Vila Gale Santa Cruz

Amazing staff
Cool breakfast
Comfortable atmosphere

Las instalaciones están bien cuidadas y limpias

Spacious, neat and clean, enjoyable stay.

The hotel team was very kind in addressing a problem that arose with my family's travel. We are very grateful to them.

Extremely disappointing – not what we expected from an all-inclusive hotel

We stayed at Vila Galé Santa Cruz while my daughter was attending a skating camp nearby. Unfortunately, this was one of the most disappointing hotel stays we have experienced, and I would struggle to recommend this hotel to anyone considering an all-inclusive holiday.

For an all-inclusive hotel, there is remarkably little to do. There were no daytime or evening activities, and the advertised live music did not happen during our stay. If you are expecting the usual all-inclusive atmosphere and entertainment, you may be very disappointed.

The hotel also does not appear to be properly set up to operate as an all-inclusive hotel. The bar was regularly unattended, resulting in long waits just to get a drink. Even worse, trying to obtain items from the advertised snack menu was unnecessarily difficult, with some items apparently unavailable or extremely difficult to get.

The buffet selection was poor, strange and repetitive, but my biggest concern was the complete lack of confidence I had in the arrangements for guests with allergies.

I have a fish allergy, yet fish was frequently positioned immediately next to other dishes. This creates an obvious and entirely avoidable risk of cross-contamination. I would not feel comfortable relying on the buffet if I had a serious allergy.

The pasta chef was actually very good and was one of the few consistently positive aspects of the dining experience.

Unfortunately, some of the restaurant staff were also far from welcoming. On one occasion, a waitress tried to remove my plate while I was still eating simply because I had put my fork down while having a drink. I had to stop her and explain that I had not finished.

Sunbeds – rules that apparently mean nothing!

The hotel’s sunbed policy is another example of rules being advertised but not actually enforced.

We found two completely unoccupied sunbeds and used them for around two hours. A French couple then returned and aggressively attempted to move my daughter from one of the beds, insisting that they were “theirs” and swore at us in French (I’m a fairly fluent French speaker so knew exactly what they were saying).

I reported this to the duty manager, who was about as useful as a chocolate teapot in the heat. He refused to speak to the other guests and simply told me that he would “keep an eye on them”.

Why have a rule about reserving sunbeds if the hotel has absolutely no intention of enforcing it?

Housekeeping was hit and miss. On one occasion we were out for the entire day and returned to find the room had not been serviced. On another, we went out for the day, returned and went to dinner, only to come back and find the room then being serviced.

Towels were also taken away without being replaced.

Basic housekeeping should not be something guests have to chase.

We booked a twin room but instead had to share a super-king bed with my daughter, with only one quilt. Needless to say, this was not particularly comfortable.

The bed itself was also uncomfortable, which certainly didn’t help.

I also agree with previous reviewers regarding the lack of useful information in English in the room. For an international hotel, this seems a basic omission.

There were numerous smaller things that contributed to the feeling that this hotel simply isn’t being managed to the standard we expected.

Seeing a man asleep on a sofa immediately beside the restaurant was hardly the most professional impression. Late opening of the breakfast buffet most days was a bind as we had to be out for training at 8am.

Advertised entertainment didn’t take place. Basic services were inconsistent. Rules weren’t enforced. Staff attitudes varied considerably. The food offering was disappointing, and the arrangements for allergies left me genuinely concerned.

This isn’t about expecting luxury or expecting everything to be perfect. It is about expecting a hotel to deliver the service and facilities it advertises.

For us, Vila Galé Santa Cruz simply didn’t.

Very disappointing and definitely not an all-inclusive experience I would choose to repeat.

Arrived 12th July and stayed for nine nights on an all inclusive basis. The hotel itself is lovely as is the surrounfing area. Very close to the airport so really enjoyed watching the planes landing and taking off. The staff were lovely, especially in the reception where they were friendly and helpful. The bedrooms were good, very comfortable beds, although the cleaning could have been a bit better. However, no tea and coffee making facilities which is unusual for a supposedly four star hotel. But a kettle was supplied on request along with various teas, coffee etc. and one small bottle of water. None of which were replenished and we had to carry large glass bottles of water to our room every day. There was an information folder in our room but none of it was in english! The food was disappointing to say the least. Breakfast buffet was adequate, but no change. The same every day. And one day there was no orange juice, and we were told there wasn't going to be any! Lunch and evening buffet very disappointing. Poor qualithy meats, not much imagination. Tasteless and boring. Even in the a la carte restaurant the food was awful. One lunchtime we decided to order from the cafe -toasted sandwich and chips. after a very long wait I decided to go and see what the delay was, only to find our meals sitting on the bar stone cold! Appaling service. Very disappointed in the drinks in the evenings. We were given a list of all the drinks available to all inclusive guests. However, after the first night they ran out of brandy. And then they ran out of their equivalent of baileys. Towards the end of the week they had to go looking for gin and vodka. But had plenty of whisky apparently. Disgraceful. Very bad management. Some of the sunbeds could do with replacing - torn and sagging in the middle. Quite uncomfortable. And for two whole days one complete side of the pool area was closed for cleaning, so no sunbeds that side. Does that really have to be done during high season? No information given. Very disappointed. In our opinion this is not a four star hotel and we will never return or recommend it.

Very good pool and friendly staff.
The breakfast is good and the buffet for dinner is great. The live-cooking is fun to watch, especially the pasta-chef Octavio.

Resturant staff were excellent.

Breakfast.

Freundliches Personal.