This hotel is nice and in a beautiful coastal location. Our room was #7 with perk-a-boo views of…read morethe ocean outside our room in the seating area. It was overly perfumed, so we had to keep the window open and door when possible. There is NO a/c, and the window tips open, maybe 30 degrees. We had to put the blankets in the closet under our beds bottom sheet because the mattress was extremely hard. The kitchen area had a nice fridge and kettle, no towel or wash cloth. The pool was extremely difficult to find because no one would take the time to show us. The second day, we had to use google maps to locate it. Find room 11A or B. You follow the sign to the sea and find the blue ropes. You will also see a steep path down to the ladder where you can swim in the ocean. Continuing to the pool you need to go past the green landing with chairs, more blue ropes and go past a house with a short wall. Finally, at the pool, the view is beautiful. The pool is in disrepair and cloudy water, which was concerning. Staff was nice, but little English spoken. No wash clothes in the room, but that is common. Breakfast had some great choices of fruit and the usual. Dinner was great. The cod and octopus plate was yummy. Filet mignon was also very good as was the lapas. All in all it was a nice place, just needs a little elbow grease.

This hotel is absolutely stunning. I went during the off season, so it was about half the regular…read moreprice. It's relatively well maintained and the views are unbeatable. It was built outside of town along the water, so it's very private. You can walk along the "sea trail" that the hotel built and arrive at a number of ocean overlooks. One of them is right next to the water and you can climb down a ladder to go swimming. The breakfast was good and the staff were friendly. The dinner was especially nice and included lots of local produce.

Stop reading this and BOOK NOW if Quinta Pereirinha is available during your dates. If you need…read morefurther convincing, here's six reasons why I loved our stay here: (1) this house is clean, beautiful, spacious, and private. Beds are extremely comfy; (2) Nico and Rick are amazing hosts and extremely kind people who made our stay one of a kind; (3) their house is on a farm with a gorgeous garden and the cutest cats, chickens, and other animals (if you don't like nature, don't book this stay. Also, maybe don't travel to the Azores?); (4) Nico and Rick offer private dinners or breakfasts that you can purchase during your stay which are made using their own homegrown ingredients and are delicious and equivalent to any upscale restaurant. We opted for a dinner which featured traditional local meals with their own twist to them -- everything was outstanding, including the tablescape featuring a beautiful bouquet of flowers from their garden; (5) you can walk down to the ocean from this spot, or hike up to a viewpoint of Lagoa do Capitão. All without having to get in your car and drive anywhere. We did this hike on the last day of our stay and loved it; and (6) staying at Nico & Rick's place was the highlight of our trip. Easily my favorite place we stayed on any of the islands, and maybe my favorite place ever. Just book it -- you'll see what I mean.

Fantastic town homes right near the center of town. Tons of space and fabulous patios that look…read moreover the vineyards onto the sea. swimming pool into the ocean right across the street. Monica did a great job checking us in and recommending restaurants in town. This is the place to stay in Magdelena for sure. Would stay there in a heartbeat again.

PICO DREAMS is located in 5-10 mins walking distance from the center of São Roque do Pico. The…read moreplace is absolutely wonderful! When you check in, you're awed by the spectacular display of the Atlantic on the front and the dense forest in the back of the property. I stayed in one of the units in the back of the property. The place is modernized and clean. The most impressive thing for me was the owner's hospitality. They were incredibly helpful and went above and beyond to make my stay comfortable and convenient. The owner's son, Gonçalo, recommended a wonderful restaurant and a few places to check out nearby. He also taxied me to places at a reasonable cost. While I was there, his willing girlfriend was helping at the place...incredibly sweet and helpful as well. The owner, Isabel, prepares and offers a buffet-style breakfast to guests for 7 euros, which was great. I absolutely love this place and would definitely come back! I HIGHLY recommend it!!

We really enjoyed this hotel! We had room 226 which had a nice view over the Horta marina and Pico…read moreisland. The room and hallway looked recently painted, although the bathroom was a little dated. We had a big balcony with a table and chairs. The service at the reception was excellent and friendly. We also tried the a la carte menu at the restaurant. It was excellent!! The waiting staff was really friendly and we noth had a filet mignon (only 22,50) with spinachspread, batatas and shrimps. It was the best dish we had on the whole trip!! We went for another meal the next day. I'm sure the buffet wasn't as nice as the a la carte menu, so if you have the choice, eat a la carte instead of at the buffet. The breakfast was also very nice and one of the few that had a jug of soymilk, which I totally emptied :P We also tried the little hotelgym, that was situated behind the pool and jacuzzi. Maybe the hotel could check it once in a while, some of the equipment looked as if it needed repairment. From the hotel it is quite an easy, but sometimes steep walk to Horta city center.

I stayed here for 8 nights for a conference in June 2014. I did not expect much from the pictures,…read morebut I was pleasantly surprised by a number of factors, most important of which was the friendly service and hospitality. The staff went out of their way whenever someone needed something. A few things to know: Wifi was spotty and slow. For a small amount you can purchase wifi for a week through a local provider and it works in different places on the island. The rooms were updated about 5 years ago and are pretty nice. The beds, however, leave a little to be desired in the way of comfort. They have a full bar area with tv. Nice area to have a drink at the end of the day. Pretty substantial breakfast each morning although the food in the Azores, generally, leaves a lot to be desired. There are two beaches within walking distance, the nicer of which is about a 5-7 minute walk. The hotel is centrally located. Really a perfect spot, steps away from everything. They have a small gym and indoor pool as well as a nice outdoor infinity pool. Beautiful views! I would highly recommend this hotel for this specific location and would not hesitate to return.

