NAU Sao Rafael Suites – All Inclusive

8.4

Excellent

669 Guest reviews

8.4

Excellent

669 Verified Reviews

Read all reviews

Cleanliness9.0/10

Service8.8/10

Comfort9.0/10

Condition8.4/10

location8.0/10

Neighborhood8.0/10

Amenities8.0/10

Everyone was so accommodating. Richard who helped us at dinner was exceptionally kind and very helpful! The staff went out of their way to make our stay as pleasant as it was. Will definitely plan on staying here in the future

Superb team that were friendly and understanding, really looked after us. Clean hotel in a great location near a few beaches and a short uber to other locations like the marina, shopping centre and old town. Thank you Team Nau Sao Raphael!

We enjoyed our stay and would consider returning. Positives: good location, great spacious rooms in the sea view suite, fantastic breakfast, lunch and dinner. Staff were friendly and helpful. Shuttle runs to town free of charge. Only negatives are: Not all-inclusive, only small selection of standard drinks and 2/3 cocktails. Paid entry into a small indoor pool, 4 person hot tub and sauna facilities. Gym is tiny but modern, fits about 2/3 people. A little smell in the rooms we believe from drains, although other than that super clean and smells lovely in hallways. Relatively expensive massages for what you get.

I like the buffets in the hotels.

Top quality bathroom toiletries. Spacious 2 bed family suite. Very good breakfast spread. Quiet location but walking distance to two beautiful beaches.

I booked this hotel based on the "all-inclusive" description as advised by Expedia. Upon arrival, I was notified that the all-inclusive option was not part of the offer, as "all-inclusive" was simply the name of the hotel! The manager advised that if we wanted the all-inclusive package—which is not usually offered during this peak time—an exception could be made at an additional charge per day. I expressed my concern about this being misleading advertising, and the manager stated that Expedia would need to be contacted regarding the misrepresentation. Can you please advise?

Everything

Fantastic Property! Friendly service, great location and very clean. The All-Inclusive was very fair pricing too.

The Spacious rooms was a delight and the easy walking distance to the beach.

Great customer service. Friendly staff and affordable

Nice hotel, but how can an all inclusive hotel charge 15€ per day for pool use ?!. Overall nice and friendly staff, good food but ac in rooms were not working. Had to call front desk multiple times to have it reset.

An amazing all inclusive hotel. Staff very friendly and professional. Food options on the bufet changed every time, even from lunch to dinner. Great selection of drinks, cocktails and fresh natural juices at the bar. The only minus for us, was that we had to pay to use the indoor pool that in our opinion should be included, specially if you have to pay every day you want to go there. Parking on site is plenty, and they have a free minibus shuttle service that will take you to the old town. We will defenatly come back.

Family of five with lots of space and bedding options. The room was very spacious and lots of balcony space. The all-inclusive options were very good. Will definitely be going back in the future.

The food options could have been better. More variety, and more spice needed.

Enjoyed the stay

Nice place and friendly staff. Restaurant choices were quite limited.

Very good atmosphere

Everything was Great! My Only suggestion would be for the food to be kept hotter during the buffet. Or having Microwaves available to heat food. For the rooms, small wash clothes would be helpful (only had large hand towels to wash up with).

The staff were fantastic, very friendly and helpful. The food and all inclusive perks were ideal. The room could have had more lighting. This was caused by only having one power socket on each side of the bed. So, the bed side lamps had to be unplugged for our phones. An extension lead would have sorted this. Was a lovely stay. Thank you.

Nice property, but wish it was closer to the beach.

The hotel is very clean , rooms are big and clean , variety of food , different buffet every night, sea food night was amazing Two swimming pools , plenty of places , Close to the beach , 5 min ride to the Marina and 10 mins to the town Staff are very nice and friendly, recommend it if you want a relaxing holiday

Great hotel, very clean, comfortable, very friendly staff. Delicious food. 2 big pools, so you have plenty of space around. Mini gym, which is good. Walking distance to the beach. Only 10 min drive or less to old city and 5 min drive to marina. Definitely coming back

Very friendly staff, great location and an overall wonderful experience with my family!

Amazing Stay

We had an amazing stay at hotel. Very friendly staff. We had the family delux sea view room. Very spacious, very comfortable beds. Amazing view. Buffet meals were very good

Fresh, clean, would recommend.

Just been for a week, rooms are clean and spacious. Always enough food choices. Bar staff were all great. Lacked on entertainment, although we heard this was being changed very soon.

