VOI Praia de Chaves Resort

This hotel has the most amazing beach and friendliest and most helpful local staff working there. However…having just returned from what was supposed to be a once in a lifetime Honeymoon stay in a 5* hotel we are very disappointed and let down after spending nearly £4000 for what really is no more than a 3* tops hotel. Like previous reviews, English speakers are not catered for when it comes to information services; of the piles of files in reception not one has an English translation. The rooms have no amenities other than an empty fridge with mould on the element, an empty bottle which you can walk to fill with water for your room; it holds 3 glasses! Not ideal! Having to walk to reception and wake staff for tea or coffee in the early hours was a pain to all. The bathroom was dated with leaks, cracked shower tray and intermittent hot water. The TV was hit and miss if it was going to work, as was the WiFi and the balcony furniture (plastic table and two chairs) had seen better days. Our bedding was changed during our stay, but it was one set full of holes to another full of holes. The paving by the pool area is worn and broken in places. The place was filled with cats the first week; some needing some medical care, then worryingly our second week as more guests started arriving most of the cats disappeared! There are too few sun beds on the beach even when the hotel is not busy and although there is a sign saying not to reserve the beds or staff will remove your items for other guests, they didn’t. We booked through Love Holidays who we will make a formal complaint to as being sold a 5* honeymoon when it clearly isn’t is just unfair and wrong. Compared to other hotels on the island this hotel is 2-3 *

Let's start with the positive feedback: the ocean view is beautiful. However, everything else was of very poor quality. The hotel is supposed to be a 5-star establishment, but as an experienced traveller, I can confirm that it doesn't even meet a 3-star standard. I was unfamiliar with VOIhotels, but I understand now that VOI stands for Vera Ospitalità Italiana, meaning most guests are from Italy and all activities are catered to them, not British tourists. It was surprising how difficult it was to find English-speaking staff. Even when spoken to in English, they often responded in Italian or Portuguese. Additionally, flies were everywhere in the hotel. It was challenging to sit anywhere without flies buzzing around, making eating or drinking very uncomfortable. My hotel room had no minibar, no iron or ironing board, and towels were not changed regularly. The duvet and pillow sets were not changed during my stay, even though I left tips hoping it might make a difference. I couldn't switch between the shower head and the tropical shower, and the bathroom itself looked like it was built in the 1980s. I couldn't keep the terrace door open due to flies and mosquitoes. The dining options were disappointing. There was only one main restaurant and two snack bars. The food was generally tasteless, and drinks from the automatic dispenser were disgusting. The morning pastries and Danish were hard and not fresh at all, something I have never experienced before at any hotel. Inside the restaurant was very hot, and when I tried to sit on the terrace, cats were everywhere, begging for food and even jumping on tables to steal food from plates. The animation team’s performance was very poor, and they mostly interacted with Italian guests, likely due to the language barrier. Almost every activity was conducted in Italian, and there were no other activities at the hotel, such as watersports. The hotel also lacked an English brochure for outside activities, which is unacceptable for a 5-star hotel. I am very disappointed with this holiday.

After reading some of the more negative reviews I was apprehensive about our visit this was our first holiday without our children and wanted it to be special. So let’s start with the negatives Is it 5 star not really. The rooms are a bit dated clean but old and in need of an upgrade particularly the bathrooms still trying to work out how to keep the shower at the right temperature. Entertainment wasn’t necessarily to our taste but there were plenty of places to sit and chill and enjoy a drink. Yes the resort is very much geared towards and Italian market but that had very little impact on our experience in fact it was actually quite nice. Positives Staff were friendly and attentive. Not been to an all inclusive for a long time but ,the food was enough to suit all tastes and plenty of it. There is enough variety of drinks included, including cocktails I’m now rather partial to a Mojito they certainly don’t scrimp on the measures! The resort itself is lovely gardens are well maintained and the views are spectacular. The atmosphere was good very chilled, music around the pool was nice and not excessive. The entertainment team work their socks off we didn’t join in the activities but there was plenty of them if you wanted to. All in all I’d say don’t come here expecting a five star resort and you may be pleasantly surprised. For the price I was happy with with what we got and would definitely come back.