IFA Faro

There is only one word to describe our 7 day break here - fabulous! From the start to finish the staff were brilliant - from the front desk, pool staff, cleaners and restaurant staff - all make you feel very welcome. We stayed in a suite on floor 2 overlooking the pool and sea - it is the best room we have ever had across all Of our European holidays it was simply superb - large comfortable bed, mini bar, walk in shower, daily towels and cleaning and our room maid always left us a nice chocolate treat. I can honestly say there is nothing to find fault with this hotel it’s definitely 5*. If I was to make any observation it would be that the entertainment in the hotel isn’t widely advertised meaning at times there may be 4-5 people watching - granted the World Cup is in motion and you could watch it in your room where there are London channels or alternatively watch it on the huge tv near the pool! Where have you ever been where they actually cook your eggs to order ? You get a great choice with breakfast and there can be no complaints whatsoever - thank you Lopesan Faro we will be back in the future

I booked a 14 night stay at this hotel via a third party business company they are formally associated with. I know the town well but I was perplexed to never be able to see their restaurant menu on the internet, anywhere. Anyway, I paid the full amount months prior to arrival, not least because of some Tripadvisor compliments.

Their dinner menu is paltry in terms of options, of dubious freshness, and it never varies in content according to their head waiter. The cost of a three course dinner for two is between 80-100 euros, without notably expensive drinks. For a 14 night stay it is far from acceptable and after just two disappointing meals I politely pointed this out to one of their various, ahem, "customer care" manageresses and they agreed with me that the menu was not designed for guests staying for two weeks, being aimed at more local customers, and guests staying there for just a few nights. They assured me that we would forthwith be accommodated on a bed & breakfast basis and that compensation would paid to me for the remaining twenty-four dinner servings of our stay. I assured her that had the hotel menu been available on the internet I would never have made the booking in the first place. She had no answer to that.

A week passed by but nobody contacted me regarding this compensation, so I politely spoke to a different "customer care" manageress and was told that the compensation would not be paid by the hotel! Instead it would be paid by a third party company called Hotelbeds. I knew nothing about this company, having booked my holiday through a company called Stayforlong. This customer care manageress assured me repeatedly that the hotel had no contact details at all for either of these third party companies and that I would have to contact Stayforlong to obtain contact details for Hotelbeds so that my compensation could be paid me by one or the other of them!

Stayforlong acknowledged they had used Hotelbeds without my knowledge to make my reservation at the price offered by the hotel, but they point-blank refused to give me any contact details for them because of, ahem, unspecified "confidentiality issues". Armed with this I next saw yet another of the hotel's "customer care" ladies.

This time I was more forthright, explaining that I wanted to know when the compensation would be paid to me for the hotel's shortfalls, and how much it would amount to (eating twelve dinners for two elsewhere in the town was costing me a great deal of money, albeit always less than the hotel's menu, and food elsewhere was always fresh and tasty, as it invariably is in Portugal, a country we very much like).

This lady then told me the hotel had always had contact details for Hotelbeds but she said I could not be told them due to, ahem, unspecified "confidentiality", nor could she tell me the amount of compensation for the same reason! I was aghast, and demanded to see the hotel manager.

This was a young lady too, with a tendency to try to be domineering in her attitude. She told me she would say no more than her customer care manageresses had said, quoting "business confidentiality" as the hotel's policy, and telling me she had no qualms at all about the hotel actively taking steps to hide their menu from the internet.

I pointed out that everything I'd been told had been mere words and that I would like her to email me with a written explanation of what I'd been told. She refused. She ordered me to leave her office. I refused and then she called the police, who promptly arrived. The uniformed officer I spoke to, Senor Emanuel, spoke English and I calmly outlined the true facts to him. He then spent minutes talking in Portuguese to the manageress whose body language went increasingly frantic. Finally the officer assured me that she'd assured him that I would the email I'd requested that afternoon. On that I left her office, and a hour or two later an email was duly sent, but the hotel very soon tried to recall it!

I hold this hotel in contempt. On their own terms they admit to being inadequate and are, in league with third party business companies they rely on for much of their clientele, evasive and unaccountable in the extreme. To add to my woes some of my property was stolen from our room, but again the hotel disclaimed any responsibility.

By the way, for my considerable distress and extra expense I received a mere £313 compensation, allegedly from Stayforlong.