Ukino Palmeiras Village - 24h All Inclusive

This hotel is really clean. You couldn't fault it but what really let's it down is it's access for anyone who cannot walk far. There are ramps and stairs to get down to the two of the pools but the one's with slides and bits for children to play on are down ramps and stairs again. No lift to the bottom to get down there. The main entertainment wasn't until 10:00pm and was down where these pools were. Again no access if you had problems walking. Also, some of the entertainment wasn't really for children to watch as one had a man supposed to be part of an acrobat act doing what would be considered as a drag act but with really scanty clothes and movements not appropriate for youngsters to watch. Not doing any acrobatics at all. The main town is not close but you can get a handy train outside the hotel to the local town but need to get there either really early or go later as it gets packed. The food was hit and miss and we had a free pass to the Asain restaurant but should have passed on it. We found it terrible. To go to the steak house you had to pay for it. Surprise. Surprise...

Me my wife and 2 children aged 11 and 12 have just come back from a 4 night break here . First the reception guy couldn’t have been any nicer on first arrival . When I said I’m checking in he said first things first , how was your trip? . Absolutely lovely guy as were all the staff we encountered . Our side view double room was spotless . The beds were comfy as was the kids sofa bed. Onto the food . Overall we all thought the food was really good . A lot of variety and both my kids were going up for 2nd and third plates . The staff again were amazing and very polite . The British people on here complaining about the food must be used to chicken nuggets and other junk food. My youngest is the pickiest eater imaginable and she loved the food . She tried all sorts of food including paella and the different veg on offer and lived most of it . The snack bar does do basic burgers and hot dogs if that’s your thing but we’re in Portugal not the uk so we were more than happy with the food . The only thing I would say would maybe increase vegan options ? My wife can’t have dairy and although there was enough dairy free options she was quite limited in what she could have . Maybe a vegan pizza, or 1 or 2 vegan desserts and some oat milk would have been great. Soya milk is available at breakfast but is the most inferior of milk alternatives so a choice would have been nice . Now the entertainment . Just a big thankyou to all the entertainment/animation team.We enjoyed all the night time entertainment . The Portuguese dance show was great as were the traditional costumes . The tunnel of terror was brilliant ! Halloween is quite a big thing in our house and this was better than any of us expected . There was a delay on us entering but the young French lad was so polite and apologetic and kept telling us they want to get it right and it has to be safe . All 4 of us were absolutely buzzing when we came out of the tunnel . You could see the work and effort that had gone into this. Speaking of work and effort , the final Halloween show. Wow ! Absolutely brilliant . I can’t imagine the effort end work that went into this . The young French girl with blonde who created it was in tears at the end which showed how much it meant . My wife turned to me and said “I knew she’d have had something to do with it “ all the animation team were amazing but this girl was non stop throughout the entertainment , so a special thankyou to her . The entertainment is not aimed at the French . It’s done in 4 languages English, french , Portuguese and Spanish . I think the British people complaining should stick with places like Benidorm . In fact the worst parts of our break was British kids running wild whilst their “parents” were getting to drunk to care . Older French people at the buffet not understanding how to que was also annoying but in no way the fault of the hotel . Thanks again to the hotel and all the staff we encountered ! Ashley ,room 1432

First of all the rooms, booked a double room that sleeps a maximum of 3 people, large room but we were expecting 3 beds; I’ve never stayed in a 4* hotel where the child’s bed is a unstable fold up camp bed before. No tea or coffee making facilities in the room, upon hiring the kettle from reception it was obvious why. The reason being there is no plugs to have a kettle in the room. The only spare plugs are under the bedside tables very low to the floor so not ideal for elderly unless you’re comfortable crawling around on your hands and knees to plug anything in. The fridge barely gets cold I wouldn’t even class it as a fridge. The room is riddled with ants so don’t leave any food or drink unattended unless you want a mouth full of ants. We also went down to reception to ask about the heating as staying during October the room does get very cold in the night, to be told they don’t allow any heating in the room to be turned on until November, the reception offered us covers to accommodate despite explaining that the room was freezing cold. Not exactly what you want to hear when you’ve paid a lot of money for your holiday to have to lay in a cold room. The food! The food is okay, but not 4* by a long shot. not a lot of variety for an all inclusive hotel and the queues at meal times, considering we came off season are ridiculous. Couldn’t imagine the wait times if we came in the summer. We also rang up before hand to ask if they could cater for my son as he has celiac disease and can’t eat gluten and were reassured that wouldn’t be a problem. When asking what the gluten free options that could be prepared for him were, we were told spaghetti. Just spaghetti. Which came out from the kitchen uncooked and obviously inedible. Cant say a lot about the entertainment as we didn’t get chance to see any. If you arrive to the entertainment which is 8 till midnight any later than 8:30 you’re not going to get a seat. Again this is off season. Very little seating considering they know how many guests are staying and there is nothing around the hotel in walking distance to entertain.