Moradias Estação Radio Naval AL — Hotel in Lajes das Flores

What an ordeal! Leaves a lot to be desired... To start with, the place is difficult to find. The owner, Telma, was unreachable by phone when we arrived looking for the place, and we spent nearly an hour trying to find it, until we finally managed with the help of some locals (it's right next to the Lajes lighthouse, although you'll see nothing there to indicate it).

There are a number of units, some in better shape than others. The one we got was in a bad state of disrepair — most of the windows wouldn’t open, which was very bad in view of the hot, humid weather we experienced upon our arrival and absence of air conditioning or any form of ventilation, not even a fan! What’s more, upon trying to open the windows, the curtain rod above the window broke off and injured my wife! They agreed to move us to another unit, which was a little better (it had windows that we were actually able to open!), although the amenities were similar to the first. While we had rented the unit for 5 people (and it is supposed to be able to accommodate 6), there were only 3 seats in the living room, with a tiny CRT television set that looked as if it had time travelled in from the 1970’s. There was a satellite box, but most of the channels were scrambled, so there was barely anything to watch — and the cable connector from the satellite dish to the cable box didn’t have an actual connector at the end, but rather just a long, frayed wire sticking out, which you had to constantly fiddle with to maintain the connection (annoying, and also dangerous!). In the kitchen there was only a tiny (~1 x 1 meter) table and 4 backless stools, so it was impossible for us to all sit together anywhere for a meal (and in view of the nearly nonexistent storage or shelf space in the unit, the little table space there was, was completely taken by food we had bought for our stay).

I believe a “vacation home” should provide you with the basics you need for your stay. The only things provided here were toilet paper, towels, and some very basic kitchenware. Also, if the “property details” state that there is a washing machine and coffee maker, these things should actually be there. The “washing machine” actually translates to coordinating with Mariana (who cleans the units) for her to pick up a bag of dirty clothes in the morning and bringing them back to you in the evening. Not exactly convenient when you think you’re getting a washing machine which will allow you to do your laundry at your own convenience during your stay. And does “coffee machine” refer to the electric kettle placed on top of the fridge in the kitchen (for which you need to unplug the microwave if you want to plug it in and use it)?

The plumbing was also rather disastrous. Water barely drained from the sink or shower — so you end up taking a shower while standing in a pool of water, and having to constantly turn the faucet on and off while washing the dishes if you don’t want the sink to fill up with water. Also, they seem to use an instant gas water heater, which has the effect that it takes a LONG time for hot water to reach the shower (by which time you’re already standing in a pool of water). And the cold water doesn’t flow out of the shower head and faucets, but rather gets “ejected” out in spurts.

All that said, the accommodation is in a nice, convenient location on the island (although if I had to do this again, in hindsight, I would preferably look for something in the area of Fajã Grande).

My final gripe: when you charge people hundreds of Euros for lodging, it’s almost unheard of not to accept credit cards, as is the case here (cash only). We didn’t even get a receipt when we paid, but rather were told we’d be sent a receipt by email (which we wouldn’t be able to see until we had left the area, due to the malfunctioning cellular network...). It's now been a few weeks since we stayed at Moradias Estacao Radio Naval and I have yet to see any form of receipt for the hundreds of Euros of cash we handed over... I wonder what the Portuguese tax authorities would think of...

INSTALACIONES: casa en mal estado, había muchos detalles que podían solucionarse con poco esfuerzo y dinero (por ejemplo, cerrar una grieta que había en la puerta de entrada por la que pasaban bichos, arreglar los enchufes quemados etc.)

SERVICIOS: por el precio que tiene, le falta tener servicios básicos hoy en día como el wifi o un secador de pelo, que con el tiempo que hace en la isla es básico.

*COLCHÓN: Solo hace falta ver la foto que adjuntamos. No hay somier, es una tabla mal cortada sobre la que hay un colchón mugriento y un trozo de espuma vieja y bastante sucia. Ni siquiera se molestaron en poner un cubrecolchón para intentar arreglarlo un poco.

Muebles antiguos, poco cuidados con una decoración inexistente. Las fotos engañan bastante.

Lo único bueno es el lugar, un sitio tranquilo con unas vistas bonitas y el servicio de la encargada de hacer el check in (que no es la misma que la dueña) que se tomó la molestia de venir a enseñarnos como...

Null Sterne oder Minussterne geht leider nicht. Haben die Unterkunft nicht bezogen, sondern uns direkt was anderes besorgt. Die Unterkunft ist eine Bruchbude. Fenster lassen sich entweder nicht öffnen oder nicht verschließen. Kühlschrank ist total verrostet. Das was in der Beschreibung als Küche beschrieben wird, würden wir niemals Küche nennen. Komfort nicht vorhanden, die Bezeichnung "einfache Unterkunft" noch völlig übertrieben. Die Einrichtung ist Sperrmüll. Zelturlaub ist da deutlich komfortabler. So was überhaupt zu vermieten ist...