Aparthotel Brisa Sol

Little bit disappointed with this hotel given the glowing reviews. All in all, we got what we paid for. Would hesitate to book again purely due to sleep quality - bed and air con. Pros: - Price, we only paid £598 for 9 nights - Location, was great as Brisa Sol is right inbetween old and new town so 10-15 minute walk to either - Pool, large but not heated with good snack bar. Average prices for food, 3.30 euro for a beer (sister hotel tropical sol is 2 euro though?) - Covid secure, hotel was clean with masks enforced and sanitiser around hotel - Bar, had a nice terrace with happy hour 5-7 - Room, booked a studio. Was bigger than I expected white spacious Cons: - Room, facing a busy main road which was quite noisy. Air con was useless, didn’t go below 17 and wasn’t cold at all. Hot nights made it really difficult to sleep. Cleaners also weren’t brilliant. And beds were very firm! - SUNBEDS, never have I had to que from 7.30am for a sunbed. Cushioned or comfy beds were like gold dust. Doors opened at 8am, and by 8.15am majority had gone. I hate to be the one queuing and running for sunbeds but if you can’t beat them join them - hotel need to sort this out and regulate it properly. Be warned the white plastic sunbeds are like lying on a rock - Decor, the whole hotel is quite dated however this is to be expected in Portgual

Stayed as a couple for 1 week 1-8 sept so still here while writing this. I have seen recent reviews and the situation is as described with sunbeds. The doors to the area open at 8 and there are queues from 7.30 20 deep to make the mad rush for a bed. Now is this the Brisa Sol causing this or selfish British tourists- you decide. I like my sun bathing so yes I was one in the queue. I would have liked a better system sure but this is due to social distancing and the amount of beds put out to achieve this . Every night a man comes and realigns the beds in pairs with social distancing and then sprays them all down with disinfectant too. People did place towels And leave which I dont agree with but most seemed to be half board and went straight in for breakfast after reserving their bed which ain’t right but that’s the system. When we got our bed we lay on them coz the sun was up and it was glorious . We could argue all day about COVID and it’s effect or lack of it but this is about the hotel.The Brisa Sol are brilliant in this respect. Masks are compulsory inside and my wife even forgot waking in reception snd was quickly reminded with a call of “ lady mask” - to our amusement but credit to reception staff for the reminder and keeping everyone safe. I had booked a studio but emailed that we had missed a holiday to Thailand for my wife’s birthday and if possible a room with a pool view wid be much appreciated. Not only was this accommodated but the studios are road view and we were given a one bedroom apartment with pool and sea view and nice bottle of bubbly to great us- how great was that . A free upgrade. Our room was 28 on floor -1. It was a great room and once we worked out the fridge was coldest on the highest number it was brilliant as we were self catering. There is no ice compartment but wasn’t needed once the fridge got going. The bathroom was nice with powerful warm shower. Their was good air cons. One in bedroom one in lounge. The balcony was fantastic - pool and palm trees and sea view. Even loungers table and chairs. A tv in bedroom and Lounge which had Bbc and itv which was brill as we waiting fir the Thursday news as to whether we wud b self isolating on return which was a boost when we weren’t. The indoor pool was closed And no entertainment which we knew before we booked. The out door pool and area were great , pool large enough for a swim and a lovely temperature not warm or freezing and nice waterfall like feature. The hotel is next door to a supermarket and on the other side a very popular patisserie. It was always queued to get in so we didn’t sample. Only down side was that our room was below the pattesserie and they started prepping at about 4am each day which was noisy but a set of ear poppers helped. We mentioned to reception the noise and they told us about the cake shop and even offered us a change of room to a suite! We had only booked a studio which Wud have had a road view so to even offer us that when we had been given a one bed with great views and bubbly showed how well they looked after us. We declined as were 4 nights in of the 7 and felt they had been more than decent with our room upgrade and we wer a little embarrassed being offered a second upgrade. There is mcdonalds Chinese kfc Pizza Hut all directly across the road and location was perfect for old and new town. A brisk 15-20 min walk or 3.5 -5 Euro cab. There is a taxi rank outside and the tourist train stop too. All in all the Brisa Sol went above and beyond to make our stay enjoyable. Thoroughly deserves its 4 stars. Top tip to eat - Ricardos pizzaria in old town . Get the roof top terrace nice views.

Stayed in September 2020 just the 2 of us. We had to Checked out 9 days early and the hotel would not even give me as little as a 1 euro back. Absolutely abysmal customer service. Not even willing to listen.