Calamar Hotel

The food was excellent, and the kitchen staff and other members of the waiting team were great. It’s a real shame the evening was spoiled by one young woman at the bar. In my 35 years in hospitality, I’ve never encountered service that felt so unprofessional. The restaurant at Hotel Calamar in São Vicente is very basic, which didn’t bother us at first since the food came highly recommended and they have some amazing wines in the cellar. There are very few options by the glass, though. From the moment we arrived in Feb 2026, this staff member seemed openly hostile. She insisted they didn’t stock 10-year-old Madeira wines, though they do. After bringing the wrong wine, she became aggressive and argumentative when we pointed out the mistake. Her treatment of my wife was the worst part. She was so dismissive and offensive that my wife was visibly distressed. I’ve never met anyone so self-unaware and rude. Her behavior ruined the evening. We felt bad for the rest of the hardworking team, but left without tipping because the conduct was so extreme. The cuisine would have earned a much higher rating, but this person’s service brought the experience down to a 2 at best. Management needs to address this attitude, as it’s a real liability for an otherwise lovely establishment.

The room cleaning was spot on. Everything else at the hotel was very bad. Reception wasn’t helpful and the staff didn’t speak basic English. Breakfast seemed to be from the day before, with dry eggs and bacon from “yesterday.” It wasn’t edible.

Ants were everywhere in our room, including the bed, our suitcases and clothes. I found one in my one-year-old’s drinking bottle and many on his toothbrush the second day. We complained strongly and changed rooms. That stopped the ant invasion, but nothing else improved. That night my husband got food poisoning from fish at the hotel restaurant and couldn’t move for the whole next day, so we ended up staying through this “pleasant” experience after all. We had planned to leave early the next morning and book another hotel, but they refused to refund anything. I never thought I’d write something like this about a place to stay. I’m a fairly modest person, but this really ruined our holiday. I took some random photos, though they don’t show everything I saw. At some point I just had no energy left. The hotel was extremely dirty, with poor hygiene throughout the corridors, rooms, lifts and dining areas. I made the mistake of booking three nights without checking the room first. The floors weren’t cleaned properly, the bathroom was a nightmare, the shower doors wouldn’t close, and there was mold. We had to put a towel on the shower floor to step in. Flies came out of the shower or toilet, and the towels were dirty. The door knobs were disgusting. The balcony doors wouldn’t close, so the room was cold and the sound of the ocean was loud all night, like we were lying in it. It also made me worry about safety with a toddler. Rooms above the restaurant smelled awful from the kitchen between 12:00 and 23:00, so opening the balcony for fresh air wasn’t an option. Breakfast wasn’t good either. We ended up with bread and butter. The vegetables were a little green salad and green tomatoes. There was one bowl of cut fruit, at least half of which was probably from a tin, and one plate of watermelon that only seemed fresh on the third day. The coffee wasn’t enjoyable. One or two kinds of sweet pastry were fairly edible. There was one kind of cheese and one ham that looked bad. I didn’t have the courage to try the scrambled eggs, just the fried egg.

The reception and breakfast staff were friendly and helpful. We could extend our stay by three hours for €10 per hour and leave our luggage at the hotel after check-out, which gave us more time to enjoy the city. There wasn’t a comfortable place to spend those hours at the hotel, though, apart from lying on concrete or sitting in the restaurant. We had rooms on the top floor with a sea view, but both had the same problems. The rooms were only moderately clean when we arrived: vacuuming was poor, there were hairs in the bedding and clothes left by previous guests. Beds were made daily, but no real cleaning happened during our stay. The AC filters needed replacing, dust was everywhere, and the bathroom fixtures were loose, making it hard to hang toilet paper or towels. There was mold in the shower, and the shower doors, windows and balcony glass looked as if they hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. I can only give the rooms and housekeeping 2/5. Noise was a major issue too. Restaurant sounds and the very loud sea carried into the rooms, and the windows weren’t sealed well, making it hard to sleep. The outdoor pools didn’t look inviting because of cleanliness problems, although they’re public. I couldn’t try the indoor pool. The nearby parking area was messy and full of trash, as lots of people come to use the restaurant or public pool. The staff were kind, but the cleanliness and noise made the stay less enjoyable than expected.