Ourabay Hotel Apartamento

Beautiful and clean. Friendly staff . Well maintained

Visited for a week with my sister.
We went for a duplex room, which was fantastic over two levels. Bathroom, kitchenette, dining area and lounge with balcony on the bottom floor then up the stairs to bedroom, bathroom and a sun terrace type area. The room was dated but literally in it to get showered, changed and sleep.
Room was cleaned daily and done to a high standard. All staff we encountered were friendly and helpful.
We had no issues with noise at all.
The prices at the bar were reasonable, and the snacks were really good if you didn’t fancy going out for lunch.
Pool area kept clean, pool was freezing but that didn’t stop my sister going in.
We will definitely return to this hotel is the price is right.

Lovely apartments and staff are very friendly.apartments are good sizes and very clean air con was my best friend 😊close by to all shops and have a lovely bakery round corner for fresh bread

Très de bruits…

Ourabay was a perfect location for our family holiday. The apartment was perfect for us. It was cleaned daily and towels changed every 2 days.
The pool area is also clean and safe. We only spent a few hours every day here. There are plenty of sun beds and the pool bar is great.

There is a £300 deposit. Mainly due to the number of younger groups. We saw no problems and were not disturbed by the young adults enjoying the nightlife.

We would definitely return here!

Do not stay in this hotel if you're coming in groups. The security is very strict and all they will do is threaten you with your deposit. Me and my friend came for 1 week and we got 2 warnings for walking into our friends apartment and apparently being 'too loud' (We wasn't, he was watching us on CCTV go upstairs and took his job a bit too seriously). One night we knocked on our friends apartment and went downstairs and the security said within 2 minutes he got a complaint we were being loud. We did end up getting our deposit back but its not fair they kept threatening us with our €300 deposit. They're also right next to the strip so I don't know what they expect.

Came here for a week's holiday with my mates, and couldn't fault the hotel. Staff were all friendly and hotel was clean and tidy and well equipped depending on what you're after, in a great location and close to shops, restaurants, the new and old towns. Pool area was nice with a pool bar serving nice drinks and food (allergen knowledge was also good).
Rooms were nice and clean. Hotel is fairly dated, however you can tell they maintain it well. Although this was maintained well there were slight bits of ware and tear such as cracks in
worktops, tiles and flooring, stained shower curtains, cracks in the walls, stiff and unsturdy doors and old equipment.
Road outside the hotel is also very loud and busy, however i am aware there is obviously nothing that can be done about this (maybe noise proof windows?).
Beds were comfy and sleep quality was good. Do think a deposit price of €300 euros is very extreme, however i can understand why they do it. The pictures provided by some holiday firms definitely don’t do it justice as it’s very nice. Overall a great time and would recommend/ return.

The hotel itself was fine, close to the strip, shops etc and was clean. The main issue we had and a lot of the other guest was how strict it is, on arrival you are told the quiet hours are 12-8 which is understandable, in my mind this was no loud music or shouting, no, we had a warning letter under our door on the second night and another on the last night, I can admit on the second night we maybe were too loud in the corridors but on the second warning all I did was simply go to another room in total silence, with no music or drinking happening, the security banged on the door and asked me to leave. Unless you want to be in total silence (including speaking at a normal level) I would not book here, majority of people who stayed were in young groups and it is right next to the strip so you can imagine people will come in drunk and unknowingly speak a little louder than usual. There was a group of boys opposite our room who got thrown out on their second night for playing music on the balcony (we did not hear this) with it being the room literally across, it was about 3 minutes after 12, too many rules for a hotel stay you pay money for

The apartment and pool area itself is clean and there are some local amenities close by. We booked for breakfast and had a nice experience each morning - a varity of pastries, fruit (which changed daily) plus standard sausage, scrambled eggs, beans and bacon just missing a hasbrown.

However the standard of beds was shocking, we had three children aged 14, 11 and 6 on makeshift camp beds squashed together. They could barley roll over and they would bag in to eachother. The mattresses were so uncomfortable and hard, pillows were either hard as rock or flat and barley existed. I needed to pay for massages and buy painkillers my back was so sore.
Reviews are also true no fun around the pool my 6 year old couldn't even play with a ball - they confiscated it and hid it without even speaking to us. Floats are hidden and locked in a room below the pool bar.

