Hotel Pestana Palacio do Freixo, Porto
Expert reviews
“Only the 18th-century formal garden and its gently trickling fountain separate this magnificent Baroque palace from the River Douro. The location and the main building are spectacular. It was built around 1750 by Nicolau Nasoni, the architect man behind Porto’s landmark Clérigos tower, and is protected as a national monument.”
Featured as Frommer’s Exceptional Choice in Porto.
“The unlikely pairing of an 18th-century palace and neighbouring flour mill creates one of Porto’s most luxurious accommodation options, and offers quiet reprieve for guests seeking comfort and relaxation. It is positioned two miles from the city centre on the bank of the Douro River.”
What guests liked
- Great location
- Friendly staff
- Comfortable beds
- Swimming pool
- Free Wifi
All you need to know
Set in a salmon-pink structure with an adjoining 18th-century Baroque palace, Pestana Palacio do Freixo, formerly a flour factory, is one of Porto’s boldest and quirkiest hotels. The pink exterior is incredibly unique, and the inside is no exception to the rule. Throughout shared spaces and guest rooms, you’ll notice vibrant tiled patterns, bold colors, and traditional decor with modern accents, giving you the best of both worlds.
While Pestana Palacio do Freixo is located a few miles from the city center, the serene riverside atmosphere creates a tranquil oasis from the sights and sounds of the city. However, there are still plenty of attractions in the immediate area, including museums, cafes, art galleries, restaurants, bars, and charming streets. If you dare to venture into the city, this hotel has a free local shuttle, making it easy to get around.
This hotel’s rooms are comfortable and timeless, offering WiFi, flat-screen TVs, separate sitting areas, and fantastic views of the garden or river. Several room options are available, accommodating between 3 to 4 people. Upgrade to a suite to add a separate bedroom.
The hotel restaurant takes advantage of the nearby local vineyards, olive groves, citrus farms, and fresh seafood, serving traditional specialties created with local ingredients. With 19th-century artwork, this restaurant’s atmosphere is just as great as its food.
Pestana Palacio’s heated indoor and outdoor pools create a relaxing environment to unplug after a day of travel, and the onsite spa features a sauna, fitness center, and hammam.
Hotel deals & lowest price guarantee
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Location
Recent guest reviews
18 October 2023
overall excellent
Wait staff at dinner were wonderful. The beautiful surroundings the view , the river and gardens etc.
The shuttle service was chaotic and disorganized on where and when the pick up location was to be and/or whether you need to book , or not !
16 October 2023
fantastic stay
Absolutely beautiful property. away from the busy areas of Porto. beautiful views. breakfast was excellent
9 October 2023
Exceptional
Great staff , friendly, helpful and attentive. Food was lovely l, very extensive bar menu and the sangria was out of this world. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting porto.
Bar around pool should always be open when the weather is good. This wasn’t the case when we stayed making it very difficult to get a drink.
8 October 2023
Short break on our tour of Northern Spain and Portugal
Staff were excellent, food, dedicated car parking
Room was dated and in need of repair
2 October 2023
An excellent stay - loved it - highly recommend
Amazing hotel, lovey staff, great room, super food
23 September 2023
Lovely place to stay just outside the main tourist area of Porto.
Location on the Douro river was great. Outdoor pool area was nice with plenty of loungers.
20 September 2023
Beautiful hotel, river views, peaceful and quiet
Historic building, very elegant and clean.
A bit far out from the city.
17 September 2023
perfect to visit Porto
everything was perfect, nice view, the breakfast is really nice, tasty, I came here with my sister and we loved it! thank you !
nothing
16 September 2023
Fabulous hotel with great staff .
Absolutely stunning hotel the staff are amazing friendly helpful to enhance our stay . Breakfast was delicious. The shuttle to Porto town was great but you do have to book.
Nothing
16 September 2023
Perfect hotel for a relaxing getaway break.
This hotel was exceptional and beautiful. We could not have asked for a better experience all round!
There was no pedicure services in the spa but I managed!
10 September 2023
An experience to be repeated
Historical palace, architectural characteristics, quality of refurbishment, friendly and competent employees
Temperature of room at arrival (too hot); walls of room painted in dark colours making it a unnecessarily ‘somber’
3 September 2023
Truly felt like royalty at this hotel!
Loved the castle and architectural details. Beautiful location and loved receiving a complimentary glass of wine upon arrival. The breakfast was outstanding.
31 August 2023
Luxurious bel epoque
Beautiful location, and very friendly and welcoming staff.
31 August 2023
Fabulous
Best breakfast of the pestana pousadas de portugal network.
27 August 2023
Great relaxing location, very frienly + well trained staff, understanding and speaking English well!
Whilst the location is slightly outside the center / away from the old town, it is only 10 minutes by (free) hourly shuttle bus, and moreover because slightly outside the location feels like a real holiday resort with great pool and spa facilities with a superb view overlooking the Douro river
Room was relatively small and room available for suitcases / clothes, eg closets was very limited for 2 persons staying in the hotel for 3 nights
25 August 2023
Outstanding. I was a travel writer and would highly recommend this hotel
Gorgeous property, views out of this world, breakfast was delicious and plentiful- All of the staff was warm, accomodating, friendly and professional!
Nothing
21 August 2023
Fabulous
The breakfast was very good. Lots of choice and food cooked to order. Totally delicious.
Nothing
21 August 2023
We loved this hotel. Excellent food and service. The staff was accommodating and helpful. It was our first experience at
Beautiful hotel, helpful staff and excellent service.
