Hotel do Cerro

We only had four nights, but we’d happily come back. The old town was lively day and night, with lots of lovely places to eat and drink, yet the hotel sits in a nice, quiet area and it wasn’t too far to walk there. The staff were friendly throughout and made our stay really pleasant. A great holiday all round.

The sea view was the one thing that stood out. Otherwise, this didn’t feel like a four star hotel to us. The shower room flooded after about three minutes, and the bed was so hard it felt like sleeping on concrete. The old, scratchy blankets weren’t much better. Housekeeping did a good job, though, and we had no complaints there. The room itself was okay, too. Breakfast was awful. The coffee was the worst I’ve ever had, and the drink they called a cappuccino turned out to be cheap hot chocolate with no coffee in it. Even the toast was as hard as the mattress. Staff were only doing the basics, just saying hello when we came and went. We’ve stayed in much better three star hotels with great food and really friendly staff, even without a sea view. Hotel De Cerro can keep the view, given all the other problems. They also charge by the day to hire a kettle. Everywhere else we’ve stayed has provided one free, along with tea, coffee, sugar and little milk cartons.

The old town was lovely, and the hotel is in a great spot. It’s also worth taking a few trips out to see the beautiful places nearby.

The dinners were varied and delicious, though breakfast was the same every day and could use more variety. Staff were a real highlight, always smiling, friendly and helpful. Special thanks to Pedro, Bruno in the dining room, and Pedro’s lovely colleague whose name I’ve unfortunately forgotten. Our shower leaked badly, flooding the floor and running under the door into the hallway. Maintenance couldn’t sort it out, so we were moved to a beautiful room with a sea view. For my birthday, I came back to find two small bottles of port and chocolates in the room, a lovely gesture. The hotel was very clean and we had a fabulous holiday, though they charge extra for just about everything. There was no kettle, tea or coffee provided, and both kettle hire and use of the safe in the wardrobe cost extra each day. They even charge extra laundry if you get makeup on the towels, which is ridiculous.