Olissippo Lapa Palace Hotel — Hotel in Lisbon

Strengths: The front desk staff helped us check in early when there were available rooms. The room was generally clean and well-equipped. Weaknesses: The service was poor, specifically in the following instances: Incident 1: A staff member entered the room without knocking, using the card key, and quickly apologized upon seeing us and left. Later, when we sought the manager to investigate the matter and strengthen management, the manager replied that it was likely a housekeeping staff member and assured us not to worry, suggesting that the staff might have knocked but we didn’t hear it, and he would verify and provide feedback. Incident 2: When we returned to the hotel around midnight and inquired about the outcome with the front desk, the receptionist, who was the same uncle who had helped us check in earlier, asked “So, what do you want?” after I repeated the details of Incident 1. When I asked if it was normal for housekeeping staff to enter without knocking, he replied, “Yes, it’s normal in the morning.” He then repeated at least five times, “I can’t do anything for you. You should find the manager yourself tomorrow.” After the conversation ended, he also complained about us in Portuguese, which we couldn’t understand, making us feel offended and unattended. Incident 3: Finally, at breakfast the next day, the head of housekeeping explained the reason and apologized, stating that the housekeeping staff were unaware of our early check-in and thus entered to clean the room. We understood, but it was mainly due to the uncle at the front desk not notifying the housekeeping staff when he helped us check in early. Additionally, the room card he gave us in the morning didn’t work at night, requiring us to go to the front desk to resolve the issue. Incident 4: On the morning of July 26th, when we were checking out, the manager still did not provide any explanation or apology for the uncle’s impolite attitude. I had to bring it up, and only then did the front desk coldly apologize with a few words. In Summary: Choosing to stay at a hotel of the Leading Hotels of the World group was based on their service-oriented philosophy. However, it is clear that the uncle at the front desk and his team did not embody high-quality service, which was disappointing. We will not choose the Leading Hotels of the World group again. Suggestions: Enhance Staff Training: The hotel should strengthen customer service training for all staff to ensure that each employee provides professional and polite service. Improve Communication: Ensure smooth communication between the front desk and housekeeping departments to prevent such incidents from reoccurring. Upgrade Complaint Handling: The hotel should establish an effective complaint handling mechanism to ensure customer issues are addressed promptly and...

Lapa Palace Hotel was a great experience and a perfect retreat from hectic travel. Before our trip even started we had issues with our flights and the staff was extremely helpful and worked with our travel agent to adjust our reservation to the changes. When we finally arrived we were greeted and the front desk was aware of our situation and offered their condolences about the travel hiccup even if it wasn’t even in their control. The room was beautiful and had a view of the stunning pool. The housekeeping staff was very attentive and made sure to tidy our room even folded clothes we had left out. The food was certainly the best 5 star hotel food I have had. The included breakfast is extremely worth having at least once. The chef’s menu was very delicious and a great experience to have in the balcony facing the pool. All the food from the pool restaurant, the main dining room to room service was excellent.

Service deserves its own section because I rated 4 starts because you cannot rate 4.5. The only reason I don’t say 5 is because of the pool side service. The pool and pool side bar/restaurant hours are odd the end time is too early in my opinion. Even before the closing time the staff has to start putting things away early and service essentially comes to a halt an hour before close so about 5 o’clock which in my opinion is perfect time for a drink outside by the pool. You get the impression the pool is self serve but after we went at an earlier time we noticed we were supposed to have full service (staff set up umbrellas, bring you towels, and take your drink orders etc). Other than that the service was amazing. The wait staff at the main restaurant was extremely friendly and helped us decide what to have and was open to answering any questions we had about the food as they were very knowledgeable. A special shout out is deserved for the room service staff. We had a late night dessert ordered to our room and the staff member was very cheerful and extremely nice, he was in a very good mood and interacted with us. We had pre ordered breakfast since we had an early flight and he was tracking our breakfast and told us goodnight and see you in the morning. The food came in a cart with everything we needed and he even set up chairs for us to eat. Cannot commend the room service enough!

Overall amazing experience and we felt it was our safe haven to relax and unwind in...

The hotel is in an excellent location and all the staff were extremely pleasant. The food at breakfast and the range and choice is superb but one does find one's self constantly interrupted by staff who are cleaning plates as you are taking your last mouthful. The indoor pool area is small but adequate. The steam bath and sauna are small but fit for purpose. The gymnasium is reasonably well kitted out. The shiatsu massage in the Wellness Centre is one of the best that I have had. The rooms are fine and the bathroom is of a good size. The views from the hotel to the Tagus are beautiful. The gardens are well-tended. I would return against if on business in Lisbon.

Because the property is 5* graded and listed in "The Leading Hotels of the World" one is obliged to pick out the smallest items for consideration. As follows:

Ashtrays in the Smoking Room are not regularly attended to Ashtray on the room balcony is not emptied on a daily basis The room safe is too small for a 5* property The complimentary water bottles should be placed in the fridge and not in full sunlight on the room desk The in-room fruit basket contained spoiled fruit on consecutive days and was not removed until it was pointed out The bar service ceases at 1730 on certain days with no alternatives The reception area is freezing cold and if one is working during early morning or late evening the open doors adversely affect the temperature no matter where one sits in Soundproofing in rooms needs significant improvement, standard chat and noise from the neighbouring room was clearly and annoyingly audible at all times The noise from the piano bar is clearly audible in the room even some distance from the piano bar and late into the night There is a consistent noise of rave music on the docks clearly audible in the room There is congestion at the entrance to the property for both cars and arrival in taxis The flagstone steps around the pool area are very poorly designed and dangerous The room service menu is somewhat limited

Room tip: Choose a room that is far away from the piano bar and reception as noise travels at...