Sensi Azores, Nature and Spa

We had a wonderful stay at this hotel. It is truly a little gem, tucked away in a peaceful corner of São Miguel, while still being perfectly located to explore the island — especially the west, Sete Cidades, as well as the centre and Furnas. The hotel itself is beautiful, with excellent facilities and a stunning view for sunset. Dinner was also a real highlight — exceptional food in a beautiful setting. The service is impeccable. The whole team is friendly, attentive and genuinely welcoming, without ever being intrusive. A special mention to the breakfast team, who were exceptional and made every morning particularly enjoyable. Overall, a fantastic place to stay and a perfect base for discovering São Miguel. We would happily come back

We stayed for 5 nights with 3 kids (12, 10 & 9). We had a great experience front booking to check out. Salome, the front desk manager, was great in making recommendation for the local spots for site seeing, food... The restaurant & Bar staff provided great service and catered to our kids' needs. Excellent breakfast. The location of Sensi is amazing, great pool area to relax after a day out. Top 3 of my travel experieces.

When we arrived our first impressions were good, staff friendly and welcoming and helpful. However that ended very quickly when we were put in ROOM 20 the room above the bar. We had even written to the hotel prior to arrival requesting quiet rooms, this was not the case and we had to spend nights in there until they could move us to what we hoped would be a quiet place to sleep and rest. 2 members of staff told us that they would not want to sleep in the room and others said they wouldn’t put their parents in there as they like to go to bed early! Well we did get 2 quiet and peaceful nights but then some small children, who got up early and liked to tease each other, were put in the next room to us, so we endured a lot of screaming and squealing for the next few nights. Then they moved on and we had one quiet night but that was the last one as some very loud families arrived and were again put next to us. Their teenage children were clearly bored with the place and wrecked any chance of peace with their shouting and swearing, yes even though it was in French, we did understand every word that was said. We spoke to reception who had clearly already had complaints from other guests and some of the staff did go and speak to them but it only ever lasted for a short while and then they were off again. So out of 11 nights we only had 5 which qualified for their ‘unique selling point’ “Peace and Serenity”. For us it was not! Even our room needed some serious work done to it, the shower had wooden planks on the floor but no plug so the water just ran out onto the bathroom floor, meaning every night we had to use 2 or 3 towels to mop up the water. The toilet was directly behind the bathroom door with a door stop right under the seat, I cannot even count how many times we caught our foot on it. Yes agree about the dressing gowns, tatty, old and small, even for me (size 10). Cups on the tray were ridiculously small, got very hot, very quickly when water was added and had no handles so really hard to make a cup of tea and pass it to someone. We did pay for a sea view, which we had in noisy room 20 but in room 13 we were low down and the only view out was of a wall that had maize/corn growing in the field next to it, to see the sea I had to stand on a chair! The breakfast is very nice but could do with some more options, and buffet would be so much better. Dinner at Momo was OK but it was the same menu every night we were there (we did eat out more which was a lot cheaper and just as good). They did offer a couple of specials each night but for 5* this was not up to scratch. Staff are lovely cannot thank them or praise them highly enough but the hotel itself is in need of a major re-furb. I have written to the manager as I felt I was quite with in my rights to request a 1000 euro refund for all the unacceptable incidents we endured plus loss of a sea view and as we had paid more than this for just one night I didn’t think I was being unreasonable. All I have had was a couple of half hearted apologies, and a refusal on the refund which, even if we got it, goes no way to making up for the disappointment that we felt about the Sendai Spa and our experience there, don’t go would be my advice and certainly not at these prices there are so many places better and cheaper.

Yes, the location by the ocean is nice. That's where the positives end. This place does not deserve four stars and it is priced far above what it delivers. The photos on their site speak for themselves once you compare them with what you actually get on arrival. The rooms are poorly insulated. You hear everything from the outside and the neighbouring rooms, which makes it impossible to relax. In a hotel that markets itself as nature and spa, that is a basic failure. The whole operation feels built around extracting money rather than delivering quality or hospitality. Every extra is charged, nothing feels generous, and the service reflects that mindset. We would NOT book again and would not recommend it at this price point. There are better options on São Miguel for the same money.

This is a very nice hotel. There are some things that need improving for it to be classed as a 5* in my opinion. The great things are: The staff - absolutely brilliant, all of them - could not fault their kindness, helpfulness and ever ready smile. Most of the time it is a lovely peaceful resort - you do need a car if you are staying here. It's not really a place for young families or lots of teenagers as there is really nothing for them to do. Food is excellent - although it would be good to vary breakfast more or offer a buffet to offer a bit more variety. Things to improve: Dressing gowns in the rooms are threadbare and full of holes. Slippers are far too small even for my son and again worn out. Wifi is terrible in some of the rooms and even after being reported constantly dropped out. Our plunge pool in room 11 was constantly being filled up as it had a leak (room 11). They initially put my parents in a room above the bar which was awful for them because of the noise. They did move them after two nights though. Rooms absolutely need sound proofing - you can hear everything from your neighbours. The bank of sunbeds by the main pool are not comfortable and need mattresses on them. There are tiles coming off all over the place in the main pool and the grout in many places in both pools needs cleaning. It is very expensive to stay here in my opinion and I think this is a 4* hotel with 5* staff. Some of the small changes above could elevate this place. Overall we had a lovely time but do not feel it was worth the money we paid for it.