Reviews of Via Don Ana Apartments, Lagos, Portugal

This holiday turned out to be a...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

xcapewithus.com

Submitted By:

Mrs G Crouchman

Comments:

This holiday turned out to be a nightmare. The hotel was filthy the rooms did not have any cooking equipment the corridors smelt of sick and the rooms were not cleaned at all during our 2 week stay, despite numerous requests to reception. The bathroom smelt of sewage and the shower was held together with sticky tape! And my daughter was ill after using the filthy uncleaned swimming pool. But this is actually the positive side of our experience the nightmare began before we even arrived. Having read the previous review I asked my mother who was visiting Portugal the week before us to check our accomodation she went to the hotel to be told they had no booking for us. She met the same unhelpful sarcastic receptionist mentioned in the previous review and after complaints to the management the Uk agent and Portugese rep it eventually got resolved 5 hours later! Unfortunately when I arrived four days later they had done nothing we had no room and the family were given a one bedroom studio my son had to make a bed on the floor and 3 had to share a single bed. They promised us our room the next morning but this did not materialise until the next evening. We had no apology from the staff and would recommend anyone who has booked this hotel to cancel their booking. During our stay we witnessed 5 other people who had the same problem as us. Awful experience and the family holiday was ruined!

We arrived very late in the...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Triton

Submitted By:

Miss R Davies

Comments:

We arrived very late in the evening and were told by a very unhelpful, sarcastic and rude receptionist that they had overbooked and there was no room for us. She said initially that they would be sending us to their sister hotel in Porto De Mos for one night but this quickly changed and became two. She kept saying it’s closer to the beach, it’s closer to the beach and if you didn’t know the resort of Lagos you might think “oh ok then that sounds ok”. I however have been to Lagos before and stayed at another hotel so I knew that Porto De Mos was down a very steep hill and at least another half an hour walk into town. Also Porto de Mos beach is a large beach whereas the ones in Lagos town are beautiful little bays that are not crowded and I much prefer as usually you can get one on your own or with only a handful of other people. I put this to her but she wouldn’t listen. It quickly transpired as more and more people came into reception that despite her saying this was a one off it had happened to at least 6 other holiday makers including someone else who arrived after us whilst I was still arguing in reception. I demanded to see the manager who initially wouldn’t come but eventually did arrive and we along with the other elderly couple who arrived shortly after us had a massive stand up argument with him. He kept trying to buy us off by saying he would pay for taxis and he would let us be half board at the other hotel. The thing I kept saying was, no, I had booked this resort because I wanted to be in this resort and I had booked self catering so that I could enjoy the amazing restaurants in Lagos town. Initially he refused to listen and walked away from me, was quite threatening in his manner and shouted at me even though this was entirely his companies fault. Other guests who were milling about in reception told us not to back down, that although the hotel they were sending us to was nice enough, it was miles away and facing onto a building site. I told him, I was not prepared to be moved about, that my holiday was to be in one place, the resort of my choice for a whole week with no moving about and I wanted him to book me into the Villa Branca across the road as I had stayed here before. The only reason I had not booked Villa Branca in the first place was because it was a lot more expensive and I thought I would try Via Don Ana as an alternative as it is on the same road (Not on the beach of Don Ana just for reference). Basically we were getting no where despite my telling him that I worked for a television company and would expose him we eventually agreed with the other couple to go to the sister hotel in Porto De Mos and have a look at the room. The elder couple were taken to look at their room first and came back and told us that their room did indeed over look a building site but they had no more fight in them and were just going to stay the night and take it up again in the morning. We decided we would do the same but as the hotel manager spent more and more time at the reception desk it became apparent that there was no room for us at this hotel either. Eventually I heard him talking on the phone and heard him say Villa Branca? Then he came to us and said quick, get in the car, reception at Villa Branca closes in 10 minutes I need to get you in there now. Now I feel pretty sure that Villa Branca being over £200 more than we had paid Via Don Ana would not have been his choice and he only did this because neither hotel had room for us as we had said we would look at the sister hotel and gone in the car all the way there with him and the other couple. So we got to Villa Branca who only at that point could accept us for five nights and insisted on payment of 97 euros per night up front. The Via Don Ana manager argued with them to take us and said he would be back to pay in the morning. Eventually he did go back to his hotel accompanied by my partner to get a credit card (He later said belonged to him personally and he had paid out of his own pocket, but I’m not so sure) and paid for the five nights with the promise that the next day if they could sort out our final 2 nights accommodation he would pay for them too. He agreed to meet us at 10am the next day. He did not turn up. Eventually on the Monday I managed to track him down and after an awful lot of time, tears, stories about his boss needing to pay for it and his boss not being available due to his daughter being in a horrific accident (I like to believe this could not be made up) he did come and pay for the other two nights. He actually seemed quite a nice man (in the end) and maybe he was telling the truth regarding him paying out of his own money and his boss’s daughter being in an accident but I guess we’ll never know this? For our pick up we had to go back to Via Don Ana and while we waited he did come out to the street to shake our hands and give us a bottle of wine which was nice and in the end we stayed at far superior apartments but we were the only ones who had this, all the other guests I spoke to had to be shunted from hotel to hotel and at the end of the day, you do not expect to arrive in a foreign country to a hotel you have specifically booked and be told it is not available, you have to move to another hotel quite far away with very poor access down a steep slope and have to argue your point, We know this isn’t a one off despite the Via Don Ana’s declarations that it was. Now if you do book there and end up being someone who does get a room, then I’ll tell you what I saw of the hotel, it looks fine, you get what you pay for in short. The pool is small ish and faces onto the road as do the tennis courts. This is one side of reception and there is a small bar the other side. It is a 20 minute walk from Lagos town and about 15 from the little bay beaches I mentioned before. It is right by a shop (Super Eureka) which sells everything and is the only shop in the vicinity including for if you were in Porto De Mos so it would be a long steep walk every day for your bread etc if you were down there. In future I would always pay the little bit extra and stay at Villa Branca as these apartments are divine but if you’re after a budget and they don’t overbook then I’m sure Via Don Ana would be fine if you’re prepared for “you get what you pay for” and prepared for them not to have enough room.

