Reserva Alecrim EcoSuite & Glamping

We have just checked in. It took some time even though we had checked in online beforehand. We are a family of 5 and were advised we required 2 family cabins. We were informed that there was a maintenance issue with one of our cabins and that we would be upgraded. We were not shown to the accommodation and when we arrived at our cabin it was clear that it was already occupied . We went back to reception and they said that it was definitely vacant. A staff member accompanied us and she confirmed that it was indeed occupied. It was a lot of waiting around in the heat. We decided to go to the second cabin and to wait further instruction from staff in the comfort of air conditioning. We could not un-pack or enjoy the facilities. We discovered that this accommodation was enough for a family of 5 and that we did not need the second cabin, as advised on booking. We asked if we could cancel second accommodation as it is our preference to stay together but we were told that a refund for the second cabin was not permitted. We were given a second cabin. The handle was hanging off and the door was impossible to open. I called reception and a staff member came to help us open it. She managed to open it after several attempts. We tried to practise opening and closing the property but it was practically impossible and not fit for purpose. We have chosen to stay with our children as we would not be comfortable leaving our 16 year old sons to manage locking and unlocking the property. The staff member was very pleasant and said that she felt we should be refunded the price of the second cabin and be allowed to stay in one cabin. Two hours into our stay and we are still not sure where we are sleeping tonight. We are awaiting a call from management as the manager is not on site. We should be relaxing in the grounds. It is most unfortunate and what a terrible start to our stay. We would not recommend. Update- just over two hours since arrival we have been sorted out - refund of second cabin. We look forward to an enjoyable stay from here on in.

A very frustrating and disappointing experience so far. Having arrived for check in, and despite having checked in online, we were quite a while in reception before being advised of our accommodation. As a family of 5 we were forced to book 2 units. Upon arrival at unit 1, we noted that there was a guest car already parked outside and some clothing on the sun deck. It was clear the unit was occupied. We then returned to reception - initially the staff did not believe my wife and thought we had gone to the wrong unit. The staff member then came with us - and it was clear that the unit was double booked to them. At that point we gave the staff some time to investigate and went to the second unit to unpack some of our older children’s belongings. This second unit would easily have occupied all the family as there was a pull out bed, 2 bunks and a master bedroom. Our first reaction was to ask if we could take the single unit and be refunded for the second…. Upon contact from reception we were advised of a new unit to replace the double booked accommodation. The receptionist advised us they could not process any refunds. We were then issued with a key to the replacement accommodation. As I tried to open the sliding door, the lock was unreliable and felt very loose and I could not open the door. We were now on the site for over and hour and still had not been able to access the accommodation. We phoned reception again. The receptionist then came to the unit and struggled to open the door. I was unhappy with the idea of having to struggle with the door each time we were to enter or leave the accommodation. I then asked if I could close the door - the door would not budge at all. At this point I asked to speak to the manager. We were advised they were not on site. We then left it in the receptionists hands to contact us with our options. We returned to our other unit to allow our children to head to the pool and try and get some enjoyment out of the day after a long journey. As I type this, we have been on site for 2 hours and we have had no further information as to where we might be sleeping tonight. I wholly expect a refund and some sort of compensation for the inconvenience, stress and wasted time.

We had a lovely stay at Reserva Alecrim, the accommodation is really lovely and well equipped. We were very kindly upgraded due to their being a maintenance issue in our booked accommodation. However, one thing that we were not aware of, was that the Pizza restaurant was not open at all, and the other restaurant had a very limited menu (3 main meals) and some of the stuff they actually didn't even have. So if you are going in winter - I would recommend bringing provisions and not relying on any of the restaurants there.