SandyBlue Opiniões 29

I have used Sandy Blue to book Villas in the Algarve for the past five years. Until our stay in Summer 2024 I found them to be a professional business to deal with.

The Villas they have on their books are of a very high standard and guests and villa owners should expect the service and support they provide to be commensurate with the overall quality of the product they offer. Unfortunately, my most recent stay
with Sandy Blue was a disastrous experience in terms of the service provided to me and my family and to the Villa Owner.
We booked Villa Indigo for 3 weeks in August/September 2024 through SandyBlue.

My daughter, her husband and 2 children were first to arrive. They noticed a strong unpleasant smell on arrival. They assumed this was probably from a blocked drain or because the villa had been unoccupied and unaired for a period of time prior to their arrival. In fact , it turned out that the Villa was rat infested and the smell was a mix of a dead rat in the ceiling space and a rat living in the island in the kitchen.

Other than the smell, the next indication of a serious problem was when a rat jumped out of the kitchen island and ran across the counter in front of my daughter and my traumatised 6 year old granddaughter. At this stage most of the ground floor of the villa was consumed by an overpowering stench. SandyBlue were notified almost immediately, and their staff ambled to the rescue a couple of days later and failed utterly to deal with the issue. They said it was probably a mouse ,put down some poison under the counter in the kitchen and disappeared!

Eventually, we were forced to demand that the issue be dealt with and a representative from SandyBlue and a vermin exterminator arrived. He immediately determined that the smell was that of a rat (probably dead at this stage) and he showed us a photo of chewed pipes he took in the ceiling space above my
grandsons bedroom. He was pretty indifferent about there being something living under the island in the kitchen – “its either probably dead by now or maybe comes in during the night and leaves again”!! After he left we took down the kick-board at the
counter and found a dead rat !!

At this stage , needless to say , we packed our bags and demanded a change of villa immediately. At this stage the complaint was escalated to Customer Service and we were moved.

The whole experience fell very far short of the levels required. After the terrible experience, I had to demand a level of compensation from Sandy Blue and after a protracted exchange, I was only refunded the equivalent of 65% of 1 days rental !! They
also took no responsibility for what happened insisting that any compensation was the responsibility of the Villa Owner. I will rent a villa again in the area but not one under the management of SandyBlue.

All in all, my experience with Sandy Blue was a complete debacle. I fully appreciate that houses can have rodents sometimes, no matter how high the standards are. The difference I expect from a so-called luxurious experience would be in the reaction. In Sandy Blue's case, there was almost no reaction. I couldn't recommend them in any good conscious and I will be looking elsewhere from now on.

We have used several rental companies on our visits to Portugal, they have all been very good, this was the first time we have used SandyBlue and I must admit having read some of the reviews we were sceptical about the company, We needn’t have been, the Apartment Aria in Vale De Lobo was very good and well furnished and spacious, the service we received from SandyBlue both before and after our stay has been excellent, I have read comments about the security deposit etc, SandyBlue have repaid ours within 7 days of us leaving the Apartment, We would have no hesitation in using SandyBlue again

Having read some of the reviews, I wanted to offer a different point of view. We have just returned from a week in the Algarve in an amazing villa we got through Sandy Blue. The whole experience was fantastic. Booking was easy, we had lots of communication leading up to the holiday and when we got there the villa was fantastic. We had a lovely welcome hamper with great local produce and the villa itself was spotless and exceeded our expectations. We had absolutely no issue getting our deposit back in full, in fact it was back in my account within a week. If you treat the people and the property with respect then there is no reason for any issues. Thank you Sandy Blue for a great holiday

Not sure how a company like this is still able to operate legitimately…be warned they will add issues to your check out inventory (planted) and keep your deposits, avoid like the plague! If you deal with Suzi, run a mile!

If you find yourself unfortunate enough to be searching on Sandy Blue’s website for accommodation, make sure you factor the cost of the villa plus losing your deposits. Hopefully the ombudsman will take notice with what’s about to come their way…

Similar to other reviews - we had an ok villa although greeted by very rude Sandy Blue staff. Do not give this company a deposit you will NOT get it back. Suzi in the office handles this and clearly will make things up to keep deposit, requested proof from Sandy Blue, none provided, seems everyone having same experience. Perhaps she is on commission on what Sandy Blue keep? We have reported to Portuguese police as seems company is genuinely corrupt. Do not use Sandy Blue.

This is the worst villa rental company in the algarve and potentially Europe. Any funds you lodge as a deposit are at high risk of being stolen. All I can advise is do not book anything through SANDY BLUE our money was STOLEN furthermore there is a guest services manager named “Suzi” she was extremely rude and abrasive throughout the whole experience.

DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM. IF YOU DO, MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT GIVE A DEPOSIT, YOU WONT GET IT BACK! BAD EXPERIENCE WITH EMPLOYEE “SUZI”

The Villa we stayed in was pleasant enough but had some issues around cleanliness (no housekeeping as we were told there would be, dirty baby pool that couldn't be used), none of the umbrellas by the pool were usable, faulty electrics and a garage full of asbestos.

But the worst part of our holiday was the service provided by Sandyblue, particularly from a guest experience manager called Suzi. She sent us photos of standard cleaning (crumbs on the floor, dirty towels and clean, stacked dishes as examples) and then got very funny about returning our deposit. She said on the phone she didn't see an issue so when I questioned why she bothered sending the photos, she proceeded to tell me one towel had a stain that wouldn't come out - 15 of us staying in a villa, I think you might call that an overhead!

The deposit process is nothing short of dodgy. They only accept by bank transfer - that is so they have full control. If you pay by credit card, you get insurance from your credit card company and can raise a dispute and they clearly know that. I paid by card because their UK account was down (again - dodgy!) and they no refuse to refund by card. 3 weeks later, still no deposit returned.

I wouldn't in a million years use them again - back to Airbnb I go!

We decided to travel to Portugal, last minute. Found Sandyblue and fell in love for the villas they offer. The Staff was really professional and nice, they help me through all the booking. We choose Penthouse Sea la Vie, was perfect for our family, in the city with front Sea views & next to the local market (Fresh fruit everyday :)😍). What an amazing weather in Algarve even for October...WOW