Monte Do Casal Hotel

I have checked our records and there is no record of anyone from San Francisco in California staying at Monte do Casal during April or May. Trip advisor states the experience took place in May 2007. There was a young couple staying on the 24th of March for two nights who came from San Francisco in California. If this is the couple who complained of their experience at the hotel, I am surprised it took some two months for them to write. There is a standard operating procedure for breakfasts. The maid will even have a photograph of how the table is to be presented. The maids are well-trained and intelligent enough to know how to serve breakfast. Augusta has been here for 15 years and Esmaralda has been here for four years. The bedroom they stayed in was a standard twin bedded room in the Villa on the ground floor with a private Terrace facing north. In the case with this bedroom, the clients have the choice of having their breakfast on their terrace, which has a limited within the walled garden, or on the terrace by the pool which has panoramic views across the countryside to the sea. This is room service at breakfast.included in the price for the room and at no extra charge, The breakfast was ordered for 09.00am.The maid would have knocked on the door at 9 a.m. and asked the client if they would like their breakfast on their private Terrace or walk through the nearby sittingroom and take breakfast by the pool.. The client would decide and the maid would proceed to set up the breakfast. It is completely ridiculous to suggest the client would open the door and the following would take place. ·The maid would take the tray and walk past the guest standing at the door into the room where the other guests were still sleeping in bed! ·The guest, having answered the door,( I assumed slighlty because of the other person still in bed) would just stand there, say nothing , open the door fully, step aside and presumably indicate to the maid to enter. The maids may be local but they have good manners and would never have the arrogance to enter a room without knocking first. It is extremely easy to just walk around the Villa and lay the table if the guest had indicated there was someone asleep in the bedroom. As I have said, the situation suggested is completely ridiculous. I live in the Villa and would have known if something like this had happened. I spoke to Aline, the receptionist on duty at the time spoken to the guests and again no comments was made about this incident at the time. I find the comments about the sheets being sandy and gritty extremely strange. I wonder if the writer is confused as they have indicated in their review that they were looking for a beach holiday. We are a country house hotel and not a beach hotel. Why would there be any sand in the sheets?! Perhaps the writer was staying in another hotel at this point. After all, they only stayed two days. If the writer of this review did stay in March for the two days, they ate in the restaurant on both evenings. If they thought the food was good but too expensive, why did they eat in the restaurant on both evenings when there is a choice of restaurants in the nearby village of Estoi. Clearly they enjoyed the restaurant experience, the food, the wine and service and considered it value for money otherwise they would have eaten out in one of the restaurants in Estoi which is only a five-minute drive. How can the same people then turn round and suggest ' The meals at the hotel that we had were good (an a la carte dinner and the degustation dinner), but nothing warranting the extremely high price tag that accompanied them'

I have read this report and although certain comments are personal views as to whether the new lounge has lost its Intimacy (which may not be the opinion of someone else) unfortunately there are also a number of comments made that are not completely accurate. Over the last two years we have made a number of substantal improvements. The Reception is now wood panelled and the lounge, although larger, is far more attactive with a small library and French windows leading out to the garden. There is no TV in te hotel lounge. In fact the bedrooms do not have TVs as a matter of policy. We have a large TV at the villa which is used only for special occasions which is completely different to having a TV on loud and disturbing the guests as this review suggests. The hotel does not accept children under 16 except for the month of August. The children refered to in this review were not staying at the hotel but had come with their parents for a meal in the restaurant which is open to the General Public. The real problem here at the end of the day was the Pina Colada. I actually met the guests and we made them another two Pina Coladas with our compliments... after all, they had been 5 times before and I knew them. But they still didn't like them and left. I thought it was strange so I even ordered one myself to try. It would have been easy enough for me to tell the barman it needed more alcohol but it was a well balanced cocktail.

