Pousada Encantare

The room was in awful shape, and the staff did little to help when I asked to move. I paid well above average for a charming stay at POUSADA ENCANTARE, expecting something like the great reviews, but got the opposite. There was a broken window, mold on the walls and ceiling, cheap-feeling sheets and towels, and a view of the outside bathrooms. I asked to switch rooms right away, but was told none were available, with no effort to make things more comfortable. The receptionist said the street-level room would be quiet despite the broken window. It was noisy all night. On day two, the AC remote stopped working. They gave me another remote and told me to reset and configure the machine. That didn’t work, so we slept in the heat. Breakfast was a letdown too, nothing like the other reviews. Nobody was looking after it, and we had to go to reception to ask for basics like coffee and butter. There weren’t any other options. The location is good for getting to sights, but the place itself faces the back of a building on a dark street. You can’t see the beach from the pousada. There were no COVID measures beyond a sign at the entrance asking guests to wear masks, no temperature checks or extra cleaning. The staff weren’t friendly, and for this price there are several better and cheaper places. I don’t know whether the earlier reviews were fake or COVID hit the place hard, but I wouldn’t recommend it based on our stay. You could stay at Ibis in a better location for half the price, or at Hotel Simas right on the beach. I spoke with them several times while booking, and nobody mentioned that the room was this bad. I wish they’d sent photos or told me other, better rooms were available. P.S. I removed the part about people shouting parking instructions at night to be fair, since the pousada says they weren’t responsible. You can read their reply to see how they treated us.