of fancy salads too. It would have been nice to have had a veggie pizza option each day, as all bar one day, the pizza had meat or fish toppings. Whilst everything did have a label clearly stating what each dish was which was good and there were icons for allergens, it seemed like there were quite a few dishes that seemed to be clearly vegetarian that didn't have the vegetarian icon. (Unless there was something like parmesan added to it perhaps). Although, to be fair, this has been a common experience in all the hotels I've been to. Options for vegans would naturally be a lot more limited. We did eat at the bar for lunch a couple of times and both times the food was really good. I had the pizza and it was far superior to the pizza from the dinner buffet.
One thing I did find interesting, and has been mentioned in other reviews, is that for some reason the hotel seems to attract more senior aged guests, so being in our early 30s we did feel a little out of place at first when we arrived. There were a few other younger guests in their 20s-40s, but we were certainly outnumbered. Previous 'Adults Only' hotels I've been to have been more mixed in terms of the age of other guests they attract. That said, it was a very quiet and peaceful holiday!
Overall, if I was returning to Albufeira in the future and wanted somewhere that is great value for money that I can be sure to find relaxing and have good food, I'd certainly come back! :)"
