Yet again the Paraiso did not disapoint. Have now been to the Paraiso 5 times and the standard has not slipped, yeh it could do with a lick of paint, but doesnt every hotel coming up to the end of the summer season, but its a very clean hotel and has so much going on for all ages.


Great Idea this year of only allowing inflatables in one area of the swimming pool as it was becoming ridiculous in previous years with them taking over the whole pool. And the life guards do a great job of sorting out anyone who ignores the pools rules :)

Right in the centre of Albufeira you are only 15 mins from the strip and the old town, so caters for all tastes.

Staff as usual were very friendly big shouts to Luis, Joel and Bruno in the bar, hilarious as usual.

Bring on the next visit cannot wait.

I've just got back from a week at the Paraiso (me, the wife and two kids) and after reading some of the reviews on here before we left was a little worried to say the least.....safe to say I shouldn't have been.

As I say, we've just spent a week there and had a great time, yes the hotel could do with a lick of paint in some areas and a general spruce up but what hotel doesn't after a long hard holiday season. Yes the hotel does run out of sun beds some days , but what can you expect when you get a load of numpties going out at 6:30 in the morning, doing the 'it's my sun bed' thing and then not using them for the best part of the day?

The rooms are spacious, clean, secure (although,as mentioned, could do with a general spruce up) and cleaned 6 out of 7 days , have the towels changed 6 out of 7 days and the bed linen changed 4 out of 7 days. The restautants are clean, the food is always hot and they vary whats served each day (from carvery style meats to American themed days to varying pastas and fresh fruit. We used all of the restaurants in the hotel and never experienced a single queue, no hunting around for a table and never a lack of food.

The pool was large with more than enough space for everyone who wanted to use it, but we found the kids pool too small for all the younger kids who needed to use it. Quisically they had chosen to cordon off the shallow end of the main pool for ' inflatables only' which did narrow the choice for young kids and non swimmers.

The grounds are well maintained and, as is a must these days, is totally secure for your little ones to run around in (there are 6 foot plus security fences all around the perimeter and the entire hotel is covered by CCTV. Contrary to what other reviews have suggested, we found the staff (from the cleaners to reception to those in the restarants and bars) always polite and helpful and always a smile and a friendly welcome.

The kids club is great as are the kids club staff, lots to do all the time for the little ones. The nightime entertainment is geared towards the kids, but they'll love it, and the entertainment staff are great fun. If you're up for a laugh yourself you'll enjoy it too!!

As for the surrounding area, the beaches are superb with nearest to the hotel (Fishermans beach) around a 20 minute walk. Albufeira is a little hilly so consider taking the hotel courtesy bus if you have toddlers. The old town (down by fishermans beach) is full of good restaurants and bars and well worth a look. If you are looking for something more lively then do check out the strip as it's does exactly what it was designed for, bars, food, music and entertainment.

Overall the hotel maybe not a four star by UK standards but probably a 3 star, 3 star+. Well worth a visit though.

This is the 2nd year that my husband, my son (14 years) and I have visited the Paraiso and once again we were not disappointed.Last year went with a tour operator - this year booked direct and saved £500 off the brochure price.

The hotel is in the centre of Albuferia - turn right for the Strip, turn left for the Old Town - both are a comfortable 15 - 20 minutes walk - both have excellant beaches.

Having read some of the negative reports posted this year, I felt the need to write a report and redress the balance a bit.

Accomodation - Yes the hotel could do with a bit of sprucing up in places - a paint job/replacement of carpets would not go amiss in some areas. However, despite this the rooms and public areas are always kept spotlessly clean. Always opt for an apartment not a studio - the apartments are huge and well stocked.

The Pool - Yes the pool is too small for the number of guests staying in high season. Although bathing/ball games were possible and enjoyable in the morning, post 2.00pm the pool became uncomfortably crowded. Thankfully. the hotel restricts the use of inflatables to a small, shallow end of the pool. Don't some parents realise that small kids in deep water unsupervised on an inflatable is dangerous and large kids on infatables are just a nuisance to other bathers.

Lack of sunbeds - We stayed during the first week of August and although we didn't experience any problems in finding a sunbed for the first half of the week, this changed for the later half of the week with the new arrivals forcing the 7.00am sunbed scrum.
The sunbed issue was exacerbated by a small selfish minority of guests (particularly in groups) who would reserve beds which appeared to be never used. Anyway there are plenty of grassy areas around the pool to sit on, so take a rug and you will never have to worry about the lack of sunbeds.

Entertainment - We go on holiday to relax not to be entertained so can't comment on the quality of the daytime entertainment. As for the evening entertainment, considered it to be standard multi-national hotel bar entertainment - no better no worse.

Standard of food - We opted just for B&B this year (last year went half board) - not because we thought that there was anything wrong with the hotel food last year but there are so many restaurants in the Strip and Old Town that we wanted to try this time. The breakfast - buffet style - was always fresh and although the same each day, there was a varied choice.

Queues - If you don't want to queue for your food then do not leave it till half an hour before the restaurant closes to eat.

Lifts - Resorted to using the stairs most evenings as the lifts were unavailable as being used as a source of entertainment by unsupervised kids.

TIP - Before parting with your money to the Reps for day trips, check out the brochure from reception - all trips offered by your tour company are availabale from local operators at a much cheaper cost (and yes the reps. speak english)

One point I would like to make though is to those who choose to go All Inclusive - AI is just one option that this hotel offers and just because you have opted to pay 1 price and nothing else, it does not mean that you have priority over the hotel staff or its facilities. Guests who choose to pay for food/drinks as they want them have as much right to be served as you. Also, this hotel caters for guests from a number of different countries - this is not a UK exclusive hotel! Reference my comments about the evening entertainment - you may consider a singer every night boring, but 50% of the audience wouldn't find a British stand up comic funny as they wouldn't understand them!!!

In summary - if your dream holiday is lying by the pool each day contemplating your next meal (which you have already paid for), whilst someone else entertains your kids, this hotel is not for you. However, if you are looking for a good standard of accomodation with good facilities, which is very centrally placed for Albuferia and the surrounding area, this hotel is for you.

Brochure looks wonderful,everything you want on a holiday NOT.
NOT 4 Star.
Food basic.
Reception desk miserable and unhelpfull.
Book in advance for rooms together no chance can't help you.
Drinks finish at 11o'clock for all inclusive.
Balconey on 8th floor dangerous no bars.
Evening Entertainment the biggest joke of all.
Complain to thomas cook reps waste of time.

Your choice good luck. Can't say i didn't warn you.