Monte Santo Resort

"Very loud and dangerous because the mec driving the van goes over 70 on the footpath leading to the rooms. One day he'll crush someone. To run away"

"We LOVED it here, the townhouses are fantastic for families: very clean, spacious and comfortable. Air conditioning throughout, excellent quality linens and comfortable beds. The outside spaces are lovely, we ate on our terrace every morning and most evenings over dinner. The housekeeping service is non-intrusive and very efficient. Clean towels every day, rubbish taken away and beds remade. All the staff we encountered were friendly, professional and efficient. We didn't eat breakfast, we had one lunch and it was lovely. The pool areas are clean and tidy. It's a beautiful 20min walk to Carvoeiro square, easy taxi back at 5euro so central to restaurants and the beach. The back gate leads you onto the road down to the square. Top tip, on recommendation from the reception, go to the Intermarche supermarket in Lagoa for your self-catering supplies, full of fresh fruit, veg, fish, cheeses and meats and beautiful Portugese wines at unbelievable value. A couple of downsides would be the lack of utensils in the kitchen like no grill rack or a good selection of knives or big glasses for juice and no wind glasses, plus all the numbers/symbols had rubbed off on the oven so that was guesswork! The couches aren't soft and cozy either. Good washing machine, dishwasher, big fridge and freezer, lots of storage space too. The resort is an easy 4*, not at a UK 5* but honestly, the resort is beautiful, peaceful and well kept. We'll be booking again for next year without hesitation."

"Where to start… Positive points: Upon arrival, we were impressed by the beautiful setting, the lovely pools and palm trees. The room was truly remarkable — more like a spacious apartment with two large bedrooms and two bathrooms. The massage I booked for my wife’s 40th birthday was excellent and definitely met our expectations. Unfortunately, this is where the positives end. Negative points: We were surprised by the staff’s attitude, which was far below what we expected from a 5-star hotel. Service was often indifferent and, at times, even abrupt. For example, one waiter placed items on our table in a very discourteous way. There was little to no effort to communicate in French, and when we tried in English, the staff spoke extremely fast and were not helpful in making things easier for us — only later did we discover that some of them actually spoke French. The restaurant presents itself as “gourmet,” but in our experience it did not live up to that description, except in terms of price. Cocktails (€9.50) were poorly prepared and filled with ice, a small bottle of water was €4.50, and the wine (€5.50 per glass) was very average. The food was equally disappointing: the first lunch — just one hamburger, two poke bowls and three drinks — cost €80. At dinner, the first starter was four slices of tomato topped with burrata, followed by a piece of chicken served with salad. The next evening’s starter was six shrimp on three lettuce leaves, followed by barbecue ribs. This was far below what we expected from a so-called gourmet restaurant in a 5-star hotel. Check-in was officially at 4 pm, but like most hotels we expected to get the room earlier. Reception told us they would notify us, but at 3:55 pm we still hadn’t heard anything. When I asked, the receptionist simply said, “If we haven’t contacted you, come back at 4 pm.” I had also requested in advance a special decoration with a bottle of wine to celebrate my wife’s 40th birthday. When I asked about it at check-in, I was told it was an extra charge — which I fully expected and was willing to pay — but they had not prepared anything. I had even emailed beforehand to ask about payment for this and for the massage, and was told I could settle it at checkout. The lack of preparation was a real disappointment, and the response at the desk felt dismissive. Although the room looked beautiful at first sight, we encountered many issues once we settled in. We jokingly called it the “50 % hotel” because many of the double power outlets and switches worked only on one side. The whirlpool bath was a great idea in theory, but the small water heater meant that after my wife and daughter used it, there was no hot water left for me. Even worse, we couldn’t drain the water in either bathtub because the release buttons didn’t work — I had to use a knife to manually open the drains. We also noticed mold around the bathroom seals. The beds were acceptable, but the pillows were so uncomfortable that we had headaches every morning. The outdoor pools were attractive but unfortunately not heated. There was one pool in an indoor greenhouse that was slightly warmer, but it was uncomfortably humid and not very pleasant. The jacuzzi was particularly disappointing. The promotional photos are misleading: there were just two small jacuzzis in the corners of the room, only one of which worked, accessed by a rather unsafe staircase. The water was not well maintained, the cleanliness was questionable, and the temperature on the first day was only 34.5 °C — not warm enough. Since the area was open to everyone, it was often crowded with children shouting and jumping nearby, which made it far from relaxing. The fitness room was tiny and had very limited equipment — just some dumbbells and one basic machine. The pool bar was closed without explanation. Overall maintenance was poor: the poolside and restaurant chairs were dirty, umbrellas were broken, and we even saw a pile of glasses left on a table for three days without being cleared away. It was also impossible to have a light snack or a simple sandwich at lunchtime without leaving the hotel. All in all, this felt far below 5-star quality. In our opinion, it would be closer to a 3-star experience elsewhere. A special mention goes to one gentleman with a moustache at the restaurant who was very kind and professional. Unfortunately, the majority of the staff seemed unwelcoming — rarely greeting guests, seldom smiling, and creating the impression that guests were not really welcome. We also noticed they appeared to be much friendlier toward English-speaking guests. In summary, the region is beautiful, but sadly the hotel did not meet expectations."