Cascade Wellness Resort

Hotel is ideally situated and rooms are spacious however there were logistical problems with my room that made the stay much more difficult mostly that the lights did not work The breakfast is excellent here and it is an easy walk to the old town and the beach But because my lights would not work I would advise visitors to seek other options

My wife and I stayed at the Cascade Wellness Resort for 8 nights as part of a five week trip in southern Portugal and Spain. We paid the equivalent of about 130 Euros per night for a “1 bedroom apartment”, booking 4.5 months in advance through Expedia. We spent considerable time selecting this property from dozens of options for both hotels and short-term rentals throughout the Algarve. We weren’t specifically aiming to stay in Lagos, nor were we set on a hotel/resort (rather than an apartment rental). We selected the Cascade Wellness Resort because it seemed like a higher-end place (nice for the end of our trip) and the price was very competitive. Check-in was quick and easy. We were directed to our apartment, which was in one of the buildings surrounding the main hotel. It had one of the pools directly behind it. While the grounds and main hotel building look like a 4-5 star property, the apartment we occupied was showing its wear, including considerable stained and peeling paint, and a major kick-plate in the kitchen that would fall out every time we opened the dishwasher. There were also minor maintenance issues that hadn’t been attended to. We had light bulbs that did not come on (we assume were burned out); the freezer portion of the refrigerator was so frosted over that we had to completely remove one drawer (for the length of our stay) because it was too difficult to open and close with the accumulated frost. A simple occasional defrosting would have solved this. None of these were fatal to our enjoyment of the stay, but it gave us the sense that the place probably wasn’t what it used to be. The wi-fi was okay, but it didn’t work at all for an extended period one morning, and we got very regular buffering interruptions when streaming video on our laptop in the evening. The room itself was a very good size with a large living room, a reasonably big kitchen, a good size bedroom (with king size bed) and a bathroom split into a separate “toilet room” and “bathtub room” each with its own sink. There was a small patio on the “street” side of the room and a large (but largely useless) enclosed patio area on the pool side. It was unclear what this space was designed for, as it was completely walled off with tall stucco walls (leaving only a view of the walls if you were in it). The hotel grounds are somewhat sprawling with relatively convenient access to the paths and boardwalk area around the cliff edges. Oddly, the route from our building to the Ponta da Piedade/lighthouse area requires you to go way out of your way to avoid a wire fence that seems to serve no purpose (since you have open access to the grounds on both sides of the fence). The pool areas looked nice, although we didn’t use them because we were out exploring in the day and by the late afternoon, it was a bit cool to be sitting by the pool. There was no one staffing the towel cart, so we “borrowed” a couple towels at the beginning of our stay and used them for our various beach days, then returned them at the end of our stay. Pro tip: go out to the pool near closing on your first day there and grab a couple towels. That way you don’t have to deal with the hassle of presenting and collecting your “towel cards”. There is one hot tub, although it didn’t seem very hot when we dipped a finger in, so we didn’t go back. The location is great for the Lagos part of the Algarve. We spent our days all over the Algarve, although we never made it further east than Faro, so we probably missed out on some of the eastern third of the Algarve just because of the location. The only real problem we had were cockroaches. We appreciate that bugs thrive in this type of environment and will find their way indoors, especially on the ground floor where we were. My wife found two cockroaches in the first six days we were there. We dealt with them, and it wasn’t a big deal. However, on the 7th night, she found at least five move, scurrying under the carpet and under the bed around midnight. They move quickly and it took us a while, moving heavy furniture back and forth to trap them (except the one that got away into a crack in the wall, which we tried to stop-up using tissue). The next day we went to the front desk asking to be moved and not to be charged for the previous night. The first fellow we dealt with said there was nothing he could do and we would have to talk to a manager, who wouldn’t be in for at least three more hours. We went back later and talked to a different staff member who said she could move us (but we would have to wait for a manager to discuss compensation). We did get moved on request to an equivalent room and appreciated that. Once the manager arrived and we had a chance to speak to him, he said he was unable to refund the room night – blaming that on the fact we had booked through Expedia. After some very heavy prompting (i.e., not of his own suggestion), he eventually agreed to provide us a free dinner in the buffet restaurant (for two), which we also appreciated. It was unfortunate that the desk staff are not empowered to deal with these issues themselves. It would have left a stronger impression. We also felt that we had to get a bit lucky with the desk staff to get moved to a different room and that we had to twist the manager’s arm (figuratively) to get a “free” dinner as token compensation. The question I always ask myself is “Would I stay here again?”. If I was coming back to the Algarve, I’d almost certainly pick somewhere a bit more central. If I had a specific reason to return to Lagos, I’d be willing to stay at the Cascade Wellness Resort. But it isn’t one of those situations where it would be my first pick by default. Ultimately, this property is not one of the best 5% I’ve ever stayed at, so it isn’t a 5-out-of-5. It isn’t a clear 4/5, but isn’t as “average” as a 3/5. Ultimately, it should score a 3.5/5. Given the muted response to the insect issue, I’ve rounded my rating down to 3.0 rather than up to 4.0.

