SandyBlue Reviews 42

This company is the great to book holiday when there is any issues they always resolve as quickly as they can.all staff is very friendly and helpful

From start to finish it was a great experience
Reservation and check in process fully automated
But with local and friendly service available on the phone
Our shopping was already in the fridge on arrival and the housekeeping services were excellent!

We used Sandy Blue for the second time. Unfortunately there was intrusive noise from a building site next door. Abir and Suzi offered alternative accomodation or a partial refund which we accepted. We were impressed by the professional and extremely swift response to our issue. We will certainly be using Sandy Blue again in 2026. Michael

SandyBlue have been incredible from booking to arrival, always in contact always available to ask any questions.
Our apartment was fantastic everything as described and a fantastic welcome pack on arrival. It's been an incredible 7 days and having booked with SandyBlue for a 2nd time everything was again perfect! See you next year

Process was easy to book, but villa lacking in many areas. Not complete from recent update works, informed local works in area would be taking place. In reality it’s a building site next door starting at 8am so not the relaxing holiday we have paid thousands for we were expecting.

Dreadful customer service, was chastised for phoning and asking questions about a particular villa but didn’t get a response - was told I should have emailed - so why do they publish their phone number for enquiries on their website?
Very inflexible owner and requesting a deposit via bank transfer (£2000) and not credit card does not allow any consumer protection at all.
Beware of contracting with this company

did not inspect villa before arrival as we were greeted with an awful sewage smell on entry, swimming pool water was green and full of leaf debris. After complaining they did send a team out to sort sewage out and someone to clean the pool, but the pool never got clean, and we notice the tiles were falling off, again sent an email regarding the pool and still nothing done so could not use the pool. Very disappointed in sandyblue not sure i will use them again and villa owner needs to spend some money on the pool as it was a disgrace

Very nice experience and nothing bad to add.
If you respect you will be respected.

Sandyblue responded swiftly and effectively when any issue arose with our rented villa.

This was our first time booking with Sandy Blue and found the whole experience stress free and the staff very helpful to all our requests. Due to flight times we wanted a Fri-fri check in and they sent us a selection of villas to choose from that had flexibility. We chose the beautiful spacious Villa Bondade. Staff also arranged transport and gave us a helpful list of restaurant recommendations. I would certainly use them again, Thankyou to Abir and the rest of guest services staff

We used SandyBlue as our letting agency in May 2025 .
This was the second time we had used Sandy Blue.
From making our booking to completing our 4 week stay at Casa Minta they were simply excellent responding to all our concerns timely and extremely efficiently . Casa Minta was perfect from the interior decor to the beautiful outside spaces and fantastic location . We cannot recommend Sandy Blue highly enough. For anyone wanting a straightforward and uncomplicated holiday company Sandy Blue is the one for you . It was my birthday during our stay and Abir arrived at the villa with a birthday cake for me . Simply Amazing .

We arrived in Portugal having booked for the first time with SandyBlue and immediately had a significant issue. A phone call to SandyBlue was promptly answered and within half an hour a visit from Abir, the company representative.
Abir was courteous and understanding of our issue and between SandyBlue and the property owner the issue was resolved in what we considered a fair arrangement.
Having worked in the service industry for nearly 50 years we were certainly impressed.
Would we recommend SandyBlue? Without doubt.
Would we use the company again if arranging a similar holiday?
Without hesitation.

I have used Sandy Blue to book Villas in the Algarve for the past five years. Until our stay in Summer 2024 I found them to be a professional business to deal with.

The Villas they have on their books are of a very high standard and guests and villa owners should expect the service and support they provide to be commensurate with the overall quality of the product they offer. Unfortunately, my most recent stay
with Sandy Blue was a disastrous experience in terms of the service provided to me and my family and to the Villa Owner.
We booked Villa Indigo for 3 weeks in August/September 2024 through SandyBlue.

My daughter, her husband and 2 children were first to arrive. They noticed a strong unpleasant smell on arrival. They assumed this was probably from a blocked drain or because the villa had been unoccupied and unaired for a period of time prior to their arrival. In fact , it turned out that the Villa was rat infested and the smell was a mix of a dead rat in the ceiling space and a rat living in the island in the kitchen.

Other than the smell, the next indication of a serious problem was when a rat jumped out of the kitchen island and ran across the counter in front of my daughter and my traumatised 6 year old granddaughter. At this stage most of the ground floor of the villa was consumed by an overpowering stench. SandyBlue were notified almost immediately, and their staff ambled to the rescue a couple of days later and failed utterly to deal with the issue. They said it was probably a mouse ,put down some poison under the counter in the kitchen and disappeared!