It was ok. Bedroom was good, comfortable bed and good bathroom. The living room part of the suite was pretty bad, very uncomfortable furniture. The food was mostly poor, even for buffet food. Breakfast was an exception and was pretty good. As we stayed for more than 4 nights we got a free booking at one of the "restaurants". The food came out the same quality as the buffet (poor). The tiramisu dessert was dire, like 2 bits of bland rubber. Eat out where possible. One pool was closed for half of the 6 night stay and the other was only half full for 2-3 days but when they were fully functional they were good. Staff were mostly indifferent to you with some exceptions of them actually caring you were there. Cleaning service was good and front desc staff were friendly. The beaches close by are nice and only a short walk away. I was disappointed with the quality compared to the price. It feels like the price is high due to the room being a suite (quite needlessly as the suite aspect was very poor). For a similar price I would recommend VidaMar just 15-20 mins up the road (stayed there for a work trip before this stay). Better food, better room, nicer grounds, better beach access, and better quality of life improvements over NAU and all for a marginal increase in price (at the time of review). If this was a few hundred pounds cheaper it might be a worth while stay but for the price it is I don't think I will be visiting again.

Had a splendid stay.

The property staffs are very professional and accommodating. Food is fantastic, a great place for getaway!!

Avoid at all costs

The food and drink was the worst all inclusive I have ever encountered. Food cold, drinks warm and zero selection

Richard the restaurant host is brilliant, really helpful and polite and knowledgeable about the area.

!

No laundry service/machines Most chairs by the pool broken Same breakfast every single day! 6 nights Food was not that good and there wasn’t a lot of options Overall disappointing I will definitely not go back or recommend

Gave us what it said on the tin though would have liked a mini bar in the room

Our stay was ama ing

Beach is little far away to walk but it can be done .. hot tub was broken with no future repairs to fix . I would recommend as this is a nice central location for faro or lagos

This is not a 5-star property. It’s a 3 star property. No proper gym at an all inclusive resort! The night entertainment is non existent and not an ideal place for children to keep them entertained. There is no room service after 11 pm and before that you get charged extra/higher priced menu for room delivery (never seen this before let alone in an all inclusive resort). Staff is average at the best and house keeping isn’t good. Find the advertisement on this property misleading. Good location though.

The place was great. The suite was very spacious wit a beautiful ocean view! The food was amazing with great service! I would strongly recommend this hotel!

Went with daughter and 2yr old granddaughter for a short break to get the sun.Arranged a private transfer only 40 minutes from airport.All inclusive was ideal for trying the good variety of food.Had staples of pizza and chips but had great local seafood and salads for a healthier option.It was great that our suite was a living room and a large bedroom with en suite shower above bath-great for a toddler .so she could go to bed and we could enjoy watching TV with a glass of wine. Safe in room but no coffee/tea making facilities which I missed because often up at 6 and breakfast didn’t start till 7! Children’s pool was ideal.I missed a gym. Lovely area to walk around and not far from a small beach and 5 mins taxi to marina or 10 mins to old town and large lovely beach Would certainly return

I do not recommend NAU Sao Rafael Suites - All Inclusive hotel. First of all, the facilities are too old and there are too many unnecessary spaces. I arrived a little early and paid extra to upgrade to a sea view room. The view was nice, but the facilities inside the room were very outdated. The meal had a variety of seafood and meat, but the staff were generally unfriendly and many of them could not speak English. There were many Chinese tour groups and golf groups staying at the hotel, and they were very noisy and disturbing. The sauna was also very old and could only accommodate a few people. The pool was cold and the water in the indoor swimming pool was also cold. It was difficult to use the sunbeds as they were always occupied. Overall, the facilities were more like a 3-star hotel rather than a 5-star hotel. The hotel was noisy until late at night, and I could not get enough rest. During check-out, there were hardly any staff around, so I was able to stay for an extra two hours. I would not stay at this hotel again and I do not recommend it to others.

Great atmosphere, lots to keep the kids busy. The shuttle was really handy to get into town. The staff were very helpful

Sao Rafael Oct 22.

Loved our 2bed/2bath suite. Balcony was huge,plenty space for everyone to chill. Comfiest beds and pillows, I've experienced in a hotel. Food was plentiful and staff couldn't be more helpful. Indoor pool was great, as wasn't quite warm enough to swim outdoors. My only negative comment would be that the jacuzzi wasn't available during our stay. Would definitely love to go back.

Excellent sized rooms for 6 people. Always sun beds available at any time of day. Bars close at midnight so hotel quiet for sleeping

Fantastic stay

Fab service, lovely hotel. Good food.

