Carvoeiro Hotel — Hotel in Lagoa

We spent over 15 days in Portugal on our honeymoon and had the misfortune of ending up at this hotel as our last stay in Portugal. I booked via Booking.com and to be honest, we were in a bit of a hurry so I did not check the reviews on trip advisor. Never again! ||We usually book boutique hotels as the experience is more personal and a lot more interactive in terms of getting to know someone who is local as well as other guests. Since this was our honeymoon and we were going to be in the Algarve as our last stop before heading back, I thought it would be a lovely surprise to indulge in some luxury and I booked this so called 4* hotel looking at the pictures the management would have posted.||It was so bad, the pictures would tell the story. The place is filthy and not worthy of a single star. There is absoluetly no sense of hospitality. Check-in is at an odd 3 or 4 pm and untill then they make you wait without even so much so as offering water to drink. Anyway, we checked in and immediately there was a foul smell in the bathroom. We informed them and the next hour was spent in getting the sink and the shower area de-clogged. In the meantime, we see large holes in the bedsheet! We inform the staff and they ask us what do we want them to do! Also, I had messaged them a month ago, at the time of booking that we would prefer a double bed - they said there are no double beds in the entire hotel and they would have a double bedsheet over the joined single beds, but this was also not done when we checked in and neither was it done when they changed the bedsheet nor the next day. This isn't where the horror story ends, there were bugs in the room, the little kitchenette had so much dust and grime accumulating for god knows how many months and there was cracked wood with dust everywhere you would look, water seepage and rotting wood and carpets. ||Take a look at the pictures and you'll realize without even being there what a dungen of a place this is and the worst thing is nobody cares. We checked out a day earlier and at the time we were leaving, the staff on the reception said "I hope all was well with your stay"! Despite multiple complaints, no one bothered to come to the room to even see how we were managing. Unfortunately we had a boat tour and hike planned on day 2, which is why we didnt check out the same evening we checked in. We were being charged over 200 Euros a night and they didn't even give us a bottle of water. When we asked, they said we give one (50cl) bottle of water when you check in. No matter how many days you're staying with them! On the second evening, when I said the room wasn't cleaned yet, they said we first start with the rooms that would have guests checking in and then come to others and by 5pm it will definately be done. Even after 6pm, no one showed up and after repeated reminders, they started cleaning the room at 6:20. Yet, it was as dirty as you can see in the pictures - ones with the dust and grime around the kitchenette, the ones with the bugs and the dust on window sil etc. ||Portugal is a wonderful country with amazing people that are extremely hospitable and very clean. This hotel and its management is a blotch on everything that...

Hotel – a hotel full of contradictions

We spent a few days at the hotel and our feelings are very mixed.

Room: On the positive side, the apartment was spacious – a large bedroom and a living room, both air-conditioned. Fresh towels and bedding were provided, and the large terrace was a great addition. Unfortunately, there were also many downsides – old wooden windows with peeling paint and an unpleasant sewage smell that lingered every day, which was quite disturbing. The kitchen furniture was clearly worn out, and appliances like the kettle, fridge, microwave, and even the cutlery looked like they were from a few decades ago. On the first day, the toilet wasn’t properly cleaned – it was stained pink. The mirror and sink also needed a proper cleaning with detergent.

Food: Breakfasts were very repetitive – exactly the same every day in a typical British style, with no local dishes or fresh vegetables. The coffee was undrinkable – very bad. Dinners were much better – there was a choice between fish or meat each evening. A big downside, however, was the lack of access to drinks like coffee, tea, or juice during dinner – everything had to be ordered from the menu and paid for separately. What was included in the price in the morning was suddenly extra in the evening.

Staff: The hotel staff were friendly and polite, although not all of them spoke English. Still, they tried to be helpful and kind. At the end of our stay, we were asked to pay for a glass of wine which we had already paid for earlier. Since we didn’t have the receipt, the staff didn’t accept our explanation and insisted we pay again. The man simply handed us the payment terminal without further discussion.

Facilities: The pool was small but had a nice atmosphere. We also enjoyed the reading corner, chess area, and TV lounge at the bar. However, the hotel interior is in desperate need of renovation – old carpets, walls, poor plumbing, and the aforementioned windows should have been replaced long ago.

Summary: The hotel is advertised as a 4-star establishment, but in its current condition, that rating is misleading. It likely had its glory days in the past, but that time is long gone. With some effort, better management, and proper investment, this place could regain its former charm. At the moment, even a 3-star rating...

They promote themselves as a four star, the property is so badly kept, it can't even hold 1 star. By far the worst hotel experience of my life. We were on a multiple country tour over a 75 day period and this was the worst experience we had. We walked out without even completing our stay and no one bothered to come once and see the condition of the room - to be honest, even if they did, there was little they could have done to rectify it, but atleast the gesture would have meant one person at the property cares, that they're in the hospitality industry! Carvoeiro Hotel is a blotch on Portugal's tourism industry, especially for Carvoeiro, the lovely town's name that it has borrowed. Everywhere else the people were lovely and the facilities absolutely clean. Nowhere in the world have I seen a four star property tell their guests that they provide 1 bottle of drinking water on the day of arrival no matter how long you are going to stay. Nowhere in the world would you face a question about what needs to be done from the staff when you say there are holes in the bedsheet provided. The pictures would say the remaining horror story better than any more words. Also, we booked via Booking.com and when we reported the matter, they simply co-ordinated messages back n forth and said there is nothing they can do about this other than us (clients) writing a review. The pictures showcase: the decaying wood at several places including windows, door shutters, walls. Paint peeling off and water leakage from ceilings. Choked sink, that needed fixing right after we checked in extremely unclean induction top and extractor where there is dust and grime just left without cleaning. bedsheet with holes in them ancient, non working ACs and dirty carpets in the hall ways unusable reading room with books strewn across and rotting bugs in the room...