Guest reviews Grande Real Villa Italia Hotel & Spa

by karlnadinem Manchester, United Kingdom

RETURN EVERY YEAR!

Perfect hotel in a beautiful location. All about quality. First visited in 2008 and have continued to do so since! Appreciate the warm welcome and friendly approach. Easy access from Lisbon airport, arriving at the perfect hotel to have a good relaxing holiday.

by 3kweibuh21

Great honeymoon!

We loved our time at the grande real villa. The location was unreal and the building and room was beautiful. The only thing that could've been improved was we had 2 service employees that were not very attentive and gave some attitude but overall 5/5 experience!

by Taxidiotissa London, United Kingdom

Mixed Experience

Arriving on a Saturday evening there was nobody on duty to take our bags to our room, so not a good start. The room, over the main entrance, though spacious had a really badly stained carpet and the wardrobe doors and other furniture were tatty. I didn’t find the bed very comfortable, the mattress was sagging and the pillows too firm. I tried a lavender ‘aromatherapy’ one from the pillow menu (no discernible lavender fragrance) - it was still too firm, so I gave up. The air conditioning was excellent and the bathroom very nice - a bath with shower overhead as well as a separate shower plus separate toilet and bidet. The hairdryer is fixed to the wall and not good. I can update previous reviews as there is now a kettle and a Nespresso coffee machine with cups and some pods, there are also glasses and two bottles of water are provided daily. There is also a small fridge. The breakfast room is very pleasant, looking on to the pool. The food is all buffet, a nice selection of cold and hot items as well as fresh fruit and pastries but disappointing that there is nothing made to order. Filter coffee in jugs is served to your table and other coffees can be ordered although I found it quite incredible that our request for Americano coffee with milk caused such consternation and scratching of heads. I was told, somewhat patronisingly, that “the Portuguese do not drink coffee like this” by the man in the suit. Quite extraordinary that in a hotel of this class catering for all nationalities and their preferences that it should be such a problem. From then on we were asked to sit in the section of the restaurant that was serviced by the only waitress who was able to provide us with, what is after all, simply a double espresso with hot water and a jug of hot milk on the side. Fortunately it was not a problem in the Terrace bar where we enjoyed some good food (as well as Americano coffee). It was very hot during our stay and we found the scarcity of places to sit outside in the shade very disappointing, particularly as our room had no balcony. There are no umbrellas around the pool at all. Sunbeds are ‘reserved’ very early in the morning - there are not enough for the number of guests. The only area that is shaded is the Terrace bar. Luckily, next door to the hotel is an attractive, shady park where we could escape the sun. It’s from here that one of the peacocks has become a regular visitor to the hotel. We very much enjoyed his extravagant displays - less so his vocals!! All in all we thought the hotel was well located but in need of some renovations, some umbrellas and some staff training.

by jontam5 Singapore, Singapore

Not worth the money

Nice location and wonderful ocean view if you pay €400 a night. The good stops here. We were allocated a ocean view room on this third floor (503). Just avoid it as the rooms on this floor (particularly 501-504)have a noise like an engine running all night. If you are sensitive to noise that means sleepless nights. We were offered another room on the same floor but obviously the issue was still there. Despite several attempts to move to another room nobody tried to help. The number of sun beds around the pool is way too low compared to the number of guests. If you want secure a spot you’d need to place a towel at no later than 9am. Breakfast staff is good but the terrace bar has much room to improve as service is excruciatingly low not because of lack of attention but rather lack of personnel. If you need a service you need to walk around to seek a waiting staff. We waited once for over 30 minutes for a simply maritini in the evening partly because it first arrived as a gin tonic then it is again a long wait. Nobody helped us with our luggage at check out. All in all a mediocre stay and a three star at best.

by maggycorcar

Kind & thoughtful

Very kind and thoughtful staff, particularly the Guest Manager Mr. Cristovão Silva. I booked a room in the hotel in order to have my pre-wedding photoshooting in it and it even exceeded my expectations! The hotel is stunning and has many wonderful locations to shoot! Mr. Silva was very kind and ready to help! Unfortunately, we had to leave the hotel very early in the morning and couldn't have breakfast there because of our flight being very early, however they very kindly offered to prepare breakfast boxes to take-away, which they did at 3am! Thank you for the experience and for your passionate readiness to fulfill your clients' wishes!