I will visit Portugal again and I will not stay at the Carvi Beach Hotel. The management is horrible. Sylvia is a Karen.
When we walked in, we were checked in by a gentleman who was kind. After checking in, we went to our room, which was in the basement -- literally. After taking the elevator down, there are three steps that you have to take to get to the rooms, so if you are handicapped or have heavy luggage, it's an issue. After seeing our room, we went back to ask if they had any other rooms available because we didn't want to vacation in a basement. At that time, we were greeted by Sylvia, who, in response to our question, sternly informed us that we had already "agreed to" the basement. She was rude and essentially treated us as if we were not paying customers. We ended up ending the conversation with her and were going to make the most of our room... in the basement, but it gets worse...
Later that day, we asked Sylvia if we could have beach a towel. She proceeded to tell us that we had to pay a "deposit" for them, which is 10 Euros. We told her we didn't have Euros and asked if she'd take a credit card or simply charge our room (we even offered more than the equivalent of 10 Euros in USD). She told us that she would not, but, again, was rude. Sylvia did not apologize or offer any alternatives for our situation. Sylvia also failed to mention the store next door sells beach towels for 2 Euro.
Later, we asked for two additional bath towels (there were only two in the room). She told us that she would not give us additional bath towels -- and suggested we use the hand hand towels to dry off if we wanted more. After proceeding to argue, she told us she would "make an exception" and give us two more towels. She went in the back and came out with one hand towel. Again, even if that was standard policy, she could have (and should have): (1) explained the policy (preferably at check in), (2) showed sympathy, and (3) given us a couple of towels or even asked that we pay for them. She gave us no options.
The hotel is in a good location -- halfway between downtown and the popular beaches and right on a beach itself. The parking is the free beach parking right in front of the hotel and was easy to get, especially after 4-5 (assuming when people left the beach). The room is fine -- it has the basics minus towels. The room location, however, is less than ideal. The breakfast tastes like it's been sitting there for a week. The hotel staff are horrible -- Sylvia fits squarely with the definition of a "Karen" in the United States.
Thankfully we were able to work around Sylvia and convinced our maid to give us extra towels for a grand total of 4 towels for 2 people over the course of a 4 day stay.
There is a beautiful hotel called the Bel Mar located right down the street closer to a nicer beach -- the beach next to the Carvi Beach Hotel is full of seaweed. read more