Monte da Bravura — Hotel in Lagos

As we arrived at Monte da Bravura Green Resort we got room No. 15 with the hint that this was the last available room we booked, but due to its secluded location it is very calm and has the best view of all rooms.||Unfortunately this room no real hotel room at all at this pretty nice resort. It is located in the house of the owner and used by his kids when they are visiting. This means a lot of things:||- On the official website you can read about 14 rooms in Monte da Bravura. We got room No. 15 ;)||- It smelled pretty old and musty due to the outdated furniture.|Squeaking bed mattress, mattress too small for the bed frame, which was masked by a colourful blanket. ||- The bathroom was more than outdated. The tile joints were cracked, the toilet seat sloped, the light like in an (ugly) canteen kitchen and the water something between cold and hot, permanently changing. Additionally there was a big misterious niche in the corner of the bathroom.||- There was a door right to the house of the owner, so you could hear them talk in the evening.||- Wifi was nearly not available in the room.||- The door to our terrace did not shut completely.||The Next day we confronted the owner that we haven’t received what we booked and after claiming that this must be our own fault as we have booked the last available room (how should we have known that we will get this mess which was completely different to the advertised pictures???) and later, that the room was still listed at HRS by accident as he has never received bookings from them before (to be honest: we compared with booking.com while booking and there was it available as well) – we were able to leave with paying only the night we stayed. Which by far wasn’t worth 125 EUR. Probably this kind of trap works out regularly. But a little advice from my side to the management: If you would be customer focused and honest you wouldn’t make this room available at all or sell it for a much lower price with providing real pictures of it.||Breakfast was ok, surrounding and pools were pretty and the other hotel rooms (where we had a look at) definitely more representing these good reviews.||And yes, there really is a poor grey parrot in the basement – in a way too small cage. ||Summary:...

First the 'ifs' before the bouquets...||If you want a lively hotel bar to nip down to before dinner, or a location that's a gentle stroll from the beach or local restaurants; forget it. ||In that case, 'it's' not right for you and you're not right for 'it'.||This is a beautifully quiet, remote location, lovingly presented for the definitive 'get-away-from-it all' break.||Our room on two levels was spacious, clean and acceptably simple and the welcome from the owners, warm, personal and engaging. After an informative introduction from Fernando which included beach, restaurant and general hot-spot recommendations - and travel shortcuts to match - the rest was pretty much left to us.||Be aware that unless you wish to walk the unblemished hills and valleys surrounding the property, everywhere is a car journey. I'd suspect taxi journeys aren't the most straightforward to organise so car hire is a must. ||But the location means the wonderfully wild and rugged west coast and the more sedate but equally memorable beaches along the south coast to Alvor and Carvoeiro are all within easy reach. ||You've probably gathered by now that we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and yes, we'd go back...

Beautifull surroundings and pools. ||+ clean.||||- Outdated "antique" furniture.||- In the bathroom it smels like open sewer.||- Hardly any water pressure and warm water for 2-3 mins.||- kitchen tools are very cheap, old and broken.||- On your patio you can only relax on back-breaking metal bistro chairs.||- No towels at the pool.||- Breakfast / bar area were closed (which sucked cause the place is very remote).||- Very bad wifi||||Owner told us she wanted to sell the place and not invest anymore. She rather drives her hummer around in Lagos. I was planning to give 2-3 stars but that was before my girlfriend kindly asked for better chairs at our patio (cause my back started to hurt after sitting for a week on those metal torture devices) and the owner told her in an impolite way this was not possible (while better chairs were available and our neighbours even had comfortable chairs). Such a small request.. For this I am giving a 1 star review. ||||P.s. we had a studio with a kitchenette don't know about the...