Pestana Hotel Group Reviews 93

My name is Mik, and I am a member of the Pestana network (member account number: 708212842). I am filing a complaint regarding the failure to fulfill the obligation to refund the money for a canceled night at the Pestana Rio hotel.

At the end of December, I stayed at the Pestana Rio hotel. Upon arrival, I did not like the room or the overall atmosphere. Therefore, I kindly asked the reception to cancel my reservation for the second night, as I had decided to move to another hotel. The receptionist assured me that he had canceled my second night and signed the bill to confirm the cancellation and guarantee the refund (I am attaching a photo of the document). He said that the money would be refunded to my card within 3-5 business days.

More than 2.5 months have passed, but I still have not received a refund. I sent several complaints to Pestana's email address, as well as to the hotel itself and to the email address of the employee who promised the refund. However, no one responded to my emails. The hotel employee himself claims that the refund was made, but that the delay in payment is due to the New Year holidays. But the New Year is long gone, and the money still hasn't been credited to my account.

I am very surprised and upset by this situation. I feel that my complaint is being treated with complete disrespect, especially considering that I regularly receive promotional emails from the hotel chain, but my own money has not been returned for several months.

I hope that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible and that I will not encounter this kind of attitude again in the future.

I would also like to warn future guests of the Pestana chain that they should be extremely careful when booking and canceling nights at hotels in the chain, as refunds can take much longer than expected.

Sincerely,
Mick

More of a 3 stars hotel rather than 5. The food is horrible, not a lot of options and not cooked very well. The room cleanliness was not ok - the room & bathroom cups were dirty upon arrival. When put aside for staff to replace, they just put them right back again as they were... I don't like buying cleaning products myself & cleaning while on holiday at a 5 stars hotel. The room also had an intense smell of sweat. Vents thick with dust & carpets disgusting. The reception staff couldn't care less, nobody gave me a map of the hotel or any info upon arrival, I had to ask. Not willing to help or responded rudely when asking questions (e.g. when asked where the sauna is, the reply - eyes rolling was "everything is there in one place... madam"). Disappointed overall, will not return.

Nice hotel, lovely clean rooms, great breakfast, facilities...location was a little far away. Only problem I had was I left something of value behind and they did not respond to a request sent to enquire if it can be posted

In summary, our stay at Pestana Rio Atlântica was a disappointment. We consider the quality of the experience to be much below the expected value for the price we paid (roughly $200 per night). Our benchmark is based on travel across many countries.

The positives are limited to the location and view, both of which were expected considering we selected the hotel ourselves and paid extra for a room with a view.

What follows are the things that made our experience a disappointment. Disclaimer: we did not discuss these with the hotel directly during our stay as we felt the problems were caused by the way it was managed.

Upon arrival the check in experience was smooth and staff was friendly. No mention was made of an ongoing facade renovation prior to payment for the room.

Upon entering the room our first impression was of a poorly managed and old hotel. This impression solidified as we noticed more details throughout our stay. The furniture was old and poorly maintained, the bedsheets had tears and stains on them, an AC was leaking on a doorframe, the hairdryer cable wires were exposed.

The AC units on the outside were not only loud (making it difficult to sleep at night if other guests kept theirs on), but also on the wall next to the bed instead of a solid wall there was a cabinet-style door (!) that was bolted shut but basically was there to service the AC units (and all street sounds were passing through it).

While we understand the hotel needs to carry out renovation on the facade, we were not informed of this beforehand or during check in, and there are two reasons we find this unacceptable: 1. during the weekdays there was drilling noise on the wall outside our room, making it impossible to take some rest in the afternoon, and 2. the balcony on the side of the renovation was full of dust and actually a piece of it had chipped off.

The breakfast can at best be described as basic and repetitive. Unfortunately, through several interactions with staff during our stay we felt there was some training missing for some of them to interact with guests and provide basic services (e.g. operating a Nespresso coffee machine).

As the hotel is part of an international group, I received an automated survey on our first day and despite sharing some of these concerns, we were never contacted to discuss them further.

I share this detailed review because I would like other people to have a great stay when visiting Rio. I am sorry Pestana Rio Atlântica did not provide a good experience for us.

Arrived at hotel double deluxe was booked, twin room given, 2 single beds pushed together does not make a double, room described as deluxe, very much standard room, only reason we didn’t complain was a nice view of mountains and we thought if we complained we’d get a view of a wall. Staff at reception helpful one day rude and unhelpful another, food very average, this hotel is described as 5*, I have travelled the world and would very much describe this hotel as 3* at best. Best thing about this hotel the waiters in the dining room, helpful and very polite, the patio door to balcony did not lock properly, which meant we lost sleep, slept very poorly with extreme noise most nights.

