Arribas Sintra Hotel — Hotel in Sintra

Fake it, 'til you make it?!?!? Disaster of a stay, waste of money. Old tired property.

This hotel masquerades as a quality property, but to any truly discerning traveler, it becomes obvious that this place is nothing but one letdown after another. In particular, the management is terrible, which I address in full detail in the next section of this review.

The only thing enjoyable about this property is the view, the benefits end there. Everything else is a complete disappointment from the sloppy execution of the breakfast and dinner, the dirty pool that needs cleaning, the already half consumed mini bar in our room upon check in, the broken/unsafe diving boards (The lower ones are a square of painted plywood), the outdated renovation from 2012 that is now very well worn, and the finally the management staff's priority of making a profit over any guests experience during their stay. (Yes, we left polite feedback about some of the above, where relevant.) From start to finish the hotel is one disappointment after another.

The photos are out of date and do not tell the whole story. This property is tired and the renovations are surface level. Please please please, stay anywhere else.

My primary complaint comes from the drone that was located outside my hotel room window in the middle of the day. I spotted the drone being launched from the pool deck directly below my top-floor room while standing on my balcony shortly after changing into pajamas for a nap. I witness a group of photo/videographers following around a model in a big fuzzy pink jacket holding a martini glass while lying upside down on the diving board. The drone operator launched the device to film the model from above but not before bringing it to a height equal to the top floor and pointing the camera facing the rooms, particularly my family's room. I immediately went to the front desk to inquire as to why the hotel was being filmed in the direction of the occupied rooms. The front desk staff were completely unaware that there would be any filming going on that day. We went to the windows of the lobby where they could also witness the drone for themselves.

I left my complaint with them as no notice was given to any guests in their rooms or at the pool to be made aware that they should take extra steps to protect their privacy during the time of filming. When I stopped in later before heading down to dinner to check with the front desk again I was told that the manager (male) told his staff to tell me "It simply wasn't possible that this happened, because he said so." This manager never chose to follow up to speak to us directly regarding this complaint all day. When I asked if he was available to speak too, the response I got was "If you would like to speak to him about this, he is in the bar."

So now my mother and I were left with only two options which were to go down to the bar to speak to a man who had been consuming alcohol in front of other guests or do nothing and go back to our rooms. It was very evident from the response to our complaint about our privacy that the owner has only one priority and that is the money you and I are lining his...

We have booked a family room for 5 days at the beach. We checked-out after 2 days, and would have done that on the very first moments if we has an alternative accomodation. Family of 5, with 3 children under 5. The children room is without window. I found dark spot on on child’s beadhead (vomit, coffee?) as well as dark spot in the toilet. The front door was dirty (as from pictures) We booked for 5, only got 4 towels, thankfully we had personal ones. The parents’ room had separate beds. We tried to unify them, but there was still a gap between the matters. As we share the bed with an infant, I (mother) ended up sleeping on the jonction between the mattresses. Our room was located near a machine (outside the room) which kept working the whole night and did not let us sleep. The children refuse to sleep in their own beds as they were scared by the noise. In addition, the fridge is not closed in a cupboard so it kept doing noises the whole night. The ventilation in the bathroom brought in bas smells. The whole room was outdates, very motel style, not at all a 4 stars standards. The dinner as well the breakfast was average, breakfast products quite industrial. We raised the complaints to the management the very next morning after our first night as we realised most of the issue after 10pm. We were first asked to stay in the hotel to meet the cleaning staff, but I refused as we had activities planned with our children (who were very upset due to the bad night) We engaged with the staff to come back in the evening and re-discuss the issues. Coming back at night we communicated our choice to check-out earlier and asked about a partial reimboursement of our stay (3 nights over 5). We were told that the room was cleaned and they did not find any issue with the noise. They refused to reimbourse the remaining nights. We decided to leave as we privileged our well being and we were lucky to find an alternative accommodation. No commercial gestures from the hotel. Not even a coffee offered at the bar. We slept there a second night before checking out, the noise was still there are strong. They only cleaned part of the spots but not all of them. We still had only 4 towels instead of 5. Also, the pictures of the website are not the same as in reality. These are quite objectives details, in general the vibe was bad, the weather on the beach was foggy for 48h (and appearently is very often like that) while it was super sunny in the rest...

It's sad to have to write a review full of indignation about a hotel located in such a beautiful place ... but it's hard for me to keep a huge disappointment.. Yes, the place is fantastic, but the human factor can ruin even the best things... Of course, this is not about all the employees, because I also saw kind and professional staff. But at the reception, where the very first impression is made, it is critically important to find professional people.. We were greeted by a completely unkind lady who doesn't even know how to smile and runs to consult with colleagues for every question, disappearing for several minutes.. The hotel has rooms with a pool view and a sea view. We had booked a room with a sea view for 4 nights and a double bed. We mentioned in the reservation that we were traveling with a child and he would sleep with his parents in the big bed. We always do this and it has never been a problem anywhere in the world. And what did we get...:) A room by the pool with a view of half-naked people right in front of the balcony and separate beds.. The iron-faced lady only offered a separate room for a child or an extra bed in the room for the price of an average hotel room. Respecting the strict hotel rules, of course, we had to agree to the extra bed. The reservation clearly shows that the total room price also includes Taxes And Fees eur 73.24, but we had to pay that again, because they didn't see anything like that.. Of course, a trifle, but completely inappropriate for a hotel in this price category.. Fortunately, one person's bad mood cannot spoil the positive impressions of Portugal as such, but only this place.. Hopefully, the few hundred euros you charged extra will be used by the hotel to motivate and improve the qualifications of its employees

P.s. Your arrogant response only proves once again that your priority is not quality customer service. You didn't even understand that the story is not about money, but about not getting the room I booked!!!

Staring at naked people in front of the balcony was the least I wanted to expect on vacation.

Decent hotels usually respond to comments mentioned in the reservation. It seems that you are too arrogant to do that. It is already a hassle for you to fulfill the...