Booked hotel as a special treat as was advertised as 5* but sadly this was not the case in our opinion as the decor and furnishings were very dark and dated We had to have lights on all the time which still didn’t make much difference to the brightness of the room A light bulb was broken which we reported several times to reception and were told it would be replaced but still up until check out it was not done as was the blind which fell off its rails when we opened it on arrival and remained on the floor throughout our stay The AC was not able to be adjusted and the room remained in a very cold atmosphere having to sit with towels around us to keep warm and is unacceptable and this we reported several times as well with the the above issues Reception informed us the AC had been adjusted but this was not the case and the only way to turn off the AC was to take the card out but then the room was in darkness with no electricity The take away breakfast was very poor white bread sandwich with thin piece of ham and no butter offered coffe but this was not in the bag The dining room and breakfast selection were excellent with good choice staff worked tirelessly and always pleasant and welcoming The housekeepers were very good and always willing to offer service if required On checkout reception staff never asked if we enjoyed our stay or even a goodbye The hotel needs major investment to do the justice of a 5* hotel with tiredness of the rooms Unfortunately we would never recommend this hotel or return ourselves unless there was major improvements

The drive-up showed a very nice entry. Check-in was easy and the staff was pleasant. The carpet in the hallways was stained and dirty. A return vent cover was broken in the hallway the entire time we were there. Our room was ok, with multiple outlets not working. The resort will not permit the air conditioner to be lower than 21C, which is a very warm 69.8 F and uncomfortable for sleeping. There was no iron or ironing board in the room. The one provided by housekeeping was defective and ruined an expensive dress shirt. When I brought it to the manager's attention I was told the setting was too high. Sorry to say I have been ironing my clothes for 50 years and never damaged anything before. I was provided a drink voucher which the bar would not honor beyond house wine at the bar. The breakfast area is a free-for-all. The coffee machine was broken one morning, and loud children running around, with rude parents walking in front of us when we were in line for food. The bar area was nice, and the bar staff and food were very good. Again, children running around and disturbing any semblance of relaxation. The pool area was well-maintained and very nice. The best part of the location is the walking paths behind the property that lead along the spectacular cliffs and ocean. This is not a resort for couples seeking relaxation and a romantic experience. I would not return to this property, nor would I recommend it to anyone.

Unfortunately, the worst hotel I ever stayed in my life!! This is not a five star resort: it is not cleaned properly (floors are dirty, plastic bags and rubbish around in the bushes, food is highly overpriced and just not tasty it at all. The highlight was - it was served with a hair in salad bowl!!) Staff is rude. Breakfast is chaotic. Spa area is not clean, it is allowed to smoke in spa area which is not nice at all if you are not a smoker and would like to breathe fresh air. It is not a beachfront hotel - its at least 25 mins walking along the main road and the hill on the way back is a killer if you have little kids on your arms. I would not recommend to stay at this hotel.