VELINN Pousada Angra Sunset

The staff were super helpful, and the house is astonishing, with a great barbecue area, a beautiful view, and a quiet, secure setting. It’s expensive, though, and there’s no beach for swimming.

Great.

We didn’t have a good experience, and the place needs a lot of infrastructure work. There’s little parking nearby. The road signs aren’t clear, making it harder for guests to find the inn. Parking is outside, uncovered, with no automatic gate, so arriving late and having to manage things alone out there felt risky. There were several flooded spots in front of the room blocks. There wasn’t even a mat to dry our feet before going into the block or our room, so we tracked in a lot of dirt. Rainwater also got inside block 7, where we stayed. Room 74 was listed as luxury, but had no phone or hair dryer, which I’d consider the basics. Water from the shower stall ran toward the toilet, and the toilet was loose, making it feel very unsafe to sit on. The room was noisy too. The walls were thin, and we could hear guests in the room at the back talking and making noise at different times day and night. Some guests smoked under the open bathroom window, and the smell came into our room. The inn only cleaned rooms when guests asked, so dirt from the rain built up on the floor. They said towels and sheets were changed every three days, but that didn’t happen until we requested it. After cleaning, they didn’t replace the toilet paper. When we asked for some, they said we had to go get it from reception ourselves. There was no bin in the room, only one in the bathroom, which isn’t hygienic for food scraps. Breakfast was very basic and repetitive, with the same cakes, breads, and tarts served for several days. The restaurant staff weren’t friendly. When we asked them to clear a table, for example, they answered almost rudely.

The inn is beautiful, the staff are knowledgeable, and the rooms are cozy. Having breakfast by the sea was great. The breakfast itself was average and could be better, and so was the room service. They left the rubbish we’d collected in a bag on the floor, including banana peels and cookie wrappers. Towels are only changed every four days. We also had some personal discomfort when a couple argued in the room upstairs.