Great location. Friendly staff. Very nice pool area and gardens. Lots of sunbeds and umbrellas. Very efficient and polite staff around the poolside bar area especially Ivone who couldn’t be more helpful and efficient. No need for the early morning sunbed rush here. Good housekeeping. Good choice at breakfast. Can’t believe the minority of terrible reviews. Mark and Ann
I rated my experience at this hotel as average because of the attitude of some people working there. Most of them were grumpy and some of them rude with us. Special mention to the blonde lady seating guests at breakfast. She was very rude, shouting at everyone everyday. She had extremely bad manners making us feeling very uncomfortable. Most of the people working at reception were constantly grumpy and not helpful at all. They not even tried to help. We’ve never seen good manners or a smile in their faces, especially a young dark hair female receptionist. When we arrived, all the keys of our rooms were wrong and when asked her to please change them for us we received an extremely bad attitude and not even a sorry. Apart from the bad experience with most of the workers at the hotel (except the nice cleaning ladies) I have to say that the location is very good, just steps away from a beautiful beach. Plenty of sun beds by the swimming pool and good facilities for a 4 star hotel. The manager of the hotel should sort out the attitude of the people working there if they want guests to come back to Dom Joao.…
These apartments are located in a lovely spot, close to the sea and the board walk. They cleaning team are pleasant and helpful. We were pleased that they cleaned the pool on a daily basis. Sadly the apartments have deteriorated dramatically over the last few years. They have not been updated for 15 year - that includes the sofa bed in the lounge! The oven is so old that you can't read the symbols to work it and the fridge had broken so we had to make do with one in the lounge The infant pool is a major hazard with the sides being so rough. Although they watered the grass constantly, the state of the walls was poor.
Ok, rooms, restaurant, pool , bar , scenery , common areas, etc. perfect, as is in the brochure. Unfortunately , the service is so poor. The hotel have not employed enough staff to manage the hotel facilities. The ambience is not in keeping with what would be expected of a costly resort due to cheap night time entertainment and the lack of customer service. Would recommend if wiling to pay the rates here to go to Lagos and get better bang for you buck.
Stayed here for 1 week in July Sea view room was lovely. Well equipped with fridge, safe and plenty of wardrobe space. Bathroom with bath, shower over the bath with rain head and a bidet! Tv had lots of channels in a variety of languages and at least three in English. Food in the restaurant was good. Lots of choice at breakfast with fresh omelette cooked to order everyday, fresh fruit, pastries and even bucksfizz! Poolside bar menu a bit limited but a toasted sandwich and fries is sufficient. Positioned right on beach front with gated access to the beach and promenade. Fabulous beach and photo opportunities if you walk along wooden jetty. Although there are lots of signs showing tsunami escape routes which are a bit unnerving.
Absolutely loved our stay in the Dom Joao, the hotel is spotless, the staff are excellent and the breakfast in the mornings is like nothing I’ve seen before, so much selection!! The location of the hotel is amazing, right on the beach (there’s a board walk from the pool directly onto the beach) it takes about 15-20 minutes to walk into the town in the evenings along the boardwalk. However the boardwalk isn’t lit up at night for walking back to the hotel. I’d highly recommend this hotel for couples, friends or families with kids. There’s something to suit everyone!
I shouldn’t have believe the positive reviews . I’ve travelled around the world and this hotel is definitely not a 4* and their description is false advertising. Had booked a sea view room and was given one in front of a concrete structure( see pic). Explanation from hotel staff ; “it’s only a classic sea view “. After complaining a lot , I got moved to a partial sea view room. False advertising and ranking as 4*: - satellite/cable tv- if you speak English be aware that there are only Portuguese channels . The only English channels are the 5 news channels, nothing else which is not cable /satellite TV - Towels with massive holes and dark stains (see pics) . Seriously shameful to give that to clients. - Pillows are very old , with balls of material inside . - States mini -bar but it’s only a fridge - There is no golf course, only mini golf - COVID safety measures- what is describe on booking .com is false : non hand sanitizer in rooms ,no distancing in dining area etc. - They almost don’t put any labels for the food at buffet so you don’t know what you’re eating. If you have allergies or are vegetarian there are very few options. - They put the same salad in 3 bowls to make it look like there is more choice - Refurbished the hotel waiting areas only . the corridors are still from 1970s - They mention bowling at the hotel but it’s outisde - Beds very hard /uncomfortable The list goes on … This hotel is for Portuguese clientele , not international one. It’s overpriced as it doesn’t have 4* standard at all…
Great hotel for families, nice breakfast with a lot of options, ideal for kids. They also have the swimming pool area with a kids pool where our daughters were able to play. Close to the beach. Hotel staff very nice as always in Portugal, there is always options to eat. However the pool bar was not that great, slow service and few options. No really kids friendly. So you have to go for the buffet. Reception staff were nice, and ready to help and offer options to visit around, it was very nice. Not so close to the Center of Alvor but not an issue as you have everything you need on the hotel.
We stayed for a week mid July on a bed and breakfast basis. The hotel is very nice and clean, beds are very comfortable. The air-conditioning was welcome and very quiet. We were on the top floor, and our side views were fabulous. Breakfast had a fantastic choice. However the young waiters and waitresses were a bit quick to clear your table even when you hadn't finished. Also they had no smiles or good morning chat. Position is good through gardens to the beach and a 10-15 minute walk to the village, nearer to go by the front entrance following signs to Alvor.
Visited the hotel in 2019, and decided to return with family for a special occasion but booking the villas this time. I have listed a couple of good but mostly bad points below: There are some villas but site is made up of mostly apartments Site is well laid out to ensure overlooking into other properties is limited Two 2 bed/2 bathroom premium villas were booked, however it appears they are very limited, we both were allocated 1 bathroom apartments. Our request to be situated together was honoured with one downstairs and one upstairs apartment in the same block allocated Bedrooms are very small with the main clothes storage vin the living area, how strange Upstairs apartment balcony very small, in fact a struggle to fit 4 people Equipment in apartments inconsistent, lower apartment had no dish rack or sink plug to name a few Bathrooms in both apartments- the baths were shockingly bad making them unusable. Bathroom mirrors badly rusted A very disappointed child couldn’t use her bath products she specifically brought to enjoy Had to purchase bleach due to bad smell on arrival, appreciate apartments may not have been in use prior to our visit but this could be addressed prior to entry The daily towel change was welcome, especially as there was very little space for 4 people to hang towels to dry Maids worked tirelessly and when called on to sort an ant issue they acted quickly The outside table in Apt 5 is of a poor design and kept toppling causing drinks to be split on numerous occasions. This was reported but they missed the point thinking all that was required was to stable the base. After reporting 4 times I gave up. A kitchen leak and a faulty hob was reported and dealt with reasonably quickly The curtains in the living areas whilst heavy and decent quality were in need of a good clean with dust from the floor The main pool at the hotel is noisy yes with children who you expect it from but not groups of adults playing loud music. A idea would be to designate the villas pool as a quiet area so everybody is catered for. Based on the above if you do book please take the above into consideration. Also one important point I was advised by an outside source that the hotel is earmarked for demolishing, and to be rebuilt. The lack of investment until this happens will only see these villas: apartments deteriorate further, which is sad for people who save hard for a well earned holiday One last point we ate the ocean snack bar on our last day. Service was appalling, order was incorrect, bill was also incorrect. A burger at €14 was served wit crisps rather than the usual fries. Yet they had the nerve to add on service charge, needless to say we declined to pay this! It may be franchised out but the Pestana name is being used Just as well the people who travelled with me made my holiday!…
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