Marine Freestyler Glorious Terrace

Great apartment, right in the centre of faro

the view

the bathroom door would not close or lock so we had to put a chair against it.. some of the outdoor furniture was broken...the couch in the living area was very badly stained...

Location, view

Not well maintained. Very noisy from the busy street. So far not possible to get an invoice for the stay.

Location

The metal frame bed- noisy, woke me up. Shower - hot water lasts only 1-2 minutes.

We were greeted by lovely Bela who handed us the keys and explained the checkout procedure so there would be no confusion on the day of our departure. She also sent us some recommendations for places to eat and visit which was much appreciated. The apartment is ideally located right in the heart of the old Faro city with lots of bars and restaurants located on the same street. Some of the venues stay open into late hours but noise isn't an issue if you keep all balcony doors closed at night. During the day when we were at the flat we kept balcony doors open (there are several sets at different ends of the apartment) which kept the flat nice and cool thanks to the sea breeze. At night when we had to close balcony doors due to street noise we made good use of the AC.

There are two double bedrooms and one double sofabed at the apartment, however only one of the bedrooms and the lounge are fitted with an AC. We were not able to use the second bedroom as it felt too hot and the fan left in the room didn't make much difference. It was cool enough outside at night but street noise meant that we couldn't keep balcony doors open either. Also, the sofabed only comfortably sleeps 1 as only one half of the sofabed has a solid mattress, the other half is made up of 4 cushions and doesn't provide good back support. These were all minor points for us as we were a group of 3. There were two main disappointments for us. First, the towels smelled like dirty old rags, the sort of smell you can't get rid of by washing with normal laundry detergent. They either need to be bleached or replaced. The smell got so bad by day two that we couldn't use them anymore. Second issue was the shower & bath - the bath is very old and discoloured with visibly worn enamel. It was unpleasant to stand in as it felt very rough on your feet. There were also signs of dirt and mould on the grout and tiles in the shower area and the shower curtain also looked discoloured and/or dirty. It's a shame the bathroom hadn't been properly cleaned before our arrival. Overall the host only needs to make a few minor changes to make the apartment really great.

The apartment is in a great location.

Others have written about the fact that this is a top floor apartment with no lift. The stairs are steep and would be a challenge to anyone with small children or mobility issues. The photos on Booking.com were taken a long time ago and do not adequately represent the property. It feels as though you are arriving at someone's home, with cleaning supplies left on the landing, laundry on the balcony and food in the kitchen. There is a clear reason there are no photos of the bathroom. The tiny bathtub is old and worn, with just a hand shower head and a shower curtain that fell off the wall twice. The towels are old and worn and frayed - and small! The beds were too small for two people and not the ones shown in the description. The couch was badly damaged, apparently due to a cleaning accident. The paint is peeling on the balcony, outdoor chairs were broken and generally seen better days. Finally, the sports bar across from the apartment is open late and the noise from the bar is loud until about two am. The worst three nights sleep we had on our travels - I only wish others had been more honest in their reviews.