Resort Hoppa

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Bruce Wallis
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Resort Hoppa

Post by Bruce Wallis »

My sons had a horrendous experience with Resort Hoppa on Friday night.

When they arrived at Faro airport on Friday evening, they, along with several other clients were left standing around for over an hour before they were told to get into one of several mini-buses without any explanation or apology for the delay.

They were then driven to Carvoeiro via several other resorts before arriving home over 3 hours after landing at Faro.

The driver they had was very curt with my son and told him to be quiet, when seeing that he had taken the wrong road to Centiannes coming along the coast road from Amacao de Pera, my son tried to direct the driver onto the correct road.

At the end of a very long journey, there was still no apology for the very poor service and delays, and when my son asked the driver his name because he was going to complain to Resort Hoppa for the very poor service, the driver removed his badge and was verbally abusive to my son, before driving off.
widge
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by widge »

Careful Bruce. The last time I complained on here about an airport transfer company I got a shed load of abuse ! Remember ? I won't mention the name of the company.
sunman
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by sunman »

widge wrote:Careful Bruce. The last time I complained on here about an airport transfer company I got a shed load of abuse ! Remember ? I won't mention the name of the company.
that was road rage rather than customer care though?
DVBRO
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by DVBRO »

I hope whoever booked that, checks their credit card statement, if by this method , in three months time !!
widge
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by widge »

Indeed but it was still a complaint against a named airport transfer company & the owner was well miffed that I had made my complaint publicly. 3 hours from Faro airport to Centiannes is rather more than a lack of customer care it's a nightmare & would certainly make me think twice before booking them.
algarve123
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by algarve123 »

We had a similar experience the first time we used this service a number of years ago, waited a long time at the airport and then the transfer took about 2 1/2 hours to CVO with alot of stops in other areas, the driver was pleasant though. We didn't complain at the time because it was our first time we thought maybe it was the norm.

I must say we have used the service a good many times since and it has been really good. The last two times we used it we had prepaid for a shared shuttle and on both occasions we were instead given an un-shared car direct to our hotel which we were very pleased with.
joeysoap
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by joeysoap »

We have used RH on a couple of occasions, not great but never as bad as your son's experience. I booked shuttle direct last year and they used Greenbus, probably use them again in August as car hire is expensive in peak season. Agree I had maybe a 45 minute wait at the airport, but that was because they were 'filtering' out the various destinations, with the result Carvoeiro was the first stop for our minibus (via motorway). Return journey was longer with a pickup in Armacao, two more in Albufeira (used the road from Armacao to Albufeira, didn't go back to the 125). I was actually quite impressed with their service, again minibus for 8, all 8 seats were used and this included 2 singles. On the return journey the first 2 pickups from Ferragudo were already on board. Probably easier at peak times to 'sort' out destinations before leaving the airport, maybe not so easy at this time of year. I don't recall anything about the first driver but the 2nd guy was really nice. My pickup time was 4.15 and the minibus was already waiting, I apologised but he just said it was ok, I am early. The two passengers already on board said they were waiting for me for 5 mins, they didn't appear to mind too much as they had never been to Carvoeiro and I requested Colina Sol hotel in the square as my pickup, so they popped off the bus and had a little walk around.

Greenbus website directs you to mytransfers, can't say if this is the same company or not, they were beside each other at the airport but under seperate 'stands' in September.
ianmurray
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by ianmurray »

That's way I avoid large companies like RH. Tired of waiting at the airport. Now I use small local companies. They have fewer clients so less to worry about :D
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by Bigben »

ianmurray wrote:That's way I avoid large companies like RH. Tired of waiting at the airport. Now I use small local companies. They have fewer clients so less to worry about :D
Hi Ian,

Can you mention one or two of the smaller companies you would recommend?

I have only used RH once and was not impressed - they insisted on picking us up more than 4 hours before departure. We complained a bit and the response was to offer a private taxi for €100, I think it was.

On our last visit (October) we used Shuttle Direct/Greenbus and they were excellent. Didn't wait at the airport more than about 5 minutes, and we were impressed by the driver - not racing or recklessly overtaking, which we have experienced in the past.
Last edited by Bigben on Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
joeysoap
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by joeysoap »

We used Greenbus last August. Excellent service and also the cheapest. First stop from airport was Rocha Brava and we were next. On return we were last pickup so straight to airport. Their website is pretty poor though and we had to phone 24 hours before departure to confirm pickup, it was an automated response but worked ok.

FWIW; the return minibus (brand new) had Hoppa written on the side.
maccasa
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by maccasa »

Hoppa, A2B and greenbus are basically the same company - greenbus are the cheapest at €10 each way. We used Ryanair's transfer this time - a company called Viajes rusidir. Waiting for us when we arrived but picked us up 4 hrs before leaving and stupidly we were the only ones on the bus!- price was £16 return for 2 people!. I have since booked again direct not via Ryanair - similar price, but told them my flt was one that went 45 mins later so hopefully that will work for a later pick up!
joeysoap
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by joeysoap »

Hoppa have changed their suppliers from Greenbus to Escudo ( from last November). Apparently too many complaints about the long wait at the airport last year.

Bit more here
The company Escudo Tours Agencia de Viagens Lda was set up in 2013 and is a Portuguese subsidiary of Spanish bus tours and excursions company Viajes Rusadir,

And here
http://www.faroshuttlebus.com/services.htm

Fwiw I paid €9.35 one way
pato
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by pato »

I use that "fish" one reasonable and efficient. 8)
maccasa
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by maccasa »

Always use Faro shuttle bus - cheapest and less hassle than ANY of the others - did you know Ryanair is a shareholder? If you fly RY and book transport that's who you get and they are def.the cheapest
joeysoap
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Re: Resort Hoppa

Post by joeysoap »

maccasa wrote:Always use Faro shuttle bus - cheapest and less hassle than ANY of the others - did you know Ryanair is a shareholder? If you fly RY and book transport that's who you get and they are def.the cheapest
Afaik Faro bus shuttle, Viages Rusadir, and Escudo are one and the same. They share a desk at Faro airport. And that’s who Hoppa are using on my next trip. You are correct Faro bus shuttle are €10 transfer, which is the cheapest. ( I got a 35% discount to bring the transfer down from makey uppy fare of €15+ )

Interested though what size busses do they use? With Greenbus I only ever noticed 8 seaters. I would pay the extra for ‘speedy’ transfer if I thought Escudo/Faro bus shuttle had large busses, ( especially during peak periods).
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