Pousada Vila Alba

Great.

The staff were lovely, but management let the place down badly. The rooms were dirty, the towels smelled so strongly of mildew that the stink clung to your body, and there weren’t any pillows or proper bedding. I couldn’t wait to leave. Breakfast was awful too, with limp bread and hard couscous. I’ve never stayed anywhere worse. At the very least, they need to get organized, serve a decent breakfast with fresh food, and provide clean, fresh-smelling towels and sheets for guests.

From the outside it looks like a great inn, but the rooms and service were a very different story. We were 12 people split across three rooms, and all three groups had the same complaints. The facilities were poor: exposed outlets that seemed unsafe, old furniture, torn and worn mattresses, a rusty refrigerator, and an air conditioner that seemed unmaintained and only blew dust. Cleaning was poor, and we had to ask for room cleaning ourselves. Towels and sheets weren’t changed. The solar powered showers didn’t always have hot water, and some had almost no water pressure. Flushing the toilet could stop the sink, or vice versa. One bathroom sink stayed clogged for all seven days, even after we reported it. Breakfast was very weak, and the pool was shut every evening at 8 for what they called cleaning, though they only added chemicals. The staff were extremely rude and unprofessional, especially the owner. The location is close to a supermarket, a drinks shop, and a restaurant, but the facilities and service were poor. I don’t recommend it.

If you want a peaceful place for your family, this isn’t it. There were cockroaches, and the people serving us were rude and unprepared. We had three beds in the room, but getting a sheet was humiliating, and they even remove the light bulbs. The shower is only warm when it’s sunny. On cloudy days and at night, the water is cold. Breakfast was disappointing: it was nearly over by the time it started, and there was nothing available while it was going on. The pool has a closing time, but in the five days we were there, they never cleaned it, just added chemicals. There was no courtesy, common sense, or hospitality. Never again.