Matty S.
Yelp
I stayed at Avenida Palace November 10, 2021 to November 14, 2021.
While I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Lisbon, I am disappointed to write a less-than-stellar review for Avenida Palace despite all of the positive reviews that led me to book my stay in the first place. Unfortunately, a single incident soured my stay enough that I feel compelled to share the awful customer experience that I received.
On the early morning of November 12, 2021, I was returning back to Avenida Palace via cab to find that the front doors had been locked. I knocked on the glass and a security guard welcomed myself and two friends who were also staying at the hotel. We walked through the lobby towards the elevator when we heard the security guard say, "the cab driver would like to speak to you." Clearly upset, the cab driver lunged towards my friends and I, using his foot to prevent the elevator that we were in to close. He claimed that we had left his cab dirty and scoffed that "this wasn't America where we could do that." As a group of New Yorkers, we are very familiar with cab etiquette and did not, in fact, leave his cab unclean. Ultimately, the cab driver grabbed me by the arm, dragging me back outside of the hotel, and threw cleaning wipes at me, demanding that I clean his car. Terrified of what would happen if I didn't, I spent 10 minutes wiping down the entirety of his car. The hotel security guard did absolutely nothing to keep me safe, and even held the door open for the cab driver as he physically pulled me out of the hotel. Visibly shaken, I returned to my room that night.
Later that morning, my friends and I went to the front desk and asked to speak to the General Manager but found out that he wasn't there. Instead, we spoke to Pedro, the Front Desk Manager. When we explained what happened earlier that morning and asked if there was something he could do about it, he said he would look into it. We heard nothing more from him. On our last day on November 14, we asked to speak with the Executive Manager (Manuel) who was in that day. After re-explaining the situation, he said that he had heard from the Assistant Manager despite him not reaching out to us to follow up. Manuel was very accusatory, asking me if I had done something to the cab driver to cause him to be so upset and why I hadn't recorded his license number. He also asked me why I explicitly didn't ask for help. I explained that I was in a state of shock when I was physically dragged by a cab driver who should've never been allowed into the hotel lobby to begin with. Manuel said that there was nothing he could and - quite concerningly - let us know that security cameras outside the building were coincidentally out of service so he couldn't view any footage.
For a 5-star hotel with very positive reviews, I was shocked by the whole experience. Shocked that the cab driver was allowed into the lobby to berate me, shocked that the hotel security did not protect me when a cab driver was physically grabbing me, and shocked that the General Manager did nothing to set the situation right (I wasn't even offered a free cocktail at the bar, let alone the comped night that I rightfully deserved). I would absolutely not recommend Hotel Avenida as I did not feel safe during my time there and felt let down from a customer service standpoint. I sure hope that Pedro and his team do better in the future.