It is always very sad to receive a report of this nature as I genuinely strive to make the guests holiday a very special experience. Reading this report I would be surprised if anyone would take a chance and come to stay at Monte do Casal ! We give guests questionnaires at the end of their stays for their comments and their suggestions on ways to improve the hotel. The Manager and the P.R: Manager will personally meet the guests during their stay and check to see if ever thing is to guest’s satisfaction and respond accordingly. There is also a visitor’s book that the guests write in giving comments about their stay and this can be found on the Hotel Monte do Casal web site. I think this gives a better impression of the hotel as it contains comments from the majority of guests who stayed during the year. The comments about the outside furniture is valid, to a degree, but I certainly do not agree with tthe word tatty. An unfair comment! White pool furniture, been in use for a number of years… nothing special… something you would find in a normal 4 star hotel. The comments regarding the Manager may also be justified and he has since been replaced. I felt that with the type of guests staying and considering the cost of the room we needed to upgrade the bedroom terraces with better furniture as well as the furniture around the pool.. We now have teak sun beds, African hardwood umbrellas with cream linen, bamboo chairs and tables on the bedroom terraces and by the both swimming pools. If you look on the Monte do Casal web site you can see the quality of the furniture that you would expect to see in a 5 star Boutique hotel. The programme of upgrading the facilities started in May 2004 with all the bathrooms being upgraded to the highest level, a new wood panelled reception, a special ‘Aborbada’ entrance and a new lounge with new furniture. As Regards breakfast, which is always served at no extra charge on your terrace, has been mentioned as being too small. Everybody is different and I respect that these guests enjoy a good size breakfast on holiday. I have taken this opportunity to list the breakfast that we offer to get it into prospective. We offer different cheeses, cake and Yoghurts through the week. Other items such as cereals, boiled eggs and scrambled egg are available upon request.. This breakfast is offered in a warm to hot climate. We make our own ham . In fact we make York ham and ham with a mustard and honey glaze, alternating them during the week. Breakfast menu Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice. Superb Algarve oranges. Luxury Yoghurt. Various flavours offered through the week. Traditional Swiss Muesli. Prepared the night before with raisons, diced apple and a little cream. Fresh Sliced Mango. Alternates with pau pau and fresh fruit salad during the week. Freshly Baked Croissants. Large and baked just before breakfast. Freshly Baked Rolls. Small Baguettes baked just before Breakfast. Home made Almond Cake. Sometimes carrot or coconut cake. Cheddar Cheese from the Azores. Alternating with Red Leicester and Brie during the week. Home made Ham with a mustard and honey glaze. alternating with York ham. Marmalade, Jam and Honey Choice of blended Teas and fine Coffee The breakfast has all the normal items found on a good breakfast buffet but with the advantage that it is set on your private terrace. A far cry from having to go down to the restaurant and line up to collect your food! The view from your bedroom terrace over looks the Botanical garden , lakes and waterfalls.which have recently just been completed. Quite stunning! Bill Hawkins. Managing Owner

I have read this report and would like to make the following comments. Monte do Casal is busy in the Spring and Autumn as it is cooler and quieter in August when it is a lot hotter. In August we had all the guests staying in the hotel where there is a heated, fully operational pool and whirlpool. We have two swimming pools. As there was no one staying at the ‘Villa at Monte do Casal’ we closed this area and carried out essential maintenance work on that pool that included regrouting. Strangley enough,these guests choose to not use the nearby hotel pool near their suite and decided to use the villa pool that was obviously not in operation. Pool service was operating by the hotel pool and not by the villa pool. The construction work referred here was the beginning of the landscaping of the Botanical garden and lakes that was taking place below the hotel.. I agree there would have been some noise a certain times during the day but not the level of noise you would expect from a building construction site. The furniture in the bedrooms are classic military furniture with brass fittings and to be honest looks good. There is no mini bar in the bedrooms but we are planning to build a special piece of military furniture to incorporate the mini bar. The bedroom terrace furniture at this time was the standard hotel style with white plastic chairs and sun beds on each bedroom terrace. They were adequate but nothing special, I must admit. We have subsequently made improvements and on the bedroom private terraces and by the pools, we now have teak sunbeds with extra large mattresses, bamboo chairs and tables and small teak tables for drinks. Our website has a picture slideshow showing all the recent improvements of the last 2 years. As Regards breakfast, which is always served at no extra charge on your terrace, has been mentioned as being too small. Everybody is different and I respect that these guests enjoy a good size breakfast on holiday. I have taken this opportunity to list the breakfast that we offer to get it into prospective. We offer a variety of cheeses, cakes and Yoghurts through the week. Other items such as cereals, boiled eggs and scrambled egg are available upon request.. This breakfast is offered in a warm to hot climate. Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice Luxury Yoghurt Traditional Swiss Muesli Fresh Sliced Mango Freshly Baked Croissants Freshly Baked Rolls Home made Almond Cakee Cheddar Cheese from the Azores Marmalade, Jam and Honey Choice of blended Teas and fine Coffee I would like to invite these guests back and see the improvements and experience the level of service we now offer and then hopefully write a positive review. Bill Hawkins. Managing Owner

I have had a problem with an American company and they wanted to apply pressure to encourage me to buy their product. Before this article appeared, I was told the power of the ‘Free Press’ was real. This article appeared on the 4th July and from the USA. Breakfast is always included in the room rate so how can ‘ breakfast was a joke for the money’.? Or are they just confused and stayed somewhere else? Libellous it is, never the less. Enough said. Bill Hawkins. Managing Owner.