My husband and I were blown away by the awesome customer service of Tripix, including our super rad…read moretour guide and Tripix owner, Raisa, intern David, and staff member Joana. We first did a Pico Day Tour with Raisa, who is super fun and hospitable. She made us feel like family and facilitated a very nice experience, and the trip mates who we did not know prior to the tour, clearly also felt very welcomed and we all had such a great day together. Raisa takes you to the some very breathtaking sites around Pico, and is clearly extremely passionate about what she does and the island of Pico. She is very knowledgeable and we learned a lot, all in an awesome environment. She seemed to tailor the trip to the group and the weather, and is very flexible depending on what the group wants. At the end of the tour we forgot the cheese that we bought in the van. I Instagrammed Raisa who got back to me immediately, saying that she saw we had left it and was heading to our accommodation at that moment. Sure enough she brought us our cheese! She had also offered to bring anything including food or medicine to a couple that at the beginning of the tour (upon pick-up) could not join the tour due to being ill. She is very genuine and very much cares about her customers and wants to ensure the best experience for your time in Pico. We also met another guide along the way that seemed very nice and genuine as well. After hours my husband and I contacted them to see if we can get a two hour trip to Gruta das Torres the next day, and Joana and Raisa got right on it setting up the tour and our transport with David through Tripix to the caves. She allowed us to pay for both tours on the second day after they were both completed without fuss or hesitation. We already can't wait to come back to Pico to take more tours with Tripix, and could not more highly recommend this awesome (and environmentally conscious) company! Thanks Raisa!!!

My sister and I recently did three full day tours with Tripix Azores. While booking the tours, they…read morewere really responsive and easy to work with. During the tours, both Matteo and Rai (the tour guides/owners of the company) were very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. We had a great experience. We climbed Pico Mountain with Matteo, which was challenging but absolutely amazing! Matteo was very informative and helpful for the entire hike, which took about 8 hours. We also did the Secret Lagoon and Lava Cave Tour. We spent the morning visiting a number of beautiful lagoons, and then went to an awesome lunch. In the afternoon, we explored a lava cave, which was very cool. Matteo spent a lot of time explaining the history of the island, and was able to answer any questions. As our third tour, we did a full day winery tour with Rai. We had a great day exploring vineyards, and doing wine tastings. Rai was great! She provided a lot of information, and was super friendly. Overall, we had a great experience with Tripix Azores and would definitely book with them again!

Solid hotel option in Faial!…read more The hotel location is close to many eating establishments and has a great view of Pico Mountain. Regarding the room, the room was a decent size, beds were comfortable, and the shower pressure was pretty good. The buffet breakfast has many great options and even included instant coffee machine and self serving pancakes. The noteworthy inclusions were the breads and local cheese/butter. During our visit, there is some ongoing construction but nothing that has disturbed our trip.

This was our second trip to the Azores but our first time to Pico. We are seasoned foodies and…read morecooks back home in NY....Translated ( not impressed easily... lol) So discovering Atmosfera was a breath of fresh air, or in this case fresh pesto! Cynthia and I combined are 125% Italian so the thought of fresh pasta etc. got us in the car and our way. This place is kind of hard to find. Great property with sweeping views in almost every direction including Mt Pico which I had climbed earlier that day. Let me preface the meal by saying the Azores aren't known for world class cuisine. We love it here, but didn't find any gourmet options on the biggest island - Sao Miguel. So it was surprising that tiny Pico Island would be the place where we finally found a proper gourmet meal prepared by a passionate Italian chef and staff. We had the pesto pasta & the bolognese sauce. The wines were local with some good and very affordable Italian options. The service is personal and warm. Desserts were outrageous; Lemon Meringue Pastry shortbread concoction Panna Cotta We enjoyed so much we returned the following night and ordered some new offerings... Carrot Onion soup - Absolutely amazing with polished presentation ( see pic) Pork Shank- Cynthia ordered this as I normally don't order pork. She let me try it and it stole the show... tender, moist with perfectly prepared roasted potatoes on the side. This dinner was so satisfying we had to skip dessert. We had a different server who was extremely courteous & polished ( which was not our experience at most of the best restaurants on Sao Miguel ). The only negative we felt was the bread. It was served room temperature and just ok. You gotta give a pass for this however , as the Azores aren't London, NY Paris, Rome or San Francisco. In one word.. Delizioso! We hope to return soon

I'm giving this place 2 stars because the location is nice and there's a pretty view…read more We were very disappointed with this restaurant. It claims to be Italian food but I don't find the food here Italian. There's 2-3 Italian dishes and that's it. We ordered 2 appetizers, the cheese board and shrimp cocktail. They were pricy appetizers so I was expecting a large cheese board and a traditional shrimp cocktail with large cold shrimp and cocktail sauce. Instead, we got 6 small slices of cheese, 2 thin slices of pear and 1 walnut. We also got 4 hot over cooked shrimp, a questionable sauce which was not cocktail sauce over a salad... I don't know what that was but it was not shrimp cocktail. The appetizers were very disappointing. We ordered 2 pastas. The waitress raved over the noodles being homemade. I've had homemade noodles before and they're very soft... I didn't find the noodles soft. The sauce also wasn't very good and kind of bitter. We were excited about this place from the reviews but unfortunately we didn't find it very good. With the prices reflected on their menu being on the higher side, I guess we expected more. Advice : appetizers are meant to be shared. 6 small slices of cheese and a few thin sliced pears and 1 walnut isn't enough. Google "restaurant cheese boards" and "shrimp cocktail" and see how they're typically presented at restaurants. Also, shrimp cocktail is something which is very popular and is expected to be a cocktail sauce with chilled shrimp which aren't over cooked or warm.