Vale Da Lapa Village Resort

Nice place, but unhelpful staff,...

Buildings were ok, nice massage.

Agreed late check out, but got forced out of room early Ants crawling everywhere Cleaners stole phone charger Cleaners didn’t clean No fresh towels Had to request door lock to be fixed Raised complaints, no solution or compensation offered

Brivate bool

Bed , towels ,furniture too bad not comfortable not luxury bet the Brice too expensive , no body help to take luggage

The breakfasts were good, lots of choice. The reception staff were polite. Our villa was in a staggered terrace and some aspects of the design were good. E.g. no noise from neighbouring villas, quiet and private. We had pleasant areas to sit outside with a small patio and an upstairs covered balcony leading off the bedroom. The whole place was kept clean. The gardens were well kept.

At first glance the villa looked well equipped with Bosch appliances in the kitchen and spacious, freshly decorated rooms which appeared well furnished. However there was a lack of attention to detail and to simple comforts. The mattress cover on our double bed was very uncomfortable to lie on. It was too small for the bed and it did not lie flat. It was thin and backed in plastic so easily became skewed and creased and it felt sweaty. We informed staff in reception of this problem but it was not resolved. Two of our pillows felt lumpy and were the type filled with chunks of foam. During our first couple of days we needed to ask reception twice to get a second mug provided in our kitchen (there were lots of small coffee cups and glasses etc- but only one mug). Although we were pleased with the breakfasts, we only had one evening meal in the hotel’s restaurant - as we found it over priced and poor quality. There were not many other guests when we stayed, so nice and quiet but to the extent that it felt a bit weird and lacking in atmosphere. Many of the villas on the large hotel complex appeared to be empty. We were told it was too early in the season for the bus service to the beach.

breakfast was good, the Apartment was spaceous and clean

The reception was clumsy. Made us feel disoriented and confused. Our luggage was thrown into a pickup truck as if we were on a ranch, and we were asked to help ourselves with the luggage, as there were no "men" to help the ladies at the reception. Not apt for a 5-star experience. We arrived at 10 o clock and requested an early check in, which they told us we would get, but our room was not ready until 15 o clock. The staff was okay, but they were clearly under staffed when we were there and waiters at the restaurant were stressed out and never smiling. Sometimes they would even ignore us, when we ordered a drink. Beds were uncomfortable. The sofa bed was horrible. The aircondition did not work and during the week, we stayed, the hotel did not get around to fix or replace it. No compensation was offered for that. The lunch and evening buffets were mediocre: boring recipes, fish and meat overcooked, potatoes almost raw etc. Location not good. No beaches or restaurants near. In high season there is a shuttle bus from hotel to nearest Beach (3 km away and not 2 km as stated on booking.com) but outside of season there is no shuttle bus even though we had fantastic weather and high temperatures. The hotel accepts big Groups at the cost of the standard offered the rest of the hotel guests. Normally there is a la carte menu with the half board meal plan, but during the week we stayed there was only buffet. The reason, they told us, was because they had a big Group of appr. 40 teenagers on tennis camp. Although the kids behaved, I don't think a 5 star hotel should host these kinds of Groups and it certainly shouldn't be at the cost of other paying guests. I would go as far as calling it fraud. We were told by staff that we had "bad luck" because we stayed at the hotel at the same time as they had a big Group. I simply cannot see how that should be our problem :(

Accommodation bigger than expected

Not 5 star. Girl on reception was rude and unprofessional during check in. Rooms need basic maintenance, light bulbs, sealing around shower, cables being boxed in and lots of other small issues like this that you would not get in a 4 or 5 star hotel. Chose this hotel as they had an A la Carte half board menu. For the first 3 days of our 9 day stay they did and food was good. Then there was a large influx of school kids and they switched to a buffet. Things rapidly went down hill. Uncooked chicken, over cooked meat and fish. Not enough food to go round. Long waits. Cold food. The list goes on... I would rate it 3 star at best and would say if your looking for 5 star accommodation go elsewhere...

The shower trickles and kitchen appliances have no manuals considering people come from all over the world and may not be familiar with the local appliances in use. When I asked for assistance from staff they do not know how to operate the appliance as well. Our villa was facing a pond that is not in use and is quite shallow as well as unsightly and a breeding ground for insects. We were unable to sit outside due to flies/insects. My son’s face was covered with bites on our first day.

Spacious apartment

Pool steps need highlighting as they are difficult to see and many guests fell on them

Nice villa

Service is worst. Helpful is worst. Room service is. It available. If you ask on reception why room service is not available they reply “I can do nothing”

The size of the villa.

Neither the facilities nor the staff deserves 5-stars. The first night we found out, that the bath in our villa had a hole. We went to the reception. They said they had no other rooms available, but tomorrow morning the maintenance would have a look. By 11:00 the next morning nobody showed up. By that time we had seen some more deficiencies in the house (wifi didn't work, water from the shower was running on the floor, the carpet in the bedroom was dirty) and really wanted to move to another one. The receptionist apologized and gave us another house. The next house was in the same shabby state, with the normal bath being the only change. No help with moving our luggage was offered. The only compensation offered was the late check-out next day ("tomorrow you can stay as long as you want"), but at 12:00 housekeeping called, asking when we were going to leave and saying they had no information about the late checkout. No chance to get coffee, if it is not the breakfast time. Not even for money. We entered the lobby bar to have a cup of coffee at around 11:30. The only waiter was laying the tables. When we asked him, whether we could buy some coffee, he smiled, said yes, turned his back to us and kept on doing his work. After 10min of waiting we left. Disappointing.

We stayed in 2 resorts on this stay. This property was a real let down. It seems in financial crisis and should not be rated as 5*. The Villa's are nice as are the cleaning staff. The resort ...

Uncomfortable beds, threadbare robes and towels. Unclean spa with dirty tiles. Steam room not working. No staff by the main pool area. No real activities to speak of.

They claim this is a 5-star hotel but honestly the standard of accommodation, cleanliness and eating was VERY POOR responding to a 3-star resort even less! There was a big spot with mold in the ...

bed uncomfortable wifi doesn't work restaurant expensive resort in middle of nowhere sun beds poor lack of maintenance

The location was good and the layout excellent. The apartment was more than we had expected from the web site information.

We were disappointed with the second evening meal we had at the restaurant and it was not up to the standard of the one we had earlier in the week.

We stayed in September 2010 when the hotel was new and some facilities were not available. The accommodation was excellent and very spacious. The pool was lovely and there were always plenty of sunbeds available. The food at breakfast was good though sometimes slo in being replenished

Although the food at breakfast was good and the staff were very nice service was very eratic.There were lots of staff milling around at times but they were very disorganised and sometimes there would be a long wait for tables to be cleared of food trays to be filled. The hot water in the villas was provided by a hot water tank and if all four of us tried to shower one after the other the hot water would run out.