We loved our stay at horta garden. We generally like to interact with locals and have peace and quiet so that we can rest after doing outdoor activities all day. Horta garden fit that explanation perfectly. The Cafe downstairs is convenient and there are tons of local food options close by. This hotel was about a 20 minute walk to the scuba diving shop and I thought it might be an issue, but honestly we loved the walk in the early mornings. There is no lift in the hotel and we were lucky enough to have a beautiful room on the third floor with a view of Pico mountain, if you have bad knees it might be best to stay on floor 1. The hotel to our delight has a fully stocked kitchen and fridge, water machine for both cold and hot water AND free laundry machine with detergent provided by the hotel.
We didn't see staff except for the day of check in, but we were gone all day most days. It was easy to get ahold of the hotel staff using the phone numbers and WhatsApp - I recommend that route if you need to get ahold of them. Also ask for the central taxi service phone number before the day you need to fly out.
This was exactly what we needed and wanted. Thank you Horta Garden, we will be back.
To other travelers there is a very kind French man named Jean who eats at the cafe in the mornings, he knows the entire island and we met him on our first morning there. Make friends with him, you won't regret following his recommendarions 😊
