Salgados Palm Village

We were booked into Salgados Palm Village Apartments for a week in March 2020 on a Jet2 all-inclusive package. Sadly, our trip was cut short due to the corona virus outbreak. We were at the hotel for 3 nights instead of 7. We arrived fairly late on Saturday evening due to our Jet2 flight being 3 hours late so by the time we arrived at the hotel it was fairly dark, we were given the room keys and given very vague directions as to how to get to our room, which was the first negative impression we had of the hotel. It took us ages in the dark to drag our cases around to where our room was only to find we couldn’t get up the stairs so we had to then find an underground car park and hubby went up in the lift first to see if our room was anywhere nearby. Thankfully it was. The room was large and spacious although we cringed when we saw the “bathroom” – which was basically a sink outside a toilet and shower with no separation from the room. The shower design was awful, it just leaked water outside and every day we had to use several towels to soak up the water. The room itself was large and we had a huge balcony which went all around the side and front of the room looking out on one side to another building and on the other side the view was the golf course. There was lots of wardrobe space in the room; which was impressive. We could have stayed for a month the amount of closet space there was. A large dining table in the room with chairs along with a large sofa and 2 armchairs with a coffee table made our room very comfortable for the few days we were there. The hotel grounds are large and spacious, lots of palm trees around make this feel very “green” indeed. There were so many different ways you could walk to get to the restaurant or bars, it takes a couple of days to find your way around (we arrived Saturday evening and left a few days later on Tuesday afternoon). We found the main bar on our first night there as it was too late to get something to eat, which we’d already assumed so had bought something on the flight. Yey! Way to get more money out of your passengers Jet2, make them so late that they can’t get a meal at their all-inclusive hotel! The bar was quite busy with lots of cheerful golfers and a live band. We had fun evening although we were a bit startled when we first approached the bar and were told abruptly to stand back and place our order due to social distancing. Remember this was March and social distancing hadn’t been introduced in the UK yet; so it was a bit of a shock being told to shout your order across the bar, but we only needed to be told once. I’d mention here that we were served all drinks in plastic cups during our stay which was quite unpleasant. Contrary to what we had read in reviews before going out there, we found all the other guests at the hotel to be very friendly and cheerful whether we saw them in the bar, restaurant or in the grounds. There was no on-site shop open during our stay which wasn’t really an issue for us but as smokers we had to visit the hotel next door to buy cigarettes, this hotel being part of the NAU chain too. To kill two birds with one stone, needing cigarettes and wanting to see what the next door hotel was like in case we’d like to visit at another time. The staff were no friendlier than Salgados Palm Village even though we understand the other hotel was a 5 star. Definitely won’t be visiting this hotel either in the future… The resort is large and well spread out, it would have been quite fun I imagine if the weather had been better, we had one day where it rained heavily pretty much all day. The view from our room was another building we assumed was part of the resort although we didn’t notice any guests going into the building apart from the bar (maybe it opens at peak times, the resort was only at around 2-30% capacity during our stay). As the other bar was quite a walk in the rain, we went to this bar on our 2nd evening which was a mistake! As we walked up to the bar, we were met with a hostile glare from the blonde employee manning this bar. At the time we went in there were a couple of guys playing pool and she openly looked resentful when we asked for a couple of glasses of wine and kept looking over my shoulder at the TV. We didn’t know why she was so grumpy, but when we sat down with our drinks a few metres away we saw that she was deeply engrossed on something on the TV which seemed to be a soap opera from the dramatic expressions and gestures of the actors. In the 2 hours that we were there, we only ordered another round of drinks as we didn’t feel comfortable “bothering” the grumpy woman who was also openly hostile to others who went to the bar to be served. Funnily enough no one seemed be bothered by her behaviour; maybe they had already experienced her poor service on other evenings. The staff in the restaurants were not friendly either, the first time we went to eat breakfast, it being our first day, we didn’t know how things work, so we looked for someone to ask if we could sit anywhere, help ourselves, etc. It was like pulling teeth trying to get someone to even speak with us, let alone tell us that everything was help yourself including tea and coffee. That was fine by us, but if the staff are not interested in speaking with guests maybe there should be a LARGE sign up telling people to help themselves or maybe this should be explained at reception when you check in. We were unable to use any of the numerous swimming pools dotted around due to the time of year we visited although we saw a few brave lads diving in and screaming and pretty much getting out again very quickly! The food options were good for all meals (although as mentioned earlier, everything was self-service and the resort itself was in good condition. We imagined it would be good fun during peak summer periods; it’s a shame we won’t be experiencing that as we have no intention of returning. I’m giving the resort 3 stars only due to the fact that we liked our room and the layout of the resort. The service was mostly poor all round, apart from 1 male member of staff at the bar who was the closest thing to “friendly” and 1 male member of staff from reception who came and helped us with our cases to go to reception and actually had a pleasant conversation with us on the walk back to reception when we left the hotel to move to another hotel 3 days into our stay. Oh and I must mention the really unfriendly reception manager (I assume that’s what she was as the other reception staff seemed very quiet when she was around) when we were checking out who acted as she was doing us a huge favour by relocating us to another hotel (which they had organised via Jet2; not us), she didn’t smile, didn’t even make proper eye contact when speaking with us. This just made the end of our stay at Salgados Palm Village even more unpleasant. So, there you have it; I’m only recommending this resort if you can put up with hostile, rude and unfriendly service from the staff. The hotel was probably at 30% capacity at the most so no one was rushed off their feet. One would have thought they would make an effort to actually make guests feel welcome so they might want to return some day after the corona situation had improved around the world! The resort itself is a 4 star which it is definitely worthy of from an aesthetic point of view; for service though it only gets 1 star!

Staff of the entertainment team were simply amazing. We are thankful of meeting Sofia, marianna, ketchup, sonia, edna, lucio , diogo.. everyone from team ( im so bad with names that i dont remember all the names)were great... my kids really had a great time. "The shark" family will always be greatful to your efforts especially on making "baby shark - samuel" and "mermaid - elisa" have a memorable, fab, great, fun, and amazing time. Also a few hotel staff that were great... Aurelio, tassia from the restaurant whom would always have a great and welcoming energie whenever i see them. The 2 staff who serves food at the buffet from double boggey (he always wears a black uniform and has tattoos on his left arm - whom i also bid farewell this afternoon after lunch), and the small lady also serving food from the buffet from the boggy and whom assisted me woth my omelet a few times(she also always wears a black uniform - also bid farewell this morning after breakfast). These people from the F&B always had a smile on there faces when they see me and my family even if its busy especially this last few days. Marta at the FO and Joao (i think from the porters) were as friendly as can be with short interactions with them they were very welcoming amd accommodating. Unfortunately there were also negative issues with housekeeping and a few FO staff but I would rather not dwel on it and just keep and remember the great experience in mind to end our vacation. To the people mentioned above you make people enjoy their vacation. You are the reason why it was worth the travel.

This is now our 5th summer staying here . Clean , tidy , staff friendly , food is ok . Apartments are spacious with all rooms air conditioning . WiFi poor is the only thing I could mention poor . Everything and everyone good . 5 mins walk to the beach . 10 min taxi to old town . Golf course available if your into that .