Magical first trip to Portugal!

Portugal | Jul 8 - Jul 20, 2025

Fabulous hotel! Great service staff from the front desk, to the bar(s), to the restaurant. We thought the hotel was in a good location, a quieter neighborhood but easy to walk to downtown or the highlight spots. Breakfasts were some of the best of the trip, and we enjoyed hanging out on the rooftop bar for a late day snack & a refreshing drink. We didn’t get a chance to use the spa, but it looked quite well done and appropriate to the setting. Rooms were clean, moderately elegant, but the beds were fantastic!

Gorgeous hotel in a great urban environment; steps from fantastic restaurants, and a short jaunt to shopping. The interior of the hotel offered a lot of grand character, from the sweeping staircase to the decorated, comfortable rooms. The staff were welcoming and provided great service throughout our stay. The breakfast palette was solid, but the staff was especially attentive and gracious.

Excellent if remote resort, with stunning cliffside views, wonderful swimming pool, and welcoming staff. The rooms were comfortable, with firm bedding, and spacious seating. The ability to walk out cliffside in the morning or evening was a big plus. The resort is located an easy 10 minute ride to the quaint shopping / restaurants of old town Lagos. The gym was very serviceable, with plenty of equipment for a handful of users at a given time.

Excellent hotel with top-notch service. Beautiful vistas, with very clean rooms, excellent beds, and a delicious breakfast service. Hotel staff were very welcoming, and table staff for dinner, breakfasts, and poolside were always gracious, warm, and very attentive. It’s a lovely sea-side walk from the hotel to downtown Cascais for shopping, dining, etc. The gym (managed by Holmes Place) is a top notch gym with tons of equipment (many multiples of treadmills, stepping machines, bikes, etc.), plenty of free weight, dumbbells, kettlebells, etc. We really enjoyed the splurge of having a private seaside balcony where we could relax and watch the ships go by in the afternoon before dinner.

What a wonderful exploration this was! Our guide was fantastic, offering plenty of historical and contemporary pieces of color that informed our view of the city, while also offering plenty of tips and suggestions for things for us to check out during our down time in Porto. Each place we visited along the tour was wonderful; the hosts were always warm and gracious, and the food was a unique and fun (and filling!) peak into Porto culture. Meia.Duzia was a very unique stop we enjoyed. We were truly stuffed with delicious foods and wine by the time we made it to the final destination for ice cream (Chocolataria Equador), but that’s probably for the best since if I’d had any more room, I would have gotten another round of ice cream — I had the basil & lemon with sea salt and olive oil which was phenomenal!!