Dear Jo, Thank you for taking the time to review our property. I do apologise that your stay did not meet with your expectations, your room of course should have been clean and fresh. We pass on guest comments to all our staff so housekeeping will be informed of this mistake. It is our hotels policy on checking in that a card is preauthorised or a deposit is given when paying by cash, this is mostly so a guest has the option of putting the bill for any extras on your room to pay at the end and then if no extras are purchased the extra money is returned to your bank account or cash in person. I am sorry this was not explained to you on check in, I hope this has been helpful to you. Again, thank you for your comments, all feedback is passed on to all our staff so we can improve the experience we offer our guests. Kind regards, Carlos Maio