Alojamento Santa Maria

This was the worst place I've ever stayed for two weeks. I travel independently, research carefully, and rely on listings and other reviews being reasonably accurate. I've had plenty of good trips and have never before written an accommodation review this negative. I booked three weeks here at least six or seven months ahead. About two weeks before we were due to arrive, the owner said the pool had a problem and wouldn't be available. With departure so close, changing the whole trip wasn't realistic. I was furious, but chose to rearrange what I could and go anyway, which cost around 700 Euros to move the third week. The owner assured us the pool was the only issue. I was far too trusting. The apartment and grounds were being refurbished, and the property sat in the middle of a huge building site. The owner never mentioned any of that. Construction was happening on all four sides, with work generally running from around 7am until 6pm each weekday. The building was covered in scaffolding, and four other nearby sites added more noise, dirt, and smell. Another owner in the block told me the work had already been going on for months and was expected to continue for several more. The apartment should never have been rented that summer. The photos show the scale of it, and I'll post a video too if Tripadvisor lets me. With no pool and nowhere peaceful to sit in the sun, the daily construction noise starting at 7am was already a terrible start to a holiday. There were other problems as well. We were given just one set of keys, even though the apartment was advertised for 4-6 people. When I asked for another, I was told there wasn't one. Other apartments had a remote for the vehicle gate; we weren't given one and were told our apartment didn't have one. The outside gate could only be opened with a key, with no intercom remote access. That meant if one of us went out, the other was stuck inside watching the builders. The gate key itself was unreliable and sometimes took 20-30 tries. The owner and agent knew about these issues beforehand. The balcony door locks didn't work, and both the owner and agent knew that too. There was a safe, but nobody could explain how to open it, so we had to take our valuables with us whenever we left. The showers usually went cold after the first two or three minutes. The apartment was clean when we arrived, but the towels were very old, and neither they nor the bedding were changed during our stay. That's not what I'd expect over two weeks. I hated the apartment and strongly recommend that travellers avoid this complex and this owner.