Hi all,
When we decided that we were leaving Madeira, there came the conflict because there were almost no flights to leave the island, much less direct flights that did not go through Lisbon.
This is something important to keep in mind if you want to live on an island.
In April 2021 we still couldn’t travel to Greece, Croatia and places we really wanted to visit. So, it was reduced to Lisbon, Faro, Tenerife or going back to Valencia. As in Tenerife all the Airbnb’s were shacks and in Lisbon, we weren’t going to have a beach, we decided on Faro because the accommodations seemed better.
While searching I realized that in almost every accommodation from September to May they charge you for electricity separately and some even for water and gas as well. Which seems absurd to me being a vacation rental. It’s easier to raise the price a bit so you don’t bother the guest with such nonsense at check out.
Other accommodations also required you to pay a complementary cleaning every 2 weeks for 50 euros each. In other words, you had to add almost 200 or 300 euros more per month to the prices you saw on Airbnb.
I also found that the tourist rentals were like a mafia and in each area, there was someone who ran them all. I did not like that because when it is an agency that manages many rentals, generally they do not give them the same care that the owner does.
Another interesting thing is that in the Algarve area there are many accommodations owned by French people. When you contact them in English, they answer in French. I discarded them. I am perfectly capable of writing in French and what I don’t know I use a translator. But if you work in tourism, the logical thing is that you are the one to translate for my convenience. Therefore, if a person does not have the mental capacity to answer me in English or to use the translator, things start badly, and it is better to avoid future problems with a reservation.
We would initially reserve a month and then see if we extended until July. It is curious that when I spoke of summer, they answered “From June, I cannot make you a monthly price, only a daily price“. It is that to top it off they don’t even know how to explain themselves. It is so easy to say “In summer it is more expensive” which is normal and totally understandable.
We ended up booking a place that Diego loved because of the photos. It was a kind of a house in a club that was not bad for the price and the internet was 200mb.
We booked from May 1 to June 1 for 960 euros and at check-out you would have to see the electricity meter and leave the money in cash, which we calculated would be at most 100 euros more.
This apartment and 90% of the accommodations in Armação de Pêra area are rented by a Dutch couple named Karin and Alexander. They agreed to check us in earlier at no additional cost since we arrived at 11 in the morning, and we were not going to be walking around with the suitcase until 16h. Since they had no prior reservations, it cost them nothing.
Before entering the bathroom, there was a wall that was very damp and Karin said that she hadn’t noticed, which means that she didn’t even bother to check the property before we arrived. She arranged to bring someone to fix it.
I noticed that the carpets and cushions were dirty with sand and even hair. Also, the wc was moldy and the floor was not very clean. So, I took photos of everything and communicated it to the host through the Airbnb chat.
I put all the cushions, bedspreads and pillows to wash; In addition, I removed all the carpets and left them outside the property.
In our bed instead of having a complete set of sheets, there was the mattress sheet and then two individual bedspreads. So, I also asked for a set of normal sheets and a double bed coverlet.
The mop stick broke when I was cleaning the floor and the vacuum was not working well.
The next day Karin arrived apologizing with a bottle of wine and a new mop. They took the vacuum cleaner and then brought a new one. They painted the humidity on the wall which didn’t solve much because to really fix it, they would have to break the wall.
As for the sheets, the excuse was that “as the owners were Dutch, in Holland it was like that and people used individual bedspreads, even though the bed was double.” We told her that we had been all over northern Europe and it was the first time we had come across something of the kind. There she changed the excuse and said, “that the stores were closed and that the owner would not approve an expense for sheets and a bedspread”
This shows the uselessness of these people since it costs nothing to order the cheapest quilt on the internet. Instead of bringing me a bottle of wine, bring me what I need. Especially when you are risking a bad review. A double Nordic blanket costs 15 euros at the Lidl.
In conclusion, they covered the humidity of the wall, they brought a new mop and a new vacuum cleaner. They didn’t bring a normal set of sheets neither the blanket nor they didn’t do anything about the humidity in the house. The worst thing was that the room always smelled bad. Also, on the walls and ceiling had mold. Also, as an apology they gave me two intermediate cleanings for free but imagine how “well” they cleaned.
The funny thing is that Karin wrote to me later to tell me that “since we were such good guests” she offered to extend our stay for two weeks. First, do not be hypocritical because you do not know if I am a good guest or not and second, it is better to tell the truth, that you got a reservation cancelled. Obviously, I said no. The first week we had already booked another accommodation in Olhos de Agua.
Diego said that he would give the accommodation 4 stars because being one minute from the beach was the best thing in the world. I left a bad review because even though the location is wonderful, especially in low season when there are no people, there were too many failures of the property, and the hosts couldn’t solve them.
I also tell you something funny. We have two plastic straws that we always take with us everywhere to drink tea and coffee without staining our teeth. At a certain point they get a bit dark although you wash them and the funny thing is that when we put the dishwasher Diego was amazed at how clean they came out and said that it was the only dishwasher that worked well of all the accommodations in which we had been.
In conclusion, here is the detailed list of the good and the bad:
Good
- 200mb Internet.
- Location. Access to a good 5 km beach in one minute. We were facing the sea.
- The fact of having 2 terraces and a garden that, although it was not private, we had as much lawn space as possible to sunbathe, train, etc.
- Supermarket 20 minutes walking.
Bad
- Terrible cleaning, especially of cushions and carpets. If you are not able to wash the rugs from one reserve to the other, do not put them. For the cushions, or you put covers that you can change, or you wash them. This seems to me atrocious and more so considering that we are in a situation of global pandemic.
- Excessive humidity in the house. It does not cost anything to put products that absorb humidity; It is the least you must do in a property that is in front of the beach.
- Individual blankets for a double bed and insufficient sheets. It is assumed that if you manage 42 lodgings, you will be able to get a normal blanket and sheets. in fact, you should have plenty of everything.
- Very old furniture in the room.
- Not having the basics. When we checked in, there only was half a roll of toilet paper. Neither hand soap, nor kitchen soap, nor dishwashing sponge. The ultra-basic minimum that you always find in a tourist accommodation. Luckily, we arrived during the day, and we were able to run to the supermarket.
The funniest thing is that they gave me “No comments” as a review and in their language. In response to my review, what they did was paste in good reviews from other sites. I mean, the hosts were useless even for that.
In addition to the evaluation of our accommodation, I want to leave you some points to consider if you are going to rent a tourist accommodation in the Algarve area:
- Many accommodations do not have the prices right or the dates blocked with the reservations. So, you are going to waste a lot of time contacting people who already have everything booked and “forgot to place it.”
- If they want to charge you for services outside the platform, I recommend that you do not book at that property. This way you avoid inconveniences at check out.
- Also, do not book French properties (if you are not French) as they only speak French and have their accommodation designed for French people.
- Ask exactly the internet speed that they have contracted with the company because everyone will answer that “their internet is very good”. Do not stay with that answer.
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