Eventually, we were forced to demand that the issue be dealt with and a representative from SandyBlue and a vermin exterminator arrived. He immediately determined that the smell was that of a rat (probably dead at this stage) and he showed us a photo of chewed pipes he took in the ceiling space above my
grandsons bedroom. He was pretty indifferent about there being something living under the island in the kitchen – “its either probably dead by now or maybe comes in during the night and leaves again”!! After he left we took down the kick-board at the
counter and found a dead rat !!

At this stage , needless to say , we packed our bags and demanded a change of villa immediately. At this stage the complaint was escalated to Customer Service and we were moved.

The whole experience fell very far short of the levels required. After the terrible experience, I had to demand a level of compensation from Sandy Blue and after a protracted exchange, I was only refunded the equivalent of 65% of 1 days rental !! They
also took no responsibility for what happened insisting that any compensation was the responsibility of the Villa Owner. I will rent a villa again in the area but not one under the management of SandyBlue.

All in all, my experience with Sandy Blue was a complete debacle. I fully appreciate that houses can have rodents sometimes, no matter how high the standards are. The difference I expect from a so-called luxurious experience would be in the reaction. In Sandy Blue's case, there was almost no reaction. I couldn't recommend them in any good conscious and I will be looking elsewhere from now on.

We have used several rental companies on our visits to Portugal, they have all been very good, this was the first time we have used SandyBlue and I must admit having read some of the reviews we were sceptical about the company, We needn’t have been, the Apartment Aria in Vale De Lobo was very good and well furnished and spacious, the service we received from SandyBlue both before and after our stay has been excellent, I have read comments about the security deposit etc, SandyBlue have repaid ours within 7 days of us leaving the Apartment, We would have no hesitation in using SandyBlue again

Having read some of the reviews, I wanted to offer a different point of view. We have just returned from a week in the Algarve in an amazing villa we got through Sandy Blue. The whole experience was fantastic. Booking was easy, we had lots of communication leading up to the holiday and when we got there the villa was fantastic. We had a lovely welcome hamper with great local produce and the villa itself was spotless and exceeded our expectations. We had absolutely no issue getting our deposit back in full, in fact it was back in my account within a week. If you treat the people and the property with respect then there is no reason for any issues. Thank you Sandy Blue for a great holiday

Not sure how a company like this is still able to operate legitimately…be warned they will add issues to your check out inventory (planted) and keep your deposits, avoid like the plague! If you deal with Suzi, run a mile!

If you find yourself unfortunate enough to be searching on Sandy Blue’s website for accommodation, make sure you factor the cost of the villa plus losing your deposits. Hopefully the ombudsman will take notice with what’s about to come their way…

Similar to other reviews - we had an ok villa although greeted by very rude Sandy Blue staff. Do not give this company a deposit you will NOT get it back. Suzi in the office handles this and clearly will make things up to keep deposit, requested proof from Sandy Blue, none provided, seems everyone having same experience. Perhaps she is on commission on what Sandy Blue keep? We have reported to Portuguese police as seems company is genuinely corrupt. Do not use Sandy Blue.

This is the worst villa rental company in the algarve and potentially Europe. Any funds you lodge as a deposit are at high risk of being stolen. All I can advise is do not book anything through SANDY BLUE our money was STOLEN furthermore there is a guest services manager named “Suzi” she was extremely rude and abrasive throughout the whole experience.

DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM. IF YOU DO, MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT GIVE A DEPOSIT, YOU WONT GET IT BACK! BAD EXPERIENCE WITH EMPLOYEE “SUZI”

The Villa we stayed in was pleasant enough but had some issues around cleanliness (no housekeeping as we were told there would be, dirty baby pool that couldn't be used), none of the umbrellas by the pool were usable, faulty electrics and a garage full of asbestos.

But the worst part of our holiday was the service provided by Sandyblue, particularly from a guest experience manager called Suzi. She sent us photos of standard cleaning (crumbs on the floor, dirty towels and clean, stacked dishes as examples) and then got very funny about returning our deposit. She said on the phone she didn't see an issue so when I questioned why she bothered sending the photos, she proceeded to tell me one towel had a stain that wouldn't come out - 15 of us staying in a villa, I think you might call that an overhead!

The deposit process is nothing short of dodgy. They only accept by bank transfer - that is so they have full control. If you pay by credit card, you get insurance from your credit card company and can raise a dispute and they clearly know that. I paid by card because their UK account was down (again - dodgy!) and they no refuse to refund by card. 3 weeks later, still no deposit returned.

I wouldn't in a million years use them again - back to Airbnb I go!