Some staff were friendly some were rude.

Lovely apartment with delightful staff at Christmas. Across the road and the worm roundabout Pingo Doce supermarket selling big leek things for Christmas and Atlantique Wine - tradition with family is to begin the day on 11 percent alcohol and wind e down to 5 then 2 for a busy traditional family xmas.

This hotel was a good base for our 4 days in Portugal. We were travelling as a group of 15 lads for a Stag do.

The first thing to make note of is there is a £300 deposit per room, you are also made to sign a contract abiding to the hotel rules, the rules are things such as quiet time between the hours of Midnight and 8am (which I didn't think was unreasonable). You can understand why they ask people for the deposit too because there was another larger stag party in the hotel and they were ballooning around jumping on sun loungers and breaking them - luckily the group I was with were all good lads and are tame compared to others.

One thing which we did notice, even if you are talking at a quiet level the hotel is a marble material so it echoes right down the hallway. I could hear some of my mates from outside of the hotel just talking normally - one of the group actually got a 'warning' for a loud conversation when they were sat down having a coffee. So as a top tip - whisper if you want to have a conversation at night.

The pool was ice cold, but we did take a dip in it but you couldn't have a prolonged swim. There is a kiddy pool but it looked a little grim. The pool table was out of order. Overall it was a nice place to chill out through the day. The bar staff were also two lovely ladies who were happy to help.

The rooms of the hotel are large spacious rooms and the cleaners were in everyday, you could smell the cleaning products they had used when you walked into the room which was a nice feeling. The views from the room aren't the greatest but again if you're using this as a base to sleep then you're not really sat outside on the balcony.

The hotel is a short walk to the New town (less than 5 minutes) and only around 6/7 euros in an Uber to the old Town.

I'm not sure if you can get food at the hotel and i'm not even sure if the bar inside the hotel build is open so I can't comment on these.

To Summarise:

- £300 deposit for each room when you're in a group
- Rules have to be followed or you get warnings
- Talking after midnight you must keep to a whisper because the hotel echoes
- rooms cleaned daily
- close to both new town and old town
- not sure if food is available within the hotel

Overall - Good clean base to stay, with food and bars close by

12 went for mates 50th....had been there 12 hours and we had letters under door from security for talking...went for my first drink at the bar too be advised I'd drank too much already...rooms were cleaner when we left...shower wasn't on wall so had too stand in bath and try and wash...it's advertised for stag..hens and groups but we're told it's a family hotel on arrival so very confused there...and it's 10 mins from strip so that's a bit confusing too...spoke too rep who said we had ran into the wrong security guard on arrival...he spoke too hotel manager and we did get our £300 deposit back...but there were 3 stag parties there also so I think they may need too include no parties in future on their site...wouldn't go back too this hitel

Ourabay Hotel Apartments is an absolute NO GO !!
Dirty, Noisy, and poorly managed by staff and management. There were so many things wrong.
Upon check in, we were charged additional $20 for our spouses. We drove there with a car, so we parked downstairs but the doors locked to the parking at 5pm ?? The one elevator was not working and 2 cleaning staff asked “What’s the problem?” They got in and were stationary for 5 min.
The bidet and tub did not drain well. Used the bidet in the morning and 5 hours later, it was had not drained.
If you used the shower, you came out to a sauna of steam and fog !! The pool looked appealing, but you could not use the pool or hot tub because it’s winter.
We woke up to noise at 8 am from the gardener working outside, according to the day clerk. He said it was not maintenance crew and could do anything.
The kitchen looked ok, but there was no dish soap to use at all. This would lead me to believe the dishes and cutlery are all dirty with bacteria. We avoid any use of dishes or cutlery.
It is noisy at all times of the day and night. People talking, heavy object being dropped, furniture moving over the floors, TV noise due to thin walls from old 40-50 year standards.
The entire facility is very outdated and the Booking rating of 8.6 or TripAdvisor 4.0 is shocking to say the least. It should be well below 5 or 2 star !!
I’m shocked that those staying are satisfied with the place !!

