CombatCritic's TravelValue™

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Cabanas (Faro), Portugal: The Golf Course Is The Last Priority At Benamor Golf

Benamor Golf

Qta. de Benamor 8800-067

Tavira, Portugal

Phone: 281 320 880

www.Benamor.com

Prices: €€€€

In my second year as a member, I liked the course and friendly staff at first, but course conditions have plummeted over the past year and management could care less.

The staff are still wonderful and many of the members friendly, but the sand traps have become unplayable with little or no sand under the ball, making bunker shots a nightmare. Bunkers are called hazards for a reason because even under the best of circumstances they are a challenge. The sand, if there is any, is routinely hard as a rock due to inaccurate sprinkler placement with water accumulating in many of them. When the grounds crew drag the bunkers, the 'sand' hardens and it is easy to blade a shot over the green. The sand is low quality and more like dirt in the first place with various size rocks embedded throughout. What a nightmare!

The course layout itself is OK, a decent layout, but the fairways receive zero maintenance (rototilling, verticutting, sanding, etc.) so what grass there is has become dense and plays like hardpan. The greens are the best part of the course with regular maintenance and are challenging, but fair.

The clubhouse and patio are old, but nice and the food is pretty good.

There is a golf club just five minutes away, Quinta da Ria, which has two fantastic courses, with wonderful sand, lush fairways, and excellent greens as well as a practice facility that is the best I have found in the Algarve. The annual membership is comparable in price to Benamor, but you can play three quality courses - Quinta da Ria, Quinta da Cima, and Quinta do Vale, another great Seve Ballesteros course - making it no comparison when I move my membership there next January.

Benamor management just does not seem to care about members or the course. They have been given ample feedback about course conditions, but ignore input from members and focus more on wasting time and money on menial and irrelevant tasks like building a croquet court, while closing the member's putting and chipping green for months, and raking dirt areas and removing grass unnecessarily. That is what happens when golf-ignorant people run a golf course!

CombatCritic Gives Benamor Golf 3 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Three Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Situation Normal, All Fucked Up"

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Alvor, Algarve, Portugal: Mama Mia, That's A Spicy, Delicious Ragu!

Pizzeria & Trattoria Napoli

EM531 1 5a 8500-013 Alvor Portugal

Phone: 937 696 093

Facebook:

Prices: €€€€

Real Neapolitans, making delicious Italian food in a comfortable setting, what more can you ask for?

They open at 11:00 for lunch, but, when I arrived, there was someone inside, but the door was locked, so I called to double check on their hours. Gianluca, the owner, answered the phone and apologized profusely for being late because he had to take his mother to the hospital, a very valid reason.

My wife is Sicilian, but grew up in Napoli, where I was assigned to the NATO HQ and where we met, so Gianluca and I had much to talk about. They were ready to serve me by 11:30 and Gianluca personally explained the menu and took my order.

Starting with a l'insalata Caprese (€6), it was tastefully presented with six thick slices of tomato topped with fresh mozzarella, dried, not fresh, basil and a stylish drizzle of balsamic vinegar on the side. It was very good, but fresh basil leaves would have been more traditional and the small amount of vinegar mixed with the EVO was not only untraditional, but unnecessary.

I know that restaurants have to cater to mostly British tastes, especially in Alvor and other tourist areas, so I will not ding them for the faux paus. I also noticed that they prepare their spaghetti carbonara with cream, a big no-no in Italia, but you find the same thing in the UK, so no biggie.

For my main, the Cotoletta alla Caprese (€12) looked intriguing, but I did not expect another room-temperature caprese salad on top of the veal cutlet, I thought the tomatoes would be crushed and cooked with melted fresh mozzarella on top. Much to my surprise, it was delicious and a fresh choice on a warm May day. The cutlet normally comes with fries and salad, but I asked if I could have a side of spaghetti with ragu sauce and Gianluca was happy to oblige. The side of pasta was very generous and the sauce was absolutely delicious, one of the best I have ever had with a smidgen of peperoncino, giving it a nice bite with every bite ... YUMMY!

The total came to €22, including the basket of bread and a large bottle of cold, bubbly San Pellegrino water, maybe a tad high for lunch, considering you can get a three-course lunch in a Portuguese cantina for €8 - €10, but I have to assume that the menu is used for both lunch and dinner.

I have to say that it was one of the best, fairly authentic Italian meals I have had in Portugal and we will not hesitate to make the hour drive from Olhão to return very soon ... Mama Mia!

CombatCritic Gives Ristorante & Pizzeria Napoli A Stellar 9 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

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qwd

Nine Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "U.S. Marine Response To A Verbal Greeting Or As An Expression Of Enthusiasm"

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Loule, Portugal: Yawning At The Unprofessionalism Of This Awning Company

Toldos - EtapaVeloz LDA

N396, Portugal

toldosetapaveloz.com

+351 960 161 417

Prices: €€€€

I was somewhat impressed at first because they came to our home on March 14th, took measurements, and provided a, relatively, on-time quote. They promised that I would have the quote by that evening, but I had to prompt them the following day and it was finally provided 24-hours late.

This was my prompt with additional questions:

--------------------

- I still have not receive the promised quote. I’d like to make a decision and have the awning(s) installed as soon as possible.

I also have some additional questions:

- How soon could the awning(s) be installed?

- Will installation be included in the quote/price? VAT?

- What forms of payment do you accept? Credit card?

- How long is the warranty and what does it include? Parts? Labor? How long?

Again, thank you and I look forward to receiving your quote soon so I can make a decision.

-------------

Only two of the four questions were answered and I still did not know how soon the awnings could be installed or what form of payment they accepted.

I should have taken my business elsewhere immediately, but I wasted another 10 days, sending questions that were either ignored or partially answered. It seemed as though the writer, who never identified him or herself, did not have the capacity to deal with more than one question at a time.

The final straw came the day before our appointment to go to there business and pick the fabrics, having decided to purchase two awnings for a total of €4182.

The companies website does not list an address, just a Google Maps location that looks like a junkyard. I inquired, for the second time, about their address, sending a photo of the location and asking if this was really the correct location. After all, we did not want to drive 30+ minutes and hope that it was the right place:

This was the response I received ...

-----------

'Yes, it´s photo of google maps is old, but the we warehouse is situated this address.

I'm sensing a certain distrust on your part in relation to our work, I'm sorry, but feel free to choose whether you want the awnings or not. We thought it best to stop here, our company has been in the Algarve for 12 years and we have several residential and commercial clients.

Anyway, if you think you are going to waste your time, I come to say that your appointment has been cancelled.'

------------

He or she cancelled our appointment for this morning because I asked if the location listed was correct or not!

I wrote back and apologized, stating that there seemed to be a communication problem and telling he/she/they that we had no reservations and wanted to pick the fabric. He/She/They wrote back and confirmed that the appointment for today at 10:00 the next morning had in fact been cancelled, even though we had already made plans to have someone take care of our dog, who has cancer.

That was the last straw! These people neither know how to run a business nor interact with customers, so I told them we would spend our money elsewhere where we would, hopefully, be appreciated and treated with dignity and respect.

CombatCritic Gives Awnings EtapaVeloz LDA 0 Bombs Out of 10 and a spot on my 'WALL OF SHAME' ... More Bombs Are Better!

ZERO Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

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