A Difficult stay and an even more Negative ending! It is with sadness that the management of Hotel do Colegio, due to them not fulfilling an agreement we made on the 26th October and the hotel owner and Team Leader of the reservations department not replying to five emails I sent to try and rectify the matter, have left me with no option but to leave this review. Before booking a two-night stay at this hotel we on several occasions checked that hey would be able to offer breakfast and dinner for someone who was coeliac, i.e., unable to eat gluten. We also checked that they were also able to offer us a room with two beds rather than one with a double bed. They assured us, in at least three emails, that offering a gluten free breakfast and dinner would be know problem and that they would inform the kitchen so everything would be in place when we went down to breakfast. They also said that a room with two beds had been reserved, so again no problem there. As not being able to eat anything with gluten is an illness I two days before we were due to arrive again reminded them about this and again was told that the kitchen had been informed and that it was not a problem. I also reminded them that we had booked a room with two beds. Due to the positive response, we chose Hotel do Colegio over three other hotels who also said they could cater for my illness, so we arrived feeling very confident that no problems would occur. On arrival we were given the keys to our room and was assured it was a spacious room with two beds. To our surprise and shock this was not the case; the bed in the room had been made up as a double. We were very tired after a long and delayed flight so was not very happy with this. We went down to reception to be told that that room always has two beds rather than one. Our word appeared not be accepted and the person on reception insisted going up to the room with us to check for herself and, of course, found that what we had said was correct. She then said she would contact someone and get it put right. We were asked to wait and after us requesting it were given a cold drink while we waited. Time went on and no-one came so we went back to reception and asked what was happening. She then said the people who did the rooms were at lunch and we would have to wait until they returned. This was not the arrival we had hoped for and expressed our concern. She then said she would show us two other rooms which both had two beds if we would like one of them but added I’m sure you will want to wait for the cleaners to come back as yours is a much nicer room. We agreed to look at the other rooms, which unlike the one we had been allocated were inner rooms and much smaller. Obviously, we preferred the allocated room which was very spacious and also had a nice view. She assured us it would now only be another 15 minutes so again we agreed to wait. Thirty minutes later we went up to the room ourselves and the cleaners were just completing the change to two beds; we then waited in the room. The reception staff then told us that the issue occurred because the cleaning staff were new; the question is why did that stop them being told to make the room up with two beds. The whole process took around 90 minutes. As the promise of allocating us a room with two beds had not been kept, we again asked if the kitchen had been informed about one of us being coeliac; we were assured that they had been. After the change of beds, the room was fine and we hoped we could now relax and that everything would go smoothly. On going down to breakfast the following morning we found this not to be the case. As I am coeliac as well as not eating food containing gluten, I also have to be most careful about cross infection; something I explained to the hotel. I asked to see the lady in charge of the breakfasts and she said she had not been informed of my dietary issues and was obviously concerned and distressed that this was the case. Yes, she could offer me some gluten free bread but if she had been informed, she would have had some cereal, cake and pastries for me. I believed she was very genuine in what she said; a lovely lady, and that despite me being told that the kitchen had been informed; this was obviously not the case. This once again caused me a great deal of stress and concern particularly as I had gone to so much trouble before booking to ensure that there would be no problem with a gluten free breakfast. I then went to reception and asked to see the manager. After some time, someone called Miguel came; I asked if he was the manager to which reluctantly, he finally said no and that he was the reception team leader who usually could deal with most problems. He insisted that the kitchen had been informed and that it was ‘miss-communication’ that had occurred. So he was saying ‘miss-communication’ and the lady in charge of the kitchen was saying ‘no-communication’. In view of the room experience the previous day I felt that it hadn’t been communicated; often hotels say they will note something and then nothing happens to it. As I was again spending precious holiday time on issues which occurred through no fault of my own, I said that I felt I was entitled to some form of compensation. Miguel said he totally agreed and would, despite him saying that he was able to sort moist things out, would discuss it with the manager and was sure that something acceptable to me would be forthcoming. When I came back in the afternoon of the 26th October, having heard nothing, I again asked to see Miguel. Having waited all day, the outcome was that he would offer me a bottle of wine. I found this unacceptable and therefore asked to see the manager. Initially I was told he didn’t know where he was and that he would get back to me later. Not happy with this I insisted and finally the owner of the hotel Fernando Neaves came along with Miquel. I began by saying that he obviously knew about my concerns as Miguel had said he had spoken to him about them. To my surprise he said he didn’t know and at that point Miguel interestingly said it was another manager he spoke with. Having gone through all the issue Mr. Neave was very understanding and the meeting concluded with them agreeing the following: 1. We were invited by Mr. Neaves to have dinner and some wine in the restaurant. (As they couldn’t do anything gluten free, other than fish, from the main menu, the chef would do some steak and vegetables, which was fine with us.) 2. The kitchen would supply several gluten free options the following morning 3. Due to the kitchen not being informed of my dietary requirements for the first morning they would refund me 20 Euros. I was happy to agree to this and the meeting ended quite positively; I later emailed Mr. Neaves thanking him for the outcome. At the close of the meeting, Miguel verbally said he would arrange for the refund through the card we had paid with and that I didn’t need to do anything. Later in the evening he confirmed that he had requested the refund so as far as I was concerned that was it. However, on checking my account on the 2nd November I noted that the refund had not come through so I emailed Miguel just to ask if everything was okay. He emailed me back to say the refund request had been made on the 26th October but was not sure how long it would take but I shouldn’t worry about it as it was on its way. It still hadn’t arrived on the 12th November nor on the 14th November so I on both occasions emailed Miguel to let him no – sadly I have had no reply to either of the emails. Obviously 20 Euros is not a large amount of money but it is the principle that is important to me; an agreement / promise, both verbally and in writing was made, that a refund of 20 Euros would be made, therefore this agreement / promise should be kept. As Miguel was not answering my emails, I then emailed Mr. Neaves direct who had previously been helpful and understanding. I received no reply to my first email, so I contacted him again and it is now the 28th November and I have neither had a reply to my emails to Mr. Neaves or Miguel or the 20 Euro refund. My stay at this hotel ended up being extremely stressful due to the issues I had raised prior to booking not being dealt with thus meaning that much of our two-night break was taken with sorting out problems, which were of the hotel’s own making. After meeting with Mr. Neaves I thought it had all been handled satisfactorily but the fact that they have not kept their word and refunded the 20 Euros, nor replied to five emails, may be a warning to others about how the management of this hotel may not do what they agree / promise to do! It is with real regret that I write this review; readers must now make up their own mind about the quality of service and respect I received both from the owner and a senior staff member. For me, not doing what they agreed to do both verbally and, in an email, and then not having the courtesy to reply to my emails, is why I have given them a low rating. At the time of writing this review, over a month later I still haven’t received the 20 Euros! …