Monte Santo Resort

Louise Phelan

This was our second trip to Monte Santo, we thought we had found somewhere to return regularly but sadly, our second visit hasn’t lived up to the first. This time around we stayed in a townhouse, it lacked basic necessities which we enjoyed the last time we stayed - chopping board, bowls and a clothes horse. While it’s great they have a book with instructions on how to use appliances - our townhouse had different appliances which we had to google instructions for. House keeping is haphazard, they sometimes don’t show up and when they do all they do is make the beds. Biggest issue for us was the giant stone staircase in our townhouse, we have a hyperactive 3 year old and we were nervous he would fall down - esp as we don’t have stairs at home and his bedroom opened on to them. We requested a stair gate but they only gave us one for the bottom of the stairs and ignored 2 subsequent requests for one at the top. This meant the only way we could sleep was to bunk in with him which was fine but not ideal. Biggest disappointment was the change of coffee supplier. We first visited 2 years ago and have had several conversations about how good the coffee was at Monte Santo, such an important thing to us, not only have they changed supplier so it’s just not very good now but the room didn’t even have a complimentary supply of coffee for our first night. Breakfast was mediocre at best, very very basic. Overall I get the impression this hotel has cut a lot of costs which is noticeable to repeat visitors. Staff are very friendly but under resourced so you might be a while waiting for someone to be free

Millie Hartviksen

We are here with a group from Canada for a month long stay vacation. So far, our first impressions have been very favourable. It’s a beautiful resort the staff we have encountered speak English and are very friendly and helpful. If there is an issue with your room, there is very prompt service. The rooms are showing some signs of wear and tear as there are gouges or scratches on the backs of closet doors where doors have bumped against each other. Instructions are provided for use of the various appliances but are still tricky to follow. Reception could make it a point to tell guests where to find these instructions. We were missing ice cube trays which would have been nice to have. I’m not keen on buying any and then packing them in my suitcase. I feel these should have been included. There is a restaurant on site that serves delicious food but we found the prices to be too high. A cafe type menu would have been appreciated. Overall, it looks like we will have a wonderful experience exploring the area and enjoying our vacation.

Sofia Karlsson

We stayed with our 2 kids for 2 nights and the apartment was in perfect condition. The services and amenities were also good. We enjoyed the complimentary tennis/soccer court and the indoor pool for our kids. In mid Feb that was great for them. We would come back here.

Kira

Myself & my husband came to this resort in January 2025 for a small break. The staff are absolutely amazing, so thoughtful and helpful! We stumbled upon a fantastic deal for our stay so we thought it was excellent value for money. The area is quiet and peaceful, and you’re not too far from any other amenities you may need. We rented a car so we took a day trip along the entire Algarve coast. We stayed in a 2 bedroom townhouse. The houses are super spacious and have all of the amenities you need for your stay. The house was spotless & cleaned every day we were there. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. (José was the best! An absolute gentleman :) )

Stan Sleicher

When my girlfriend and I arrived at Monte Santo Resort we were welcomed by a kind employee at the service desk. Our room wasn’t ready yet so he told us we could wait and relax at the pool until our room was ready. Once we came into our room it was fancy looking on first sight but with a closer look we saw mold in multiple places of the apartment, bloodstains and other stains on the pillows and sheets, hairs and ants in the bed and everywhere trough the apartment, dirty windows, coffee stains on the table and I could go on. Overall it wasn’t giving us a clean “feeling”. When we told this at the reception the kind employee told us he was going to arrange another room. Once we came in the new room the sheets and pillows were clean but there was still mold in multiple places in the apartment, coffee stains on the table etc. and again, not giving us a clean “feeling”. We decided to not make a big deal out of it so it wouldn’t ruin our holiday. For a 5-star resort, cleaning HAS to get better as I wouldn’t give this any more than two stars. Apart from hygiene there are lots of facilities like indoor and outdoor pool, gym, etc which is good! Breakfast is okay but nothing special and in my opinion nothing to what a 5-star resort breakfast should look (and taste) like. Overall the resort is okay (apart from hygiene) but feels a bit outdated and like it’s glory days are in the past. We would rate this more as a 3-star resort. So overall 2 star review from us because you expect a lot for these prices, especially when looking at the photos when booking. We won’t be coming back here.