Outpost - Casa das Arribas — Hotel in Sintra

I would like to pass my testimonial about my stay by the end of May this year. It took a long to post this because life happens but just remembered about this experience and it may be helpful to other guests. After my trip I email the owner with my review:

"Hi Chris,

I'm writing to you to give you feedback about our stay at Casa das Arribas. There were some events that disappointed us regarding our expectations and that made us feel very uncomfortable that we would like to report.

Before our arrival we texted Ana telling her about the timing we would arrive. When we get there we saw that she was mistaken about our date of arrival so she's was not there to receive us. She promptly offered to take us breakfast on the next day as a way of apologizing. That was sweet. Another guy got there to show us our apartment and he told us Ana was on her way to explain to us the property better and just took us to our apartment and left. Ana never showed up. On the day of arrival, there were speakers on the pool and a photoshoot happening with a lot of people around. That was very uncomfortable for us because we felt like we could not enjoy the property with privacy. We thought "ok, they thought we were arriving tomorrow so maybe that's why they are having a production in here". But later we noticed that was other couple there and it was weird. We never went to the pool on that day because of that. Arriving at the apartment the first thing we noticed was that the floor was not mapped and shelves were dirty. The bathroom shelve was dirty to the point that it looked like there were some renovations there after cleaning. On vacations, we appreciate being able to walk barefoot on our apartment. We send pictures attached about the conditions, at least what we were able to capture. It was not also pleasant to have some kind of renovations happening on the house right next to ours, with materials outside and some noise while we were resting. Later on the day, we took a shower and we were naked walking to the room when we were faced with two people on our patio right there, taking photos. The model and camera were on our private patio, on the net ??? That's just too much. We were waiting for Ana to show up to talk to her about that and the cleaning but she never called or showed up. We were also trying to enjoy the sunset on the garden on the front and surprise surprise the production were there taking pictures until it went dark. Anyway, we thought about giving a chance to the next day to be better. Next day we got breakfast, although we were vegan, we made an exception and tried some stuff. We went to the beach, and after lunch, we thought about trying the pool. It got busy the minute we arrived there. A lot of cars in and out and when I went to get chairs in the pantry shop I meet Ana that was there with other people. She told me to expect her that she would go to us in a few moments to talk. Ana took off without saying anything to us and we quickly understood that the new people arriving were other crew for another photoshoot! The other guests there were annoyed about it too because there were in and out, preparing everything with doors open, chatting, they even almost entered the other family apartment by mistake. When you book on a place so small as your property you can not having people walking around with cameras, music and models all over the place. It was so unpleasant and ruined the whole experience to us along with all the other bad experiences we had. We never experienced anything like that. Doesn't make sense at all."

From the owner I got excuses and any other compensation about my...

I would like to share my experience with Outpost as it might be useful for other people that want to stay here based on the beautiful pictures.

Our ‘stay’ in Outpost - Casas da Arriba (July 2020) that we booked through our local travel agent at our own request (because we sam nice pictures and good reviews) was not ok at all.

We received a very lowkey welcome from the owner Ana and were led to our room.

First of all: We were not given the room we had booked (the North Casita) but instead got directed to the Garden Cabana, apparently due to an overbooking. This is a less expensive room.

After being in the studio room (not a separate bedroom as in the North Casita we booked) for 15mins, we both felt it impossible to stay in that room. As it was apparently newly finished, the room was very damp. The bedding therefore, although fresh, was damp. Being in the bed or on the sofa for 10mins, our clothes also became damp. It smelt like fresh paint, not very healthy but we could look past that maybe, but it also felt so humid that the combination would have made for a very unhealthy and uncomfortable stay.

We informed the host, who came to the room and simply denied the fact… I don’t have to tell you we were stunned. I have never experienced such a reaction from anyone in the hospitality business EVER.

They could offer us the Duplex room for the last 2 nights of our stay, but the first night was fully booked. The duplex room is also not the price category of the stay we had booked.

At this point, Ana called her partner and discussed this with him on the phone, with us present in the room, in a very condescending way, as if we were the most difficult people on earth.

This was the last stop on an otherwise amazing trip through Portugal and we felt miserable. We didn’t see another option than to drive on to another hotel, one we had already been and were sure to feel good.

Since nothing was going to be done to make us feel more comfortable, we just took our stuff back to the car and left.

I do not need to tell you how disappointed we were.

We were not at all pleased with the way our complaint was treated, we were made to feel as though we are difficult (and I can promise you we're not, we just expect decent quality for our money). We paid €894 for 3 nights and feel extremely robbed, knowing what we usually experience for this kind of money in terms of quality of stay and service.

Our travel agency passed this complaint to them and never even received a reply. Just wow.

We paid for a stay we didn't have, breakfast we didn't eat and a shadow over our holidays that luckily, the hotel we went to afterwards was able to fully erase and then some.

I suggest Ana and her partner visit some comparable stays to know what people expect for almost €900 for 3 nights. I do not recommend anyone to stay here, except of course if you want to pay to just be a bystander of a place that wants to look good and feel surfy and cool but has no regards for people who actually want to have a great holiday.

It took me a long time to write this review as I wanted to give them the opportunity for a (at least! partial) refund or reaction but alas.

In my entire travel history, this is easily the single most horrible experience I've ever had.

Thank you for coming to my TED-talk on HOW NOT TO BE...

This was honestly one of the best stays we've ever had and we've travelled a lot and in different price categories. I was hesitant to book at first because of some critical comments on here, but I think they just wanted classic hotel experience, which obviously this is not. The garden is beautiful just as the yoga and meditation room with sea view, the bubbly pool an the sauna were just a dream. It was all just perfect. The outpost is a very well thought through concept with an honesty store with really great wines (try casal sta maria reserva white - amaaazing) and generally everything you could need for a wholesome and relaxing stay at the sea. The place has even its own playlist, but you can also use the speaker to play your own music. I'm honestly very confused about comments saying that people were not friendly or didn't take enough time to show the premisses. We were shown everything there was to be seen and the concept is that you can exist at this beautiful property without needing anyone. You can just be there and enjoy the nature, the garden, the ocean or the beautiful surroundings. If we needed anything, people at the office, same as Anna, were just a call away and made everything happen we asked them for. If you want a receptionist at the premisses that is present 24/7 its probably not for you, but otherwise it's the most perfect place. We stayed in the south wing and would highly recommend for a couple. We're still remiscing about the time spent at the outpost and are already planning our next trip. It was a perfect home away from home with beatiful details and the sound of the ocean always in...