1 month stay from end Jan though to end feb for the price we paid it was super cheap so you get what you pay for and we knew before arriving it was going to be very basic we had researched it ! But for the price we took the risk ….. reception was bit rude like on arrival some thing like you get what ‘you paid for ‘ comment did it for us lol my hubby was just making a joke and her face was like sucking lemons Also funny €300 for deposit which they did not take in the end up ! As the lady receptionist changed shift then it was a man so I dunno if they was meant to take it but €300 …. bit extreme because the place is quite run down with damage already and just general wear and tear it’s not in the best state aesthetically so yer that seems a bit steep . Did not get in room till 4-30 pm check in is 4 pm we booked this in Nov so they knew we was coming we arrived at 2 pm apartment not ready it was very very strange it’s off season like genuinely I refuse to believe they did not have a empty room sat waiting for us in off season !!! This is end Jan …. Very odd but we went off got food came back 4pm still not ready pestered a bit like by this point it’s been a long day we just want to get in now …. 4-30 pm we was like ok just let us in this is crazy Dunno how much water they put on floor ! But it was excessive like they had had a flood ? Very confused anyway left door open a bit got a towel and dry all water puddles up off floor ….may be it was the broken shower holder that I noticed flooded it ! It was very clean tho the cleaning team do great because it’s obviously not easy with the wear and tear of the place it’s not ideal but you can tell they try there best ! also communal areas very clean smelled nice always with air fresh etc was a bit run down shabby old furniture think grandma house in 80s it’s basic but functional had all the things you would expect in a self catering apartment…. Twin beds which not the best for a couple we made it work pushing beds together and I did get a double mattress protector of cleaner so beds could be pushed together sofa not comfortable for lounging and because it echoed I felt uncomfortable having the tv too loud so could barely hear it …. Cosmetically I can deal with it not been in the best state it’s workable and I’m not fussy about things like that usually but with the other issues it kinda felt like I needed to mention it ….. We was in room 55 ground floor next room to the end of the hotel which is next to the busy main road ‘worms’ roundabout its pretty much the main road in and out of Oura with 10 !!! Roads that go round the roundabout ! so it’s very very busy with cars all through the night motor bikes revving and those cars with bangers on exhaust pipes! Constant traffic it’s just very very loud and the patio doors do very little to protect from noise it’s also above the under ground garage and next to the over ground car park the car park which also dose very little for privacy pretty much sat in a car park with people looking straight up at you from cars …. every morning we would get woke around 6 am with cars under us revving engines ! But we was up and out most mornings to go exploring Portugal this was a month away not a holiday as such it was more like a home from home we wanted to just chill and explore we was not here to get drunk for a month it was not that sort ‘holiday’ kinda felt like we was put next to the manager office so they could keep a eye on us that’s just how it felt this is off season and we probably in 4 weeks saw maybe 30 other people in and around apartments the whole time we was there at different increments so it was not busy I dunno why they put us in that room it seemed to me like there probably would have been better quieter room they could chosen ! The fact we was there a month it would been better may be higher up ? I bought sum ear plugs which did help ! Block a little noise…. On day 10 of us been there it was raining and we had done a lot of day trips so decided with the weather we would try have a lie in as above because noise not slept well so thought would sleep in one day ! Anyway 11-30 am banging on door thought they was going to take it off ! I was in my pjs asleep ! So answer door obviously half asleep still …. it’s a lady with clip board think miss trunchbull! Shoves a letter In my hand so I read it says important maintenance needs doing so I was like I’m in my pjs so I need a min she was like dead pan face you have 5 min no more that’s it we have to get on etc etc I can’t even remember most of it but basically hurry up and get out !!!! So rude I have never been spoken to in such manner in my whole life let alone while I’m paying to stay somewhere! Anyway I gets dressed goes out and tells the manager I’m sleeping like genuinely could you not have put a letter through door night before and I would been up and ready worse thing was been woke in that manner with no notice it’s raining outside obviously we aren’t going out in that it was chucking it down his answer I will go bar and get you a drink erm like no I’ve literally just woke up I don’t want a drink at the bar thanks !!! like genuinely it was the craziest thing anyway went and sat on balcony and just let them do what ever it was …. I kinda thought it was just to check up on us to be honest I dunno what they thought we was doing but they seemed the sort to be suspicious….. and to do that !!! but no …. THEY BED BUG SPRAYED THE BED I sat there on the balcony and watched them do it !!! Mouth aghast !! A man with a machine literally sprayed the bed ! The bed we was supposed to be sleeping in that night I’ve never ever been so shocked in all my life ! I work in accommodation cleaning my self and I know we have properties empty 7 days after using pesticide!!! I also know you don’t need to ‘preemptively’ spay you only spray once a problem as been detected ! It was insanity….. that night me and my partner coughed all night and kept having to air room and sit on balcony it was probably like 2-3 days after when we stopped coughing!!!! But like I say I’d already complained and I just knew they would not care you can just tell ! They would not be helpful….. Just a couple of other things a note saying all personnel properties out side of safe hotel can’t be held responsible for missing items it just made us feel really uneasy and uncomfortable having anyone in our room ! After reading that ! Like your stuff should be safe right like I can’t put all my stuff in a tiny safe ! Anyway at 3euro a day I think not ! we was there a month ! after that we was literally taking our most valuable stuff out with us it was uncomfortable to have to carry everything around but yer it really put us off tbh we did not have cleaner in I washed the floor and changed the bed and bleached the bathroom empty bins etc my self it was actually so much cleaner anyway me doing it but yer it just did not feel good to have any of these staff in our room ! With a notice like that in room …. Put us right off ! It was off season so there was doing some work on the apartments drilling hammering etc towards the back end of our stay too I dunno why they was doing this in the evenings like 7pm
….. the place is not well insulated you could hear other rooms moving chairs banging doors etc this was off season so not busy I can imagine in peak it would be very loud ! With people just moving around in a normal way …. the entrance and exit is difficult with a suitcase and it’s a road to the car parks with no path up a hill so not easy and quite a few times had to jump to side touching the wall so we don’t get hit by cars coming up to access the car park it was a blind turn so for drivers they would not see pedestrians till too late …. on the plus side the location surrounding area is perfect in respect of lots supermarkets shops eating places bus stop very close for getting around local and beyond the strip we did not frequent but was only 10 min away most places close in off season anyway not a problem for us as we was not there for a drinking ‘holiday’ and the beach 20/30 min steady nice walk down hill was lovely beautiful beach and a very nice walk marina about a hour away walk but you can get a little puffer tran very nice here peaceful area lots to do and see locally parks the sports park and play ground would be wonderful if you have children some very good places to visit close by you can fill your days with ease as much as we enjoyed our stay in Portugal and visiting the surrounding areas little villages and exploring with buses to a wide variety of areas easy accessible we had a wonderful visit in that respect this apartment is just not the one ….. short stay drinking weekend probably but for a month not really fit for purpose you get what you pay for so for cheapness it was good but not for a month it was just far too loud …. May be if we had been put further up on a different floor ?

