POUSADA RAINHA SANTA ISABEL

€200 a night for this is simply indefensible. The "Superior Family Room" is nothing more than a standard room with two military-style folding beds thrown in for children aged 10 and 13. Thin mattresses, one pillow per adult, zero comfort. If sharing one cramped room with your family on camp beds sounds relaxing, this is the place for you. Cleanliness was mediocre at best, and attention to detail was almost non-existent. Four guests, one spare toilet roll, and nobody thought to replace it. That says everything. Forget about a good night's sleep. Every conversation, every door, every footstep from neighbouring rooms becomes part of your stay. Bring earplugs. The website photos are wildly flattering. The family room bears little resemblance to the impression they create, and the "pool" is closer to an oversized bathtub than anything worthy of a luxury hotel. Estremoz is beautiful—we've visited several times and will certainly return. Unfortunately, we won't return to this hotel. It hides behind a stunning castle, professional photography, and genuinely friendly staff, but none of that makes up for a poor product at a premium price. History belongs in the castle. Outdated standards should not.

The location of the hostel is very good. The space is very beautiful. The staff are friendly. Regarding the room, it should be said that it is comfortable enough, although it needs maintenance. Especially in the bathroom, in the area of the shower and lava hands (rotted tap), inaccessible shampoo bottles, shower falling from the wall, etc. The bed in the bedroom was fantastic, which contributed to a very restful night. The room was reasonably clean. Like the rest of the hotel, the room urgently needs a deep cleaning. For the rest of the hotel, the pool is "q.b.", the bar area has a lot of potential and the breakfast service is also enough. Not being exuberant, it has enough options and very good quality. We were disappointed with the hotel restaurant. We asked which restaurants recommended in the area and, of course, they recommended us the hotel restaurant. The restaurant space is amazing, the service is "ok". The food was reasonably good. The prices were exorbitant. A bottle of wine for EUR 3,5 to be resold at a restaurant for EUR 19. Dishes with relatively small portions to be sold for around EUR 27,00. To finish, and as if not enough, the _couvert_ (butter, bread and olive oil) appears marked with the price of EUR 5,00. However, after the completion of the request (meal) here we are gifted with what we thought would be an offer, since it was not requested. The collaborator left us a slice of ham, melon and candy on the table - which, we highlighted, was not requested and already after the request was made - and which, in the end, was included in the account as a second couvert. Absurd. In short, a light meal (without dessert) that ended up reaching a value above EUR 42,00 per person. Regarding the remaining space, it should be noted that it has some potential, but it lacks some larger details. For example, the game hall exists, but it is, more or less, inaccessible. In the room where the game hall is installed there are millions of mosquitoes on the walls. It is possible to climb to the castle tower, however, on the climb to the tower, in addition to the absurd amount of pigeon feces we will find, we will also find dead pigeons during the climb. Which, say, stains what is a potentially fantastic experience (the view