Well worth a visit

We had a short stopover at this hotel. From the front the building perhaps doesn't look that great but the garden and pool area is beautiful. From the outdoor balcony upstairs you have sea views. The hotel is in a quiet area with a short walk to the nearest beach. Well worth a visit for couples and families.

Great hotel all as advertised very clean food choice excellent all day from breakfast to late evening

Staff don't smile much and all seem pretty miserable

Good hotel

3rd time at this hotel so new what to expect

Very friendly and helpful staff. Neat and tidy hotel all round. Great selection of food at the buffet.

The actual rooms dont have ceiling light only lamp so it was very hard to put make up on. The hotel was fully inclusive which was expensive however there were no facilities to keep us occupied for example there was no gym no golf course basically nothing to do other than sit at the poolside. Entertainment was boring. Food was the same foods every single day which got very boring. Staff were lovely though

We very much enjoyed our stay here. Our 2 bedroom unit was quite nice with comfy beds and a huge balcony which could have been even more amazing had there been enough loungers for the 3 of us. I also wish there had been some extra seating in our rooms. Other than one desk chair, there was nothing so we were stuck sitting on the beds. I was quite happy with the food quality and had no problem finding something that suited me. The service was outstanding everywhere we went. The pool area is very quiet, no music or activities so if you like tunes, you might want to pack a portable speaker. The beach is close by and beautiful. We used the shuttle service to go into town one day and were very glad we were staying where we were, it was super touristy!

Spa and all shared spaces were beautifully clean and kept to a high standard

The beachfront 2 bedroom two bathrooms was lovely. No hot tub to relax in during our stay. The buffet restaurant food was not hot. The music in the lounge ended to early . The reception was exceptional with the assistance from Nuno Rocha and Joao Cunhd . Bartender Monday night lounge with the live music was very welcoming.

In general the place is very nice, with a super nice view of the ocean and Funchal, the complex and the villa were amazing only one thing to mention, there was no tv on the rooms, this is very important for me, also there was no gym on the complex , only an small, tiny place at the golf club that was very expensive for the service.

Buffet food was good; especially the bbq chicken lunch and the Italian restaurant was good too. The food was generally on the same rotation so there was the same food every other day. The larger pool didn’t seem to be cleaned as there was lots of debris in the pool that was there for the entirety of our stay.

I would not class this hotel as a 5 star, it is more like a 3.5! For an all inclusive you Are very limited to the food and drink you can have. All the staff seemed miserable, it’s a shame as the hotel has the potential to be very nice!!

Hotel has good equipment, staff is friendly and meals are very good. Internet has bad quality and electric charger is not good also.

Some stand out staff who were really lovely. Poolside was lovely and lots of activities for the kids to join in.

Beautiful hotel, our 2 bed suite was fantastic, no need to rush for sun beds in the morning either. Quite remote and would have liked tea making facilities in the suites.

The staff were the epitome of professionalism and friendliness. Always willing to help with a smile. The kids club play leaders (as my son called them) deserves an extra mention. It never appeared just to be a job for them, they just came across as genuinely wanting to play with the kids and have fun! The spa was great too -and having 3 full sized pools and a baby one meant it never felt crowded

Great hotel for families, 3 lovely pools, wonderful friendly Kids Club staff and amenities. An easy 10 min walk to a lovely beach. The hotel staff are very helpful and the restaurants perfect for a week’s stay - extensive buffet with the option of an a la carte restaurant 2 days out of 7 which was a nice change. Our suite was large and very clean. We had a really good holiday here!

Kids club was super catered for our 11, 10, 9 and 8 year olds. Fabulous food. Very helpful staff. Great activities - archery, capoeira, aqua Zumba, quizzes, night entertainment! Would highly recommend!

Staff were very accomodating and helpful. The food was lovely and great choices. The free shuttle was very convenient and the hotel is located nearby to the Old town, Marina and Sao Rafael beach.

Food was super. Not so packed around the pool like other hotels. No queuing for meals. Lacked a little on activities. A 10 minute walk from two beautiful beaches. A little bit remote though, one shop and a bar local, but besides that, a €10 taxi ride to the oldtown. There is a hotel shuttle, but only 2/3 runs a day. I was really very happy overall with this hotel and would recommend it.

The food was the same every night, the service in the restaurant really good, to make reservation a la carta is not avaluable, even when i stay for 7 nights always the reservations was full, a d the excursión no good information a d when you want to pay they want only cash, not acceptable

Nice area, great little hotel, easy walk to the beach, pools clean and not congested, finding sunbeds never an issue, with lots of shade and parasols available. Tennis facilities ok with decent rackets and balls. Reception really helpful. Food lovely. Hotel layout a bit confusing but got it eventually. What look like fire doors are actually ways out, better signage would have helped.

