Sagres Time Apartments — Hotel in Vila do Bispo

We stayed here for 3 weeks in November. We had an amazing time, and the apartment was perfect. We initially booked through booking.com but the apartment staff very kindly phoned us to ask if we wanted to cancel that reservation and book directly with them due to the cleaning costs. Booking.com charges that daily whereas for a long stay we only had to pay it every 3 days. Unsure of how much that was as it’s included in the price, but it meant a substantial saving for us!

When we arrived we were given free drinks (a choice of various soft drinks or beer!) and local pastries - pastel de nata - I could move here just for those alone! They even greeted our dog and gave him treats!

The apartment itself was immaculately clean. The housekeeping ladies cleaned it every 3 days - they really went above and beyond. It had everything we needed. Well equipped kitchen. It had a nice deep bath (which is a rare find in most holiday rentals now!), a good size, 2 balconies (front and back). We had our dog with us too - some apartments are pet friendly, while others they’re not allowed. Tasteful decor. Comfy sofa and chair (also hard to find in most rentals). Plenty of mirrors, hairdryer, towels and bed linen changed every 3 days - in short, everything you could possibly need. Reception staff told us if we needed anything, to just ask. The bed was a little firm for my liking, however reception also said we could ask for a mattress topper if we wished - we didn’t do that as we were both pretty much comatose each night from all the sea air, and long photography excursions!

As a photographer, I was more than a little nervous to leave expensive camera and drone equipment in the apartment when cleaning staff came in. But I needn’t have been. You hear horror stories about personal belongings going missing in some hotels, where staff are accused, but honestly I had no need to worry! The staff in Sagres Time apartments were very professional and discreet - it isn’t possible to stash away 4 cameras, a handful of lenses (defending on what I took with me each day), a drone, laptop and external drives in a hotel safe. So for that alone, a huge thank you.

The pool….amazing!!! It wasn’t very deep, nor huge, but as we were here at a quiet time of year, we usually had the pool to ourselves. Just the sound of the wind rustling in the palm trees for company! What more could you want! Just like the apartment, the pool area was immaculately clean and well maintained. We could ask for pool towels whenever we wanted. And yes, even in November it was warm enough to use the pool (18-24 degrees during the day).

This trip was a mix of work (as a photographer), and a holiday in one. 3 weeks simply wasn’t long enough! The local beaches are stunning (photographers dream). Sagres itself is a quiet, sleepy little town (at least, it is in November). But there’s supermarkets and good restaurants within walking distance..

We’re not ones for going to the same place on holiday every year, but we’ve fallen in love with the place and felt such at home that we will definitely be back! We’d also highly recommend to anyone considering staying here. Will add photos when I’ve had chance to go through the thousands I took...

Before we came to the hotel, the staff were very proactive. They called me and confirmed my arrival time and they got prepared for our arrival.

We booked the one bedroom apartment for a family of three. If you have a kid that is older than three you will probably need to pay extra €10 per night for the extra bed.

The staff at the reception were extremely friendly and thorough. They introduced the flat to us and let us know how to use the flat and what to pay attention to.

We came here in November. The weather was still quite warm during the day. At the hottest hour. The pool didn’t feel very cold, but once the sun was setting the water became a bit more chilly.

The flat is extremely clean it has everything you need including washing machine, dishwasher, hob, pots and pans cups and mug.

It is also easy to get around without a car. There is a supermarket about eight minutes walk from the apartment. It is within walking distance to restaurants and shops.

We will definitely...

De gebouwen zien er fris uit van buitenaf. Ze staan niet bepaald op de meest aantrekkelijke plaats in Sagres, maar alles is te voet wel goed te doen. Het onthaal is 24 uur per dag geopend. De medewerkers zijn correct, maar niet bijster enthousiast. |Inrichting van de appartementen is kleurloos, goedkoop en onpersoonlijk. Geen idee wie de lichtschakelaars plaatste, maar ook daar is alle logica zoek. |De inrichting doet me meer aan kantoor dan aan vakantie denken.|Douche cabines zijn aan de kleine kant.|Er zijn te weinig potten en pannen om zelf een volwaardige maaltijd te kunnen klaarmaken. Wij gebruikten de keuken dus enkel voor het ontbijt. Gelukkig beschikt Sagres over voldoende leuke restaurantjes. |Er is overal airco en er waren flatscreen tv's in elke kamer. Behandel echter de afstandsbediening als was ze van porselein, want als je ze breekt vragen ze er 100 € voor!!!!|De kamers werden elke dag netjes gepoetst en de mountainbikes die je kunt huren zijn in prima staat.|Het zwembad is altijd netjes,overal ondiep maar nodigt niet uit om een frisse duik te nemen. Gedurende de ganse week die we er waren heb ik er slechts weinig mensen gebruik zien van maken.|De Atlantische oceaan in de buurt maakt alles goed. |De gratis WiFi is pas echt een lachertje. Je doet er beter aan om het WiFi netwerk niet te gebruiken en je krant via dataroaming te downloaden. Het kost je misschien een paar eurocent, maar het bespaart je tenminste het lange wachten bij gebruik van het Sagres time WiFi netwerk. Ik las een review uit 2012 waar de manager op een klacht antwoordde dat er 2 nieuwe antennes kwamen die het probleem zouden oplossen. Je doet er beter aan om geen gratis WiFi aan te bieden dan de grap die hier wordt voorgeschoteld. ||Conclusie : voor deze prijs kon het echt veel beter. Ik heb niet de indruk dat iemand hier met plezier werkt. Toch nog een pluim voor het onderhoudspersoneel. Alles was perfect op dat vlak. Sagres Time dicht zichzelf 4 sterren toe, ik hou het eerder op 3.|De streek rond Sagres heeft wel enorm veel te bieden. Prachtige natuur, sportieve mogelijkheden, lekker eten.. We komen waarschijnlijk terug, maar kiezen zeker een andere verblijfplaats. ||Ik begrijp niet hoe Sagres time aan dergelijke hoge scores komt op tripadvisor en Booking.com. Of misschien begrijp ik het wel. Ooit zag ik een reportage over hoe bedrijven tegen betaling die scores kunnen manipuleren. Ik heb de beoordelingen van 'Sagres Time' eens nagelezen en die lijken stuk voor stuk meer op reclameboodschappen dan op...