Martinhal Quinta Family Resort

The resort itself is very nice and was quiet this time of year which was great. We had the indoor pool / gym to ourselves, staff were pleasant and helpful and the resort is kept in good condition. The downside for us was the accommodation- a very dated and tired two bed townhouse which had clearly not had any update since it was first built. The tiled floor was badly marked, ingrained marks on surfaces and chipped, old furniture which one reviewer commented was ready for a charity shop. This was a shame as it doesn’t reflect well on MartinHal and as the properties are privately owned, they should either insist on a certain standard or stop renting out the ones that fail to make a certain standard.

We have stayed here many times but unfortunately this was possibly our worst stay. The house was very dated and whilst itcwas cleabed every day it never felt clean as so many of the surfaces were warped or permanently stained. The area around the pool - bathroom was rarely cleaned and often packed loo roll. The stairs to the inside pool are dangerous when wet. The outside pool temperature is at the low side for November. The whe vibe of the place is not what it was 8 years ago when we first went. The life is gone from it. I miss the breakfast on the upstairs terrace and the fox visiting the kids at breakfast time and dancing at the pool in the evening. For a resort thats prices are consistently going up the quality has unfortunately come down.

The first few days I thought were great. Nice villa, lovely pool area and staff at the pool couldn’t do enough but unfortunately it went all down hill after day 5. I had left my card on file and I decided to check out my bill which was lucky I did as I seen they were charging me for breakfast which I had already got included. I found the girls at reception (particularly Martha) weren’t very welcoming from the beginning and never as much had a smile come from her. Even at checkout she didn’t bother asking how our stay was. The only place that sold cigarettes was at reception which they had to pay into a machine with cash (this is also a cashless resort) and I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get them myself. The ended up running out of cash one day to get my cigarettes so told me to go to the resort shop as they might have some, they didn’t! I then had to walk back to be told to go to the bar and ask which was another 10 minute walk away and guess what? They didn’t have any either. I was told I would need to get a taxi into town if I wanted to get some. As a 5 star resort i really expected better. At first sight the villa was nice however as the days went on we realised how run down it actually was. The light switches would fall off when pressed, the dishwasher was filthy as was the pool. We were watching tv one morning when a flying cockroach landed on the curtain and after telling reception we were told that someone would come and spray which never happened. I was watching tv one evening with the garden door open and a huge RAT ran right across the room!!! My little girl liked the kids club but there was one minder (can’t remember her name) who I never got a good vibe from. She always seemed to be in a bad mood but maybe that was just her way. Magda on the other hand was amazing I loved her from the moment I met her. Everything from the shop to the bar was way overpriced! The first evening we decided to eat at the bar and had a main each (my husband got prawn tacos that he couldn’t even eat as they were still frozen) and got our little one chicken and chips. This with one beer and one wine came to nearly €200 we nearly died in shock! After speaking to other residents they all told us that is why they decide to eat out so we learned from our mistake from them on. We love QUINTA DA LAGO so as our first time staying as a family we thought this would be perfect but unfortunately it was a big let down and we will not be returning