Quinta da Azenha

We had a brilliant time here with a big group of friends. The hosts were wonderfully hospitable, and the food was more than wonderful.

The setting, game room and breakfast were the only good parts for us. Everything else was terrible, and we had to change rooms twice. We felt so bad by the third room that we were almost wondering if we were somehow to blame. We won’t go back. Worst experience! At the entrance, the elevator wasn’t working, so we had to carry our bags upstairs. The first room was freezing in November, with the heating off and not working, and no floor mats on the cold ceramic floor. The bedside lamps were broken, the TV box didn’t work and staff didn’t know how to use it. When I tried to explain the heating problem, the staff member doubted me for ten minutes before trying it herself. I suggested it might be a main switch, since the elevator was out too, but she ignored me. She was insolent and said the lamps must be just for decoration if they didn’t work. I felt completely disrespected as a paying guest and wanted to grab my bags and leave. We moved rooms and had to take all our clothes out of the drawers. In the second room the door wouldn’t close fully, so we could see people walking past in the corridor and see the lights outside. We had dinner booked nearby and thought we’d shower first, but my husband’s shower hose burst. Water pooled on the floor and dripped from the ceiling and walls. It took 20 minutes to get hot water, and there was no heating, so we ended up not showering. We complained and moved again, unpacking all our clothes once more. We also had to hear, “oh it was working yesterday.” The bathroom door hanger in the third room was broken as soon as we walked in, but we decided not to mention it. Hot water still took 20 minutes. We just wanted to sleep and leave. At least this room finally had working heating. We tried to leave the property several times, but the automatic gate wouldn’t work. The staff member told me we were doing it wrong and blamed us, even though we had managed to get in and simply couldn’t get out. She tried it herself and it worked, then said with a sarcastic smile, “see? Easy!” I gave her a yellow smile. The next time the gate failed again. It was late and she’d gone, so one of the owners came to help. He immediately said the gate had a problem and usually had to be opened remotely to get out because the control keypad wasn’t working. We thanked him and moved on. We were told there’d be a discount at checkout, but none was applied. Everyone looked at us as if we’d made the whole thing up. We had dinner at a fab place, and the owner of that restaurant knew where we’d stayed and knew about most of the problems we’d reported.

I really loved this place. The owner is incredible, and we could bring food in and cook our own meals. There are animals too, including ducks, chickens and birds, and the pool is really awesome.

The storm damaged the house, so my reservation was cancelled. I’m sorry that happened, but I had a group of 75 people coming and needed a backup plan as well as my money back. The owner hasn’t replied since the cancellation and still owes me a 3000€ deposit. I’m still waiting for both.