Son of a Beach Hostel

The bed and pillow were comfortable, the terrace was pretty, and the location and price were both good. The showers were dirty, though, and there wasn’t daily cleaning. While I was in a mixed room with an older man, I experienced verbal harassment. At first, the staff didn’t seem to take it seriously until we mentioned the police. The receptionist said I should have reported it earlier, even though it had just happened, and told me not to be so nice to people. I’d been avoiding conversation with the man the whole time, so that felt a bit like blaming the victim. The staff were otherwise doing their jobs well, always smiling and kind. In the end, we worked things out, and the receptionist helped me get a room at another hostel. She was very kind. Harassment needs to be taken seriously, and hostels should have a plan for handling these incidents. Ladies, for your safety, don’t stay in a mixed room. I noticed a lot of badly behaved men in Albufeira and other tourist destinations, including in the nightlife.

Jessica and Joyce made my stay feel special, thank you so much 🫶. Everyone was welcoming and helpful, and the location was excellent. The dorms and bathrooms were cleaned every day. There’s a lovely outdoor lounge, and I met so many friends I hope to keep for life. I can’t recommend this hostel enough!

The location was perfect and the place looked very clean, so I’m really sad about what we found. Cockroaches were everywhere in the rooms, under every bed and in some of our belongings. The receptionist was lovely about it, helped us find somewhere else to stay and gave us a full refund. Check under the beds before sleeping or putting things in drawers.

Our double room was very spacious, but a couple of things raised red flags. We’d booked because parking was listed as available. At check-in, the staff member denied that the listing said anything about parking. When I showed him the facilities information, he changed his tone and said there was free street parking. He also asked us for €2 per night in cash as a hotel tax, even though our booking showed taxes and fees were included. He said those were the booking agent’s taxes. I’d been travelling around Portugal for several weeks and hadn’t come across this before. Having to pay this supposed tax in cash made us uneasy.