Hotel Pestana Palacio do Freixo, Porto

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

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 !

Absolutely beautiful property. away from the busy areas of Porto. beautiful views. breakfast was excellent

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.

Staff were excellent, food, dedicated car parking

Room was dated and in need of repair

Amazing hotel, lovey staff, great room, super food

Location on the Douro river was great. Outdoor pool area was nice with plenty of loungers.

Historic building, very elegant and clean.

A bit far out from the city.

everything was perfect, nice view, the breakfast is really nice, tasty, I came here with my sister and we loved it! thank you !

nothing

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.

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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!

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’

Loved the castle and architectural details. Beautiful location and loved receiving a complimentary glass of wine upon arrival. The breakfast was outstanding.

Beautiful location, and very friendly and welcoming staff.

Best breakfast of the pestana pousadas de portugal network.

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

Gorgeous property, views out of this world, breakfast was delicious and plentiful- All of the staff was warm, accomodating, friendly and professional!

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The breakfast was very good. Lots of choice and food cooked to order. Totally delicious.

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Beautiful hotel, helpful staff and excellent service.

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.

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 :)

Lovely place, Greta staff . A must.

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.

very spacious room, quiet, great breakfast, attentive staff at all times

rooms are dated, not enough light

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.