The Best Customer Service In The World is in Sintra, Portugal

Andre Salazar
Sep 4, 2018 · 6 min read

Portugal has always been a popular destination for me. My mother’s native country, it’s where I spent my summers as a kid and I consider it my second home. I rarely stay in a hotel, but this year my girlfriend and I planned a trip that overlapped with our anniversary. We decided to go to Sintra, Portugal, a beautiful and popular village about 30 minutes west of Lisbon. My girlfriend, the princess she is, booked the perfect villa, which comes with a picturesque view of the famed Moorish castle.

Photo of Villa Estefania

Everything was set as we entered the charming city center. We walked through the city streets that seemed to transport us back to the 16th century. We walked roughly 10 minutes from the train station, up a narrow and windy road and to a villa, whose facade exceeded our exceptions. At the front door, there was an actual doorbell. I mean to say that there was a physical bell that one had to pull on to get the attention of the front desk. But that’s when everything started to go wrong.

Real picture of me, trying to get into the villa

There was no answer. We rang the charming, but possibly superfluous, bell again. And then once more, to no avail. We sat there dumbstruck, looking for the Villa’s number online. That’s when a couple, in a tiny Fiat 500 drove by staring at us with a puzzled smile. When they came up to the door, they spoke to us and asked if we were checking in. Again, with an increasingly puzzled look.

They invited us upstairs to check us in, and looked at their computer in confusion. They started asking questions like “Did you make your reservation today?” and “Are you sure it was this location?” At this point, I thought all hope was lost. Until I heard the words, “Oh, you booked on AirBnB!” My girlfriend and I both felt a moment of relief, until the husband explained to us that AirBnB had some technical error and it did not properly communicate with their travel management program. He continued, that while we were only staying there for one day, all of their rooms were already booked. Bottom line: we did not have a place for us to stay for the night.

Did I say I had lost all hope before? Now, I no longer knew what hope meant. I went from visiting the perfect village with my beautiful girlfriend on our eight year anniversary, to not knowing where I was going to sleep that night. But as girlfriends sometimes do in times like this (especially after a hectic day of traveling), she started to cry. I reassured her and began speaking to the owners of the villa about what could be done. And that’s when things started to change.

The wife, Estefania, immediately brought up two lattes with a plateful of assorted cookies. The husband, Francisco, explained the situation, and then she looked back at us and stared directly at my girlfriend and said “do not cry, we will figure out everything.” My girlfriend explained that it was our anniversary, which is the reason for her tears, and Estefania shouted in excitement, “Eight years! That’s wonderful! We have to have a bottle of champagne!” She made it feel like nothing was wrong and there was nothing to stress about at all.

After finishing our coffee and chatting for a bit, we realized we came to see the town, not worry. I asked the owners, the Loureiro’s, if we could leave our bags here while we explored for the day, as planned. They said that would be fine, so long as when we came back, we shared a bottle of champagne with them to celebrate our anniversary.

We left, saw as much of the beautiful village as we could pack in. We climbed the Moorish castle, took a tuk-tuk to the historic district, ate delicious food until our stomachs were full (and walked the cobblestone streets. Sintra was no longer the beautiful town I thought it was when we arrived, I now believed it was majestic.

On our way back to the Villa to grab our bags, we received a text message from AirBnB. It said that the owners had contacted AirBnB for us, and that they have refunded us for the night. Additionally, due to the mistake, AirBnB would like to offer us a $40 credit on our next booking.

We pulled up to the Villa much happier than when we left and were greeted by the couple with hugs and questions about how we enjoyed their town. We told them about the trip as they opened us a brand new bottle of delicious champagne (Read: NOT PROSECCO!) and we sat on the couch telling them about our day, discussing Portugal, America, politics and everything in between. We found out what Francisco and Estafania did for a living, when they met, and how they came to own a boutique hotel. They were having a genuine conversation, not a contrived one out of apology. And it was fantastic.

Even as it was getting late, they invited us to stay for dinner, which we politely declined. They understood but obligated us to have dinner with them the next time we come back, and enjoy a FREE night with them. This is in addition to the $40 credit they arranged for us with AirBnB.

As we were getting ready to go, Francisco invited me aside. He brought me to the kitchen where he had prepared dinner. He showed me a beautiful cod fish he made, to offer one last bid to get us to stay. When I declined again, he showed me to a window overlooking the home’s garden. He said that this was the Rose Room, the best room in the house, because the garden belonged only to the people who stayed in it. He said that next time, when I get my free night, to make sure I stay there.

The garden in the Rose Room
Terrace above the Garden

My girlfriend and I came out amazed. It is one thing to go far for a client that had been wronged, it’s another thing to do what they did. They pulled out all of the stops, but also offered caring support and friendship. It was a level of customer service I had never experienced before. They weren’t satisfied with making sure we weren’t upset, but made sure we were absolutely in love with our experience. And they were successful. Because of them, we fell in love with the town, the villa and the Loureiros as a couple.

Make no mistake. I wrote this article because I was so in love with my experience, I want other people to experience it as well. But more than that, I want the Loureiros to share their warmth with even more patrons. During the event they told us that AirBnB wasn’t all that great, and preferred when people booked using Bookings.com. If you are interested in booking a stay with them, click this link, or go to Bookings.com and search for “Villa Estefonia Sintra.”

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