We choose the Tivoli hotel because it had great reviews and was dog friendly, or so we thought). I would say that just tolerant of pets.
We had two rooms at the hotel. One suite and one double room on the 9th floor.
Let me start by saying what was pleasant about the hotel.
The staff was friendly and helpful throughout the hotel. They recently renovated Sky Bar which is nice and the decor is welcoming and comfortable.
The lobby and hallways are clean. The quality of furniture was great for the volume of traffic the hotel receives.
The breakfast was more than expected. The layout allowed for minimal traffic jams, the variety was extensive and the staff did a wonderful job keeping it clean and well stocked, kudos to the breakfast staff! If you are reading this be sure to add breakfast to your hotel room reservation!
The hotel was easy to find and had a very tight parking garage below ground.
The bed was comfortable.
Now, let me tell you why we will not return. (NOTE: we did not inform management about these problems since they seen the be chronic problems that have not been addressed or are the result of lazy management with low expectations. Unfortunately, my expectations are very high.)
The sink in 901 and 919 drained slowly. The window motor didn't work in 901, but you could manually push and pull the window closed.
919 - Suite
Every piece of art in the room was crooked. The piece upon entry had all kinds of something dripping down the glass. Just disgusting!
The motor on the window in the bedroom was not working. The chain was also disconnected, I guess so we could move it manually?
The hair dryer was filled with so much lint that it didn't blow much air. It just made noise. We cleaned that ourselves. See photo.
The pool was as cold as the Atlantic Ocean. The hot tub was the same ice cold temperature, it just had bubbles! The towels for the pool are at the front desk. You need to sign your life away just to get one. The towels are very nice, but this is a major inconvenience. The hotel should either put a pool attendant to watch and supply towels, or change to a basic bath towel and place them poolside. No one will notice the difference. I'm just disappointed that after paying so much to stay at the hotel, we have to sign for towels. That just takes away from the luxury experience. It's just not worth effort just to have nicer towels.
The breakfast area was just too hot both morning of our stay.
The hotel charges for dogs. That is not friendly, it's just pet tolerant. Trust me, my kids make more of a mess than my dogs! There was no grass for several blocks, just overgrown weeds. The front desk couldn't even point us in the direction of a manicured green space.
There was no pet amenity, no water bowls, nothing. Just payment at check-in. It's VERY disappointing. They should look to other hotels for positive examples of being pet friendly. They could start by looking at the amenity and policies at Castelo de Palmela. BE WARNED, this is a pet tolerant hotel only so be prepared to pay extra and bring everything your pet may need for their visit.
The lighted mirror in the bathroom was broken and the switch was replaced with foil tape.
At Sky Bar, we ordered tacos from the shareable menu. We received one taco. I guess we were supposed to share the thee shrimp on the taco? When we complained that we had one taco for 14€ from the SHAREABLE MENU, they added a second taco.
Our overall experience at Tivoli was underwhelming. We were not impressed with any part of our stay except breakfast. The hotel was sufficient for visiting the city and having a comfortable bed to sleep in. For our next visit to Lisboa, we will find alternate pet friendly accommodations as Tivoli was not worth the expense or frustration.
Normally when something is wrong, people usually overlook it. But at Tivoli, everything was out of its place, things just didn't work, and no one seemed to care. After staying at Tivoli it seems that they are plagued with chronic ongoing issues, a clear sign of bad management. read more