Excellent hotel spacious rooms with plenty bathrooms and wardrobes. Very friendly helpful staff. Food was good quality and always refreshed throughout mealtimes although we still found food was best within the first hour and half at mealtimes. We had one not so good meal but it was at 9.45pm when mealtime finished at 10pm. Lovely quaint beach only a 5 min walk from hotel. Lots of activities for kids club and even our 13 year old joined in. The air conditioning actually works and would make the room like an ice bucket if that’s what you like. Overall excellent value and very family oriented hotel we will 100% be back, loved every minute.

Just returned from a fab stay at this hotel and it was cracking..... can’t say anything other than it was really enjoyable. Great kids entertainment and good fab, something for everyone. Would definitely recommend

Loved the layout of the deluxe suite, great for group of friends or families. Ideal having two bathrooms as well. Amazing views of the sea.

The rooms we had where lovely. Big and comfortable. Beds nice and everything so clean. Staff nice too

Clean and tidy. Nice staff . Well kept grounds . I like that it’s a relatively small hotel

The rooms were really spacious and clean. The pool area had lots of sun loungers and again was very clean.

A great place to stay

Fabulous hotel with great staff. Food quality and quantity was great. In general a great location - definitely worth a visit - I would highly recommend and will definitely return in the future

The staff was friendly and informative. They were able to make last minute reservations for us to tours boat tours. We were within 10 minutes of walking distance to a beautiful beach and 5 minute drive to the marina.

Disappointed this considering we always stay here.

We have stayed here for the 4th year as it is always amazing. However this year was a bit disappointing ad the staff were not friendly, the food was constantly cold even though the dining room had just opened. We reported it to staff and they were not bothered. Lots of new conditions were in place, no snacks on terrace etc even we had eaten there on previous nights. Rude staff, 1 very pleasant bar person who was polite and friendly.

Beautiful resort good location room was beautiful with sea view

Amazing food. Staff friendly. Amazing value for money. Close to Sao rafael beach. Spotless hotel.

Lovely rooms. Lovely hotel. Food was good. Helpful staff.

Great hotel enjoyed our stay. Nice big rooms, friendly staff in a quiet area only a short walk to the beach.

5*

Lovely hotel, lovely staff. Beach is walking distance, everything else requires a taxi. Weather isn’t great in April, will return in a hotter month.

Staff were excellent. Hotel was exceptionally clean. A little bit out of the way but worked for us in this occasion. I would like to see the cocktails made to order as I’m not keen on the pre- mixed ones but a good variety of drinks for the AI guests.

Spacious and clean rooms, balcony, three outdoor swimming pools, good selection of buffet food. Unfortunately the indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam room are closed too early: 6:30pm - it would be much better if they were open when it is cold outside and people want to relax indoors. There were very few tables and chairs in the bar area so plenty of people had to stand for hours every day whilst watching live music/other shows.

Liked the large family room that had two bathrooms.

Fabulous Few Days relaxing in comfort.

Had a fabulous few days here with friends. Lovely hotel, spacious suites and the staff were so helpful. Food was lovely but we did have to warm it sometimes with the microwave. That's normal with buffet food I suppose. The A la carte restaurant was good quality. Pool and spa area spotless. Good for local golf and the beach was stunning.

Very friendly staff. Rooms big, but no kettle/tea or coffee facilities in the room. Lots of food and drink available at all times that caters for all ages. The difference between the a la carte restaurant and the buffet is extreme though. Can walk down hill to the beach in about 15mins. Very clean everywhere except the birds flying around (and nesting!) in the buffet restaurant! Not a huge amount nearby to do. Pools cold. Lots of car parking available. Pillows and mattresses extremely soft, may not suit all. They need more indoor plants or something to make the hotel feel less clinical!

Nice property, fab value and amazing food. Try it !

Accommodation excellent. All staff very friendly and helpful.

We had an amazing time here. The food was amazing, I'm a vegetarian and there was so much to choose from for me so it's a great pleace for vegetarians. I always have a problem with the dishes at hotels as they're always dirty but here I did not find a single plate being dirty. The only downside is that there isn't much to do near by, and there's no evening entertainment or activities going on. The beach is really nice and is only a 15 minute walk. Overall it was great. Definitely recommend it if you was a nice quiet get away.