Very dated cracks in the walls, cracks on the ceramics and chip tiles on the door, when my wife went to reception to see if there was another room they told her,simply no

Good stay once again, ideal location 15 mins to old town and 5 mins to the strip, very pleasant staff, checked in at 2 but room not ready till 4pm,

An old but clean hotel with 5-star service, especially from Bruno at reception. Bruno was incredible during our stay with good recommendations for restaurants, places to visit, extremely friendly, always ready to help despite being busy as there is only one person at reception and always with a smile. The only downside to our stay was that the bar didn't open during the day/night, even though it was New Year's Eve, but the buffet breakfast exceeded our expectations.

The hotel is very dated but it's very clean.
Had some problems with noisy customers but the hotel sorted it out straight away.
The staff were very helpful, friendly and courteous.
The breakfast was standard.
It is located on a main road but with the door closed was fairly quiet.
Would definitely stay there again

This place does the job: clean serviced studio. Delightful young man at reception who kindly upgraded me to a front facing studio with a view of the sea in the distance . The building is on a very busy noisy road but the sound is drowned out when you close the window.
Albufeira in winter is pretty mellow (just the way I like it) and this building is in an urban area .Turn right at corner and five minutes to the Strip and I would suggest turn left , go down to the round about and walk from there to the old town (so much nicer than the route via the busy motorway).
All good no complaints what so ever.

Fantastic location next to supermarket, strip 5 mins away. Beach 20 mins walk.
Duplex room was good, 4 beds. Clean and tidy.
Pool freezing.
Zero tolerance to noise which suited us as it was so quiet for sleeping. No noise at night time.
Definitely recommend