AP Eva Senses

“Central location”

This is a review based on a wheelchair user. The hotel location is great for exploring faro. Staff are great and breakfast has a good selection, we like the pianist playing every morning. Bar on the 5 th floor relaxing an inviting for a drink. Accessible room was ok, but a bit more thought ... more

This is a review based on a wheelchair user. The hotel location is great for exploring faro. Staff are great and breakfast has a good selection, we like the pianist playing every morning. Bar on the 5 th floor relaxing an inviting for a drink. Accessible room was ok, but a bit more thought would have made it a great room. Sadly one lift was out so the other 2 lifts was a tight squeeze for a wheelchair.

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“Great location for Faro, with relaxed feel.”

A great place to stay in central Faro. Generally a good standard, but not too polished, which made it more relaxed. It suited us, with great touches such as the piano and jazz duo at breakfast, and old photos of its early days (it dates back to the 1960s, with a refurb a few years ago). Havi... more

A great place to stay in central Faro. Generally a good standard, but not too polished, which made it more relaxed. It suited us, with great touches such as the piano and jazz duo at breakfast, and old photos of its early days (it dates back to the 1960s, with a refurb a few years ago). Having a good sized pool was another good feature. A few things could have been better, though I would still recommend. Its location was great for us. On one side is the Marina, on the other the bus station, with the train station a very short walk. The small ferries to the Ria Formosa islands and beaches are a short walk the other way, by the attractive old town. We went to two different island beaches. There are plenty of restaurants and bars of all types nearby (we enjoyed a meal at the Ato restaurant which is small and well worth booking). We were glad we had chosen a room with a Marina view and terrace. Many of the rooms would look onto a rather dull main street, and were likely more noisy. The room itself was comfortable, including the bed. The air conditioning wasn’t noisy, the double glazing blocked the noise, and we slept well. Though we could see many planes landing at the nearby airport the noise wasn’t an issue. There were plenty of hangers and it was nice to have drawers, sadly missing from a few hotels we have stayed in recently. We had kettle, fridge and safe. One issue we had one afternoon was that the hot water turned into a trickle mid shower, and didn’t really improve for 10 minutes or so. This can happen of course if too many people try to use the system at once (and has happened at other hotels) but still very annoying when it happens. Checking other reviews it seems to happen every so often. Otherwise the shower was good, though there wasn’t fan ventilation in the bathroom. The pool was good, though the wind made it a bit chilly when we were there (though temperature was 25 degrees). It is on the rooftop, with good views of the lagoon, though it is actually not quite by it – the Easyjet Holidays photo of it is from an angle that is a bit misleading. Yes, it is a bit old fashioned with ladders, and tired, and slightly untidy, but that wasn’t too bad when we were there. Towels are provided for a deposit, but you have to ask at reception and fill in a form – I have no problem with the deposit system but it would be much handier to have the towels at the pool itself, with the staff also tidying up more often. The pool has a relaxed rooftop bard that isn’t too pretentious. By contrast we didn’t really like the evening bar that overlooks the marina. Very boring corporate with elevator music. The breakfast was generally good quality, with indoor and outdoor tables to choose, airy indoors, great views, and the music a pleasant background. The range was good, including seeds for example, but there wouldn’t have been much for vegans. There was fruit, but only long-life style yoghurt, and no granola. Also the labelling could have been better. The worse thing was that the only coffee machine that gave good coffee was very slow when working, and generally out of service. Another give OK coffee but was also sometimes not working, and otherwise had long queues, while a third we realised didn’t use coffee beans but was more instant and unpleasant. There were sometimes flasks which was appreciated but their coffee wasn’t great. Definitely something to improve – with more and better machines and staff who know how to fix. Also sometimes they ran out of cutlery, and milk wasn’t topped up regularly. Another slight irritation was that the lifts are very small, and sometimes one of the two was broken down. So waits could be quite long. The hotel is, however, working on a third lift, so that should improve the situation. Also the reception is quite cramped and there can be a wait to be seen (now helped by people returning towels for their deposit). But these were not major issues.

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“Great Hotel”

Faro city was fabulous and the local islands amazing. White sandy beaches which were practically empty in June. The only downside was the hotel pool area. Ladder steps to get in with rungs missing making exit very difficult unless you are extremely fit. Not suitable for physical disability. Othe... more

Faro city was fabulous and the local islands amazing. White sandy beaches which were practically empty in June. The only downside was the hotel pool area. Ladder steps to get in with rungs missing making exit very difficult unless you are extremely fit. Not suitable for physical disability. Otherwise staff were lovely. Beds extremely comfy and breakfast was amazing

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