Royal Savoy Vacation Club Timeshare Release

Before I start, we Need to reinforce our love of this hotel. The staff, the service and the accommodation here are outstanding though it is true to say the place is ready for the planned upgrades later this year.

My one gripe and it’s a continual one is the food offering. For a five star hotel the choices here are so poor. The Al la Carte menu should be available every day and the buffets should be left to a three and four star facility or an all inclusive hotel. There is no place for it here.

The menus are repetitive and almost the same as they were when we first came twenty years ago and to respond each time by saying the food is popular is simply not true. Read the reviews – please.

The discount given to RSVC members still go nowhere to addressing the issue if the food is inferior, particularly when there are so many fantastic culinary delights on offer in other restaurants nearby at a lot less cost. Most residents of timeshare are driven into their rooms to dine or eat elsewhere having experienced this second rate food offering on previous occasions. We had lunch by the pool and it was woeful.

The bread roll was stale, the hamburger costs a fortune and chips were extra and my chicken wrap was in a tortilla that was so old if it had been given another day it would have crumbled rather than rolled into a wrap. Absolutely dreadful. No amount of visual niceties could detract from how bad it was. I would like nothing more than to eat fantastic food in our hotel but at this standard no amount of discount can tempt me to eat here more than once.

The Royal Soiree is the only tempting food offering and at €115 per person it is almost as expensive as the Michelin restaurants and only just hits the mark to be considered an acceptable price. It is purely our loyalty that makes us continue to try to eat in.

Please please consider our comments and take them in the spirit they are intended. We have tried to resolve this matter last year with the food and beverage manager but alas it appears to have fallen on deaf ears. I understand it takes time to introduce change but a menu can be changed instantly if you have a chef who understands innovation and enjoys challenge.

Send him to Armazém do Sal, Il Gallo d’Oro, the Beresford and Quinta Casa Branca then he can see what quality and five star food is all about

Didn’t stay at the hotel, but as with a previous review, we went to the information office as they were advertising walks at a really good price. However, to get this price we needed to agree to a 90 minute presentation about timeshare in the new hotel being built.

So we went along:
1. It was not a proper presentation and the presenter was not prepared to answer our questions if they weren’t at the right time in her chat
2. She did not listen to us and was verging on being rude at times
3. We were there for over 2 hours and it was like getting blood out of a stone to get details of how much it would actually cost!
4. The atmosphere became distinctly chilly once it became obvious we weren’t interested.

Not an enjoyable afternoon and personally not impressed with the new hotel being built.

Clearly it is down to undividual taste, but my own feeling is that its far too big and caters too much to timeshare.

The good points: excellent location within easy walking distance of the town centre & with Reid’s and a good selection of restaurants about 5 minutes walk away slightly uphill.

Free parking.

Good wifi connection in room.

Good welcome from the doorman & easy check in process.

Daily room service with lovely chocolates being left daily. We caught a taxi back from the old town one night which was €7.00

The OK points: we did a timeshare swap & the apartment was fine for what we needed, it was not however on a par with other 5-star timeshare swaps we have had. Whilst beautifully clean with a lovely comfortable bed the living space & kitchen were a bit cramped. Had we wanted to eat in more than the twice we did this would have been a problem.

The bad points: the sauna & steam room were tiny (4 person max) & we only saw the steam room up to temperature once. Only 9 lockers to service this area in total! Limited bar area, expensive & no atmosphere. We never ate or drank anything purchased in the hotel.

We went to book a trip at the information centre and were offered a discounted trip provided we went to a timeshare presentation.

We told the travel salespeople we were not interested in buying but were assured that there would be no hard sell and we would have to give up between 69-90 mins.

When we met the sales person everything changed. We were told that the presentation would be a min of 3 and a half hours. When we said that we were assured that it would be 90 mins max attitudes changed and became insulting.

As a result we got up and walked out without out. Needless to say we didn’t get our cheap trip.

When I mentioned I would put our experience on Trip Advisor she just laughed and said go ahead. So here it is.

If you are offered discounted trips I would advise to think hard before committing yourself.

Needless to say the Savoy group is of our list but would definitely recommend the Pestana group.