Well we arrived at Pestana Alvor Praia this afternoon
We couldn’t have been happier with the location and hotel at all, we booked off looks from the internet
The concierge receptionist Rui was the most accommodating and professional member of staff credit to the Pestana Group
Now looking forward to the remainder of our stay but so far it’s very much 5 ⭐

Have stayed here many times, nice Hotel, helpful staff, will return. One small (but important) niggle…..
have asked many times for a larger bottle of zero alcohol beer -still the same tiny bottles. Resorts always have a problem with tourists drinking too much on holiday (I used to be one), so I feel thy should encourage clients who want to abstain.
The Pub across the road recognises this and serves areasonable size non alcohol beer. Small point?

eview: Pestana Hotel Marrakech

I had a wonderful stay at Pestana Hotel Marrakech, and I want to give special thanks to two incredible women who made my experience unforgettable: Fatimezzahra and Zahra.

From the moment I arrived, they greeted me with warm smiles and made me feel truly welcome. Their professionalism, kindness, and attention to detail stood out throughout my stay. Whether it was helping with local recommendations, assisting with anything I needed, or simply brightening my day with their positive energy, Fatimezzahra and Zahra went above and beyond.

They are the kind of people who make a place feel like home. Pestana Hotel is very lucky to have them on their team — they represent true Moroccan hospitality at its finest.

Thank you, Fatimezzahra and Zahra, for your exceptional service and warm hearts. I won’t forget it!

Kind regards,

Fatna and selma

It was quite possibly the worst hotel experience I have experienced in over 30 years of traveling around the globe.

We booked for a single night stay to try out the hotel chain before we would decide to book at their other hotels along the coast for a later trip.

We get there, having driven from France (there are no longer any borders in the European Union), and she tells me my husband's driver's licence from France is not valid enough as an ID to confirm that he is indeed going to be a guest at the hotel. She wanted his passport.

Furthermore, she also wanted my passport and our son's passports, to confirm we were indeed who we said we were for so called "fire safety" measures.

So what, without borders, we don't accept ID from other countries, especially ones from a European Union?

We were turned away from the hotel and then we had to scramble to try and find other accommodations to avoid sleeping in our car.

We ended up at the local hotel, and I will never EVER book or recommend booking with this absolute trash of a hotel company.

Pestana Douro Riverside 🙄
Having walked from Lisbon to Fatima and on to Porto !! I had booked this so called 5 star hotel 🤦🏻 For my wife to fly out and meet me for a stress free week of good food wine and total recovery 🤣 Well how wrong I was , On day 1 before Wife ever arrived I spoke to staff at pool bar about lack of service! For a so called 5 star hotel .
We stayed a week , From reception on check in to pool bar , Bar and food at night to reception at checkout the service was crap .

The only positive experience was the room the view and the grounds , which were all excellent 👍
We left €700 in bar and food !! So it’s not like we flashed in and out .
So if you love a nice view and crap service!
This is the hotel for you .

Pestana Viking porches Portugal

Awful hotel, lovely staff. I would personally not believe the good reviews on Tripadvisor are genuine.

No acknowledgement of cancellation which is concerning. They are very bad at communication and the reason I cancelled and booked elsewhere was because booking direct with them was over 100 pounds dearer. I then saw a better deal elsewhere and it was in a much better suite. Pestana used to be really good but they have got too big and lost the service ethos that was so fundamental to old Mr Pestana, the founder of the company.

It takes a while to get used to the options system at Pestana. We used our points in Madeira only as we knew it well. It’s annoying how you have to book 10 months ahead to hopefully, get what you want and sometimes don’t. Those that have purchased their apartment for so many weeks get first priority so sometimes it is tough with what you end up with, but you need to complain and they do sort it out. We always get a 2 bed/2 bath as we like space. Many use their points on studios apartments to stretch out their time, but don’t know why as you can’t swing a cat in them.

The Carlton Beach Club is no longer 5 star as it is showing its age. One wonders if it ever was 5 star when you compare it to other 5 star places on the island. This time April 2025, we could not use the second shower as it was so grotty, when mentioned Pestana got a maintenance person to resolve the problem which he did. It is not the cleaner’s fault, it is the lack of care in the building. Carpets ripped etc, just very shoddy. One of the chairs on the balcony was damaged where someone had stood on it, very noticeable and yet not replaced. You had to check everything as quite a few items missing which shouldn’t be. Our main programme on the dishwasher took 5 hours to wash, reported but nothing was done. Fridge should be turned off each time you depart the apartment so it is kept clean but the freezer section in ours hadn’t been touched for a very long time and completely frozen over. This was easily resolved as I turned it off when leaving, simple.