12 August 2023
Luxury 4-5* hotel with stunning views over river - perfect stay - just need more waiting staff at peak times
This is a very good 4* hotel with fabulous views over the river. The facilities around the pool and spa were great. The bedrooms are large, clean and comfortable with all mod cons - particularly liked the pillow select menu (nice touch). The staff were all polite and friendly. The main hotel building is historic (reception, dining and relaxing rooms) but most of the bedrooms are in a more modern adjoining block. The location is about 10min (8 euro) taxi journey to the centre if you don’t have a car with you. We didn’t stay in for dinner but all of the food and drinks for breakfast and from the pool bar were of very good quality (if a little pricey). Would def recommend for a luxury break if you can get a good price.
Only thing that let the hotel down was an obvious lack of staff at breakfast and around the pool bar. The staff on duty worked really hard but is was obvious that there just weren’t enough of them to service demand, particularly at peak times. This lead to guests queuing for breakfast tables (for 20mins) not because the tables were unavailable but because they hadn’t been cleared and reset. Also, having to wait for coffee to be served at breakfast or refilled or waiting for the milk to be refilled to go with cereal (having to ask multiple times). I can understand why a hotel if this quality wants to serve guests at table but if you don’t have the staff available then just put a pot of coffee/tea and milk on each table rather than make people wait. Similarly at the pool bar, it took longer than it should to order food and have it delivered due solely to a lack of staff. Otherwise, this hotel was fabulous.
9 August 2023
Amazing experience from check in to check out. Thank you!
Beautiful property - speaks for itself! Lovely, kind staff who went above and beyond. We were upgraded to a suite which was a lovely surprise - huge room! Lovely breakfast and swimming pool
Would have liked the pool bar to have opened slightly earlier - the best time for a swim was morning before it got too hot so would have been nice to have been able to get a drink before 12. The waiting staff were all so brilliant and helpful however I would say it they could benefit from more staff down in breakfast. Our first morning was fine but next two days were very busy. Absolutely can’t fault the staff who were there, all working really hard. Thank you :)
5 August 2023
The place to stay at Porto
Lovely place, Greta staff . A must.
31 July 2023
Fabulous
Esthetic experience of a beautiful palace with long history. Great breakfast.
Only remark is that restaurant did not meet our expectations considering that it is double the price of the restaurants in the city with great food. PQ value was off.
31 July 2023
beautiful, elegat location with no noise and great place to rest, has a pool and spa
very spacious room, quiet, great breakfast, attentive staff at all times
rooms are dated, not enough light
30 July 2023
Superb all round. The evening meals served in the main restaurant were a culinary delight. The service was superb.
Beautiful location and superb incorporation of modern hotel facilities in such a classic historical building. The pool next to the river was a very real bonus.
Like too many hotels it seemed to turn off / down the air conditioning during the night and we ended up both nights having very disturbed sleep.
Hotel facilities
Food & Drink
- - Restaurant
- - Bar
- - Breakfast in the room
- - Kid-friendly buffet
- - Wine/champagne (additional charge)
- - Fruits (additional charge)
General
- - Room service
- - Non-smoking rooms
- - Facilities for disabled guests
- - Lift
- - Safety deposit box
- - Car hire
- - Heating
- - Non-smoking throughout
- - Air conditioning
- - Shared lounge/TV area
Business facilities
- - Meeting/banquet facilities (additional charge)
- - Business centre (additional charge)
- - Fax/photocopying (additional charge)
Reception services
- - 24-hour front desk
- - Luggage storage
- - Concierge service
Activities
- - Sauna
- - Spa and wellness centre (additional charge)
- - Massage (additional charge)
- - Hammam
- - Indoor pool
- - Indoor pool (all year)
- - Spa facilities
- - Spa lounge/relaxation area
- - Spa/wellness packages
- - Fitness
- - Themed dinner nights (additional charge)
- - Live sport events (broadcast)
- - Bicycle rental (additional charge)
Outdoors
- - Garden
- - Terrace
- - Outdoor pool
- - Sun terrace
- - Outdoor pool (all year)
- - Outdoor furniture
Entertainment and family services
- - Babysitting/child services (additional charge)
Cleaning services
- - Laundry (additional charge)
- - Dry cleaning (additional charge)
- - Ironing service (additional charge)
- - Daily housekeeping
Parking
- - Street parking
- - Electric vehicle charging station
- - Accessible parking
Accessibility
- - Wheelchair accessible
- - Toilet with grab rails
- - Emergency cord in bathroom
Pool and wellness
- - Sun loungers or beach chairs
- - Sun umbrellas
- - Swimming pool
- - Swimming Pool
Miscellaneous
- - 24-hour security
- - Key access
- - Key card access
- - Security alarm
- - Smoke alarms
- - CCTV in common areas
- - CCTV outside property
- - Fire extinguishers
- - Delivered food is securely covered
21 October 2023
A miss and hit affair stay.
Breakfast is a limited affair.
In a prestigious hotel, Five Star affair, you expect a white linen table cloth and a linen napkin. You receive a cheap black table and a tiny plastic napkin. I discussed this with the management, then I received a linen napkin but but not starched. However, the staff was very well trained and very professional. Something is missing in a Star Hotel. On my departure, I asked for a taxi to be ready at 11:30. The attendant took quite long to produce the invoice. There was not door man around and the attendant proceeded himself to bring my luggage from the second building via two separate elevators to the fourth floor, then up a stairs to the fifth floor. A waste of time. Then, I was waiting for my taxi for another 25 minutes. It was a trying time. At a Five Star Hotel, this should not happen. Secondly, clients were not dressed for this event. I was embarrassed. They should provide a dress code accordingly. Otfried Keller Mrkeller888@gmail.com