Pousada Forte da Horta – Historic Hotel

We loved our stay here. The reception staff are so helpful. They put us in touch with a lovely family (Miriam and family) who provide a wonderful taxi service all over the island. They are the best place to go for any advice. Food was very good. But the best part was the amazing views from the dining room which looks out across the swimming pool to Mt Pico. The clouds change by the minute and the sunsets are fabulous. Take your camera. You can sit inside or out. You get the same view from rooms facing the harbour. Highly recommended!

Great stay in Pousada da Horta, the staff are great, very professional The reception gives you a lot of information, if you are planning to go to another island or maybe to have a tour around Faial, they simply make it happen easily. I also used the restaurant. They have a breakfast with a lot of options, the staff is very nice, and I also had lunch, the food was very good and well served. That was a wonderfull stay!!!!

After a sailing trip from Nova Scotia to Faial the crew and their wives reunited in the Poussada do Fort in Horta. Very nice place to recuperate! Nice hotel, good pool, nice view but only from a superior room!

Stayed here for 4 nights and were taken aback by the fact that during our stay the dining room was shut in the evenings. We were advised we could have lunch but we were on a walking holiday and out all day. We were further disappointed by the news that on the Saturday breakfast had to be taken in our rooms due to wedding preparations which seem to take over all the hotel. Initially we were advised that we would have a list of breakfast items to chose from and we could have use of the pool. However come the breakfast it was a basic bread roll, pastry and cake breakfast and coffee was black. Milk and fruit were eventually provided when I requested them. If the pool was really open we would have had to have swum in front of all the wedding guests who were sat at the tables for hours. It was clear that the staff on reception were not giving us the full story and there seemed very few non wedding guests in the hotel. We were very annoyed about this as it was our 40th wedding anniversary that day. It was also awkward when we came back to our room mid morning in our walking gear to come across the bride and her father in the corridor outside our room sorting out her train before going to the chapel which was directly infront of our balcony. We were given a complimentary bottle of wine and cheese board late that evening as a goodwill gesture but only after constant complaining on my part. On a positive note normal breakfasts were outstanding and could be eaten poolside looking across to Pico. Our room was beautiful as was the rest of the hotel.

Worse than Fawlty towers! Ok if you don’t want anything to eat or drink and you love mosquitos! I am staying here for 4 nights. To my horror tonight we are unable to get anything to eat or drink. I asked for hot water more than an hour ago and it hasn’t come. (Update it just arrived - 83 minutes to get a teapot full of hot water. No teabags though). The restaurant is full even to residents (even though it doesn’t look full and our friends have a table that we can join). They can’t do room service as it will take ‘hours’ and we have to wait until all the restaurant guests have been served. They do not provide a kettle in the room and neither can they find one for me. To make matters worse my room is above the restaurant so I can here the loud noise of people eating and drinking. The town seems to be closed tonight so we haven’t been able to find anywhere else to eat or a supermarket to buy supplies so are retiring to bed hungry and thirsty. This is somewhat unexpected from Pestana hotels. Despite the lovely view from the room I would not recommend staying here as apart from the food problem I got badly bitten by mosquitos last night and they obviously haven’t bothered to spray the room as there are three on the ceiling.

The Pousada which is in the center of Faial is a great blend of history with the modern conveniences of today. The rooms are very comfortable, and the food is delicious. I hosted my daughter's wedding there and from start to finish the manager, Sergio, along with his staff, was instrumental in assuring that everything ran smoothly to make her day what she had envisioned. I highly recommend a stay at the Pousada.