Lovely hotel, very clean, great staff, great food! Lovely rooms only thing is Brits like is a kettle! Lol

Good Holiday- needs variety of Veg food

I came here with my family. I must say we were catered and looked after. My little one enjoyed spending time in indoor pool and at kids club. The staff in kids club were good and all DBS checked. it was an open drop in and pick up through out the whole day. Plus it is situated in the middle of the hotel so we could always pop in on the way to see how my child was getting on. loved the outside gym plus the tennis court. i must say we were able to do lots of activities inside the hotel itself as a family. Spa was good too. However, there wasn't much of a choice for vegetarians. From the galore of food on the buffet counter for us veggies we had to have same food everyday. which became boring after the 3rd day itself. even the salads that we were able to pick as a starter were turned into non-veg the next day. hence, even with the salads we had to stick with the basic ones. Therefore, we had a slight disappointment with the Vegetarian Variety. Over all good and i do recommend it.

Exceeded our expectations, his and her bathrooms, fantastic

Wonderful holiday

Fantastic hotel with friendly and helpful staff. Excellent accommodation and facilities. Wide choice of good food including excellent BBQ fish at lunch time.

Pleasant, spacious All Inc., lovely walk to beach

We have stayed with children and other family members previously at different times of the year and have always enjoyed our stays so we decided to come back with just two of us for a special occasion. Again, we found staff helpful, rooms again very spacious, clean and relaxing. Area and brief walk to the beach is lovely. We go to get away from stresses and hurry of normality and it is just the place. Helpful to have extended times for breakfast, lunch and dinner so you can have a relaxed timetable (and snacks available in between as well). Any time you cater for food on a large buffet scale there are limits to what can be provided, however, there is good choice and fruit and veg is always fresh. As we previously stayed more than 3 nights and this time only 2, what we didn't realise is that you can only use the al a carte restaurant as part of the package if you stay 3 or more nights. (Last time we stayed we have a very nice meal there.)

Lovely hotel.

Nothing to complaint. Everything was so good. Had a wonderful time there.

October stay

Great stay, location, spa

Portugal Getaway

House keeping : the standard of cleanliness throughout the hotel and the public areas are exceptional the service the ladies have provided to our room thought out our stay has been fantastic. Restaurant and bar staff: the restaurant staff have been very couteous, polite and professional even when presented with some very difficult guests ( some people should not be allowed in restaurants - well done guys you dealt with them fantastically) We had a wonderful relaxing time which is what we were aiming for . The staff and hotel have earned every single star keep up the great work and thank you for a fantastic holiday. Chiefs: thank you very much we are not great fans of buffets as we like our food pipping hot but the quality, variety and standard of the food presented on the buffet was excellent , love the BBQs . The ala carte and bar restaurant food was exceptional ( to much for us as we like small portions but we couldn’t resist eating each course- thank you for four amazing nights) Spa: i love my spa treatments and have them as often as I can I must say Philippa and Sarah where fantastic- thank you ladies

Great hotel, great food, great staff great facilities.

Nice enough but would not go back

I first visited his hotel 11 years ago, it was beautiful, I'm sure it was near enough brand new. 11 years later I decided to go back. We have had a lovely holiday, there are parts that you cannot fault but there are also parts that need improvements if it is to stay a 5 star hotel. I would probably say it is more of a 4 star now. You cannot fault the food and variety. Breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are more than better than your average all Inclusive. The only thing that let it down was the drinks if you like your cocktails, they have a machine that makes those, I feel you want to have a cocktail that is made especially (strawberry dakree/espresso martini) you have to pay for this. A lovely waiter made us thes but to have to pay extra let's the all inclusiveness of the holiday down. Who would not want to sit by the pool with a lovely cocktail in their hand? Well you can't here, its plastic cups and made from a machine lol. But as I say if you want to pay for this, at dinner you can do and they were nice enough. The cleanliness of the room you cannot fault. The suite is perfect size, the only thing I would say is it needs a lick of paint as it's all becoming a little tired. The hotel it's self is clean, but again it is tired. They also do not have any cleaners that go around the pool each evening to clean up the straws and plastic cups that people leave behind during the day. But it's not filthy, it just feels it is lacking in some respects.

Not a 5 star

Food - not the best.... same food all the time, breakfast was ok but evening meal at buffet was not varied enough. Restaurants not good at all, the service in the ‘italian’ was dreadful and the food was terrible. Pool bar good but needed a deep clean. Pools good for kids but ruined by excessive loud music all of the time No WIFI despite the hotel promoting on this EXPEDIA site that there is free WiFi in rooms - totally unacceptable

We loved it. The property is comfortable, very clean, and well managed. The service is friendly and efficient. We had a wonderful time and didn't want to leave. We'd love to go back.