Our rep tried to sell us some more time as our contract was coming to an end. For the ridiculous charge they wanted, we declined. She asked why, we told her in all honesty the place was falling apart. Pestana is doing a refurbishment again, in 3 years times but it needs completing now, not 2028. Sorry Pestana, we know you are losing clients hand over fist but seem to do nothing about it.

We looked at other package elsewhere and picked a deal at The Savoy Palace, very contemporary and the apartment size is guaranteed regardless even if we book 24hrs or 1 year ahead which is comforting. We have a fantastic 1 bed/2 bath on 10 to 14 level, with a view to die for. So clean you can eat your food off the floor. 20% discount on their restaurants which are many, should you wish to eat out. State of the art items within, very impressive. Pestana ought to learn a thing or two from this company. Perhaps that is why The Savoy chain is the Leading Hotels of the World and Pestana isn’t.

I am extremely disappointed with Grupo Pestana, specifically Pousada de Viana do Castelo. I was charged €540 for a reservation I never completed, and despite clear and documented evidence, the hotel refuses to refund the full amount.

Here are the facts:

I canceled reservation 24022791121 through their official system, and received their confirmation email.

Minutes later, they claim a second reservation (24022791144) for two rooms was made from the same IP address. I never made or authorized this second reservation.

Their own confirmation email proves that I properly canceled my booking.

I immediately contacted their call center when I saw the first charge and was told there was no active reservation under my name.

I sent multiple emails before the alleged check-in date, expressing my disagreement and requesting cancellation.

Despite all this, they still charged me two No-Show fees, totaling €540. They only refunded one.

Their explanation based on having "two profiles" in their system is irrelevant and shows internal mismanagement, not customer error. Their response has been evasive, bureaucratic, and dismissive.

This was not just a bad experience – it was a clear abuse. If this happened to me, it can happen to any traveler using their website.

📌 Be warned: Avoid Grupo Pestana and Pousada de Viana do Castelo at all costs. They do not honor cancellations, and they refuse to admit errors.

#TravelScam #PestanaGroup #HotelFraud #AvoidThisHotel #PortugalTravel #NoShowScam

We stayed at the Pestana Porto and the Pestana Lisbon in September. In Porto the service in the bar was appalling due to a wedding, it would appear that residents come second even at £400 per night. We were then charged 4euros for the receptionist to order a taxi on our behalf.
I personally would be aware that they are very good at taking promotional photos of a palazzo and then showing you to a bedroom that is like a Premier inn.

Charles Tomkinson

I stayed at this hotel checking in was 4 very late in my opinion, having travelled 4 hours at the location in Battersea London we arrived after 5, only to be told it was not ready, in a very rude and abrupt manner, I do not expect reception staff to act this way, we had another 25min wait. On the ⛳ the hotel room was excellent pity the staff aren't.

Pestana Casino - Madeira
Gone downhill no longer a 5 star !
Dirty bathrooms and shabby bedrooms
Needs a major overhaul and some TLC
Black mould round the shower
Extremely noisy main road
Very poor housekeeping
No mini bar or coffee/tea making facilities
Very expensive Spa treatments
Casino tipping out time 4.00 am causes major sleep disturbance if on that side of the hotel.
However breakfast choices good and most of the staff friendly and accommodating!!

Bare rooms, lacks basic amenities e.g. lotion, face tissue., self serve coffee/tea maker. Uncomfortable pillows and mattress. Cold breakfast, without a toaster even to toast bread. No options for tea. Not worth the money. They could not even provide a zero balance statement at checkout. Their response- talk to the agency. Tone deaf, not at all customer friendly.

I had an amazing experience at Pestana Park Avenue New York! The staff treated us like family, incredibly warm, kind, and solution-oriented. From the moment we arrived, the welcome was exceptional. The hotel itself is incredibly clean, quiet, and the beds are super comfortable!

A lovely surprise was arranged for my daughter’s birthday, which made her feel so special. Most importantly, as a Black man, I am often treated differently because of my appearance, but at this hotel, I experienced the exact opposite— I was treated like family.

I can’t thank the staff enough for making our stay so memorable. Highly recommended!

COCKROACHES at the Pestana Alvor Park ruined our holiday. Hotel management lacklustre and unhelpful. Will never stay at another Pestana hotel!