| | Rua Bartolomeu Dias- B Do Junqueiro, Carcavelos, 2775-551, Portugal
diytravel.co.uk unbiased hotel reviews and unique Question & Answer system will help you to decide whether Riviera is the right Carcavelos accommodation for your holidays. If you are happy with the hotel reviews, make an online hotel reservation. If you are undecided, read more Carcavelos hotel reviews.
|
Overall Community Rating: |   8.5 (based on 1 user reviews) |
 Riviera: An Island Of Excellence by Jonathan Hood |
| Posted 13 September 2003 | Overall rating: 8.5 |
We had booked a last minute one-week break on the net and were prepared to be disappointed. The Riviera was billed as a Best Western hotel and in my experience this chain is usually competent but rarely brilliant.
After a long flight (Swissair from London via Zurich to Lisbon - cheap but a long day's flying) and a frustrating 1 hour wait at the airport while Avis failed to produce our pre-reserved people carrier, promising it would be ready in"just 5 minutes" every ten minutes or so) we were bad tempered and tired out. We found the hotel with some difficulty (a location map would have been helpful) but once there we parked outside easily and within minutes the stress and tiredness evaporated.
A lofty cool marble atrium, glass lifts, charming competent reception staff. A helpful porter carried our bags to our room without being asked. Deep carpets, everywhere air conditioned, plenty of closet space, good views, nice bathrooms with full sized bath and shower. The gardens and pools were well kept with enough sun-loungers and free pool towels to allow even our German cousins a lie-in in the mornings.
The American style buffet breakfast was excellent - a wide choice, bacon egg and sausage, meusli and fruit, or both!
The restaurant for lunch and dinner was like most hotel restaurants, competent but not dramatically good and with prices just a little over what felt like good value. However room service was quick, excellent and reasonably priced.
The piano bar was sumptuous with a competent jazz pianist tinkling away. The pool bar served reasonably priced snacks and drinks all day.
The hotel is part of and a large, well designd, organised, managed and executed development with a shopping mall selling everything you could want or need at just a little less tha English prices and apartments on the far side of the gardens. However it retains an air of exclusivity and calm and is quiet and not overcrowded.
Gripes - a few. The beds and pilows were rock hard, but that's how they like them in Portugal so bring your own pillow. The small balconies were fine for sitting out by to small to sunbathe on. The bar was a little too hot and stuffy. The pool suffered from piped music. Oh, and the much vaunted fitness centre, with gym, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room and massage, was closed for refurbishment - at the height of the holidy season! However, when I complained the management could not have been more charming and responsive and offered a substantial discount to make up for this one problem.
And I must not forget the unsung heroines, the chambermaids. Unlike many who will start hoovering outside your door at at six to get you up and out of their way, this hotel employed angels - they were quiet and effective and worked round you. They were almost silent and invisible and managed to slip in a do a really fine job on the room while you were out at breakfast or wherever.
While Carcavelos itself is a pretty average sort of a place this hotel is an island of excellence in a sea of mediocrity - good value, very well managed and really comfortable. I strongly recommend it - it deserves 4 to 5 stars, not the rather mean 3 start rating it had on the website.
This review is the opinion of a diytravel.co.uk user and not of diytravel.co.uk. |
| 1 of 2 users found this review helpful. Did this review help you? |   |
|
 Riviera Reservations |
|
|
Riviera Questions | Have you got a question about Riviera that you want answered before you book online? If our reviews do not contain the information that you need, ask a question and let other visitors tell you the real story!
|
|