Me and my boyfriend both 22...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Other- Please Specify

Submitted By:

R Taylor

Comments:

Me and my boyfriend both 22 stayed at the via don ana for 2 weeks. Our apartment was nice and clean but pretty basic with not many Kitchen appliances. We didnt eat at the apartments as there were so many different places to eat and there was no entertainment there. The Triangular resturant was lovely and we ate there the most the staff were really nice.

The beach was roughly a 5min walk and it was beautiful and the beach bars were great!

The town was a further 5 mins from the beach and had some sort of entertainment on every night. The bars and clubs were good and most places were very cheap. We went to the slide and splash waterpark which was fantastic and not that expensive. The shops in the town were really good and theres something for everybody there. We really enjoyed the holiday and would go back again.

Just got back from Lagos overall...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

onthebeach.com

Submitted By:

Miss E Taylor

Comments:

Just got back from Lagos overall it's a beautiful place recommend a boat trip to see the coves and caves and a must at hiring a car to see surrounding sites! The appartments where fine couldn't really complain and had a teenage boy with us! had two single beds in bedroom but me and partner pushed together..lol wonderful views.. had microwave and toaster, fridge and 2 hob cooker plenty of utensils, Tv channels were rubbish but who wants to watch tv when on holiday? staff are very helpful if you want trips out and hire car, quiet location, only thing I didn't like is that it was the school holidays for locals and they allowed all local kids to use the pool, but wasn't too bad as made us see all the wonderful beaches.

Location was good, within...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

Apr 2008

Tour Operator:

On Holiday Group

Submitted By:

Mrs G Caney

Comments:

Location was good, within walking distance of town with plenty of eating places. Apartment was very sparsely furnished with uncomfortable furniture. Kitchen very poorly equipped with ancient utensils. Despite being told satellite tv, not even one English speaking channel. Pool not open, despite being advertised. Silver fish insects in kitchen cupboards and settee, and ants in bedroom.

We stayed at the Via Don Ana...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2006

Tour Operator:

Travelocity.co.uk

Submitted By:

Comments:

We stayed at the Via Don Ana apartments for a week. The staff were very helpful and helped us arrange car hire and allowed us to practise our Portuguese! There were three couples in our party and we each had a studio apartment which we found lovely and clean and many nights we ate in our apartments that all had fabulous views even from the third floor.



We thought it was in a nice quiet area but within walking distance of some beautiful beaches and the town centre. Even though we went in September we found the night life to be amazing and the locals really friendly. We are going back this year!!

Location was wonderful. Plenty...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2007

Tour Operator:

Airtours

Submitted By:

Miss L Brown

Comments:

Location was wonderful. Plenty of shops, restaurants, entertainment. Bought lots of typical Portuguese knickknacks.



Good bars and restaurants ate a different place every night and still did not cover half. Meals vary in price so all catered for. Street entertainment.



Old town was beautiful- words do not do justice! Hotel was 10 minute walk from town and beach 5 mins.



Hotel was clean, appliances looked new, staff lovely and helpful.



Pool clean, food at pool bar was basic but good. Staff helped me translate it into English. Ate there a few times.



Had a sea view even though did not ask for one.



Could not fault anything, will be difficult to find somewhere else to match the lovely time we had.

Overall it wasn’t bad. It’s...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2006

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Miss C Mc Menamin

Comments:

Overall it wasn’t bad. It’s about a 10min walk to the beach and about 15-20mins to centre of town which isn’t the best. We couldn’t really complain about our apartment it was quite nice. We were on top floor (7th) and the views were lovely.



it was cleaned twice during our week. Breakfast was nice however the dinners were very plain so we opted to eat out at night. The apartments were very quiet and until the fourth day of the holiday we seen no one by the pool but us! Lagos is not ideal for young folk. I’m 20 and found the night life rubbish. Even the parents weren’t too impressed.



Overall or stay was quite good, (due to the lethal weather) however a few of the other guests were very unhappy with their stay. Problems such as smells in apartment and toilets not working etc.