Pinhal do Sol

"1. On arrival we were greeted by Ana who was extremely pleasant to my partner but not with me which I thought was strange but then learned the following day that she was very rude and dismissive with me and didn’t want to help me with anything so I had to send my partner down and she was happy to help him. Ana told us it’s no problem for anything to just ask at the bar but anytime we asked for hot water or ice for example they got extremely annoyed and aggregated with us and refused to serve us. 2. First thing we noticed was there was insects in the bed and on the pillows and within the room. We had to constantly check for insects when going to sleep. It was disgusting. There was hairs everywhere. No hot water in the night time. The smell in the room was extremely strong surge smell. We ran all taps and flushed toilet numerous times but the 3. Veranda - there was hives of ants and woodlice everywhere. The veranda was in a bad state cracks in the walls. It was absolutely filthy. 4. There was no kettle or tea and coffee in the room. I bought tea bags and asked for hot water. I had to beg for hot water as the barman kept saying it’s not possible. I then asked for milk and was charged €2.80 for a small drop of milk. 5. We bought the water from the bar which was 1.5l for €3.00 and because they were such big bottles they went warm quickly in the room so I went down to get some ice for the water and I was refused. The bar manager Amelia/Emelia was extremely rude and shouted at me no no no not possible. No ice possible. She then refused to give me some ice so I ended up purchasing another 2 bottles of water and asked for a glass of ice with it. She was disgusted and angry with me and handed me a glass with one ice cube in it. 6. The pool was soo dirty it had leaves and flowers lying in it and a green mould /algae around the pool and rim of the water. 7. Brown stains and blood stains on the bedsheets that were supposed to be freshly changed. It was disgusting 8. I wanted to cut up a piece of fruit for a snack and I asked Ana at reception could I get a knife she said no it’s not possible they won’t lend you any knifes or forks. She was cleaning a sticker off the glass in the reception with a knife and I asked her can I use the knife to cut the fruit. She was hesitant at first and I ended up taking the knife out of her hand cut my fruit and handed it back to her. I never in my life experienced hospitality as bad as this hotel. 9. House maids were extremely rude to me. They did bare minimum with the room and always changed sheets to dirty sheets. Toilet roll was not available we were given 1 roll of toilet roll and couldn’t get any more. I had to go to the Lidl beside the hotel to buy toilet roll for me and my partner. 10. Breakfast was utterly vile. It makes me want to vomit thinking about it. The eggs are sitting in a pool of horrible water and the sausages were boiled. The coffee was the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted. This was the worst breakfast I have come across. It was so so gross. The yoghurt was not yoghurt it was whipped into a foam consistency. They kept adding more and more water to the orange juice throughout the week to get more out of it, by Sunday it was like very weak diluted miwadi.wiIt was horrible every bit of it. Don’t your time!!!!! Over all it was a horrible experience and the staff at this hotel have made me really hate Portugal and never want to come back. The moment we asked for a glass of ice at the bar or hot water we were then looked upon as the worst people ever it was quite funny and childish but Please don’t waste your time here and stay away from this hotel. Emelia/Amelia should really cheer up shes extremely sour. It should be closed down with this standard of hospitality. The staff do not know the meaning of hospitality. They are utterly useless and extremely fake on arrival. It’s a complete con."

"My wife and I have stayed at the Pinhal 4 or 5 times now and find it clean, quiet and very good value for money. People seem to expect 5 star luxury and moan about things but do not take the value for money into consideration. We have always found the staff to be pleasant and friendly and very helpful."

"We ended up here by chance when Ryanair abandoned us at Faro airport and left us to find our own flights and accommodation! But that’s another story! As there were multiple cancelled flights and all were told to sort their own accommodation the competition for rooms in Faro was fierce so I looked a little further out and found this hidden gem. My expectations were low but I needed somewhere for my family for 3 unplanned extra noughts and I am so glad I ended up here. When we arrived tired and hungry by Uber, Margarida welcomed us like family and checked us into 3 lovely upgraded rooms with balcony on the ground floor. We then had a buffet meal in the restaurant which was nice enough, a good selection and the staff were very accommodating. On Margarida’s advice we spent our first day at the local Aquashow water park and whilst not cheap, it really was an amazing day. Also on her advice I booked online before we left and saved €15. On our second day we relaxed by the pool and had some snacks and drinks and enjoyed the friendly relaxed atmosphere and chatted with other residents and staff. A live singer appeared in the bar that evening and was really good playing a great selection of old and new rock and pop. We then walked to the nearby La Bella Fiore restaurant for a spectacular Italian meal, this is definitely the place we’re the beautiful people go to see and be seen but the staff were very friendly and the food was out of this world. Although our airline were a disaster, I’m glad we had 3 extra days to discover this hotel and area. We are now talking about booking and going back here for an actual holiday."