Pousada Simpatia da Ilha

The worst part was being asked to pay more than the amount in our Booking.com confirmation. We were so relieved when it was finally time to move to another hotel, and I won't stay here again. We'd confirmed that we'd arrive in the morning, but nobody was at reception to welcome us. Two workers eventually told us our room would be ready by 2 p.m. at the latest, after the previous guests checked out by noon. It wasn't ready until 2:45, 45 minutes after check-in was supposed to start. The room was dark and dirty, with orange and yellow stains and serious water damage on the bathroom ceiling. Getting help took repeated requests. I asked for the included WiFi password, but everyone said they didn't know it. After a couple of hours of asking, one person finally called someone who could provide a login. The fridge was so loud it kept us awake, and staff said they'd remove or unplug it. When we came back that evening, nothing had been done, so we had to ask again, and then once more before anything happened. Breakfast had great coffee, and I liked that the food changed, but although it was meant to run from 7 to 10, they put everything out at 7 and barely refilled it. One day we arrived at 8 and almost everything was gone, so you can't sleep in if you want a decent breakfast. The big garden and outdoor shower were nice, but staff generally didn't seem to act on a request the first time. Before checkout, the cleaning lady came into our room without knocking. It can be hard on the island if you aren't fluent in Portuguese, but most places try to understand and help. That wasn't our experience at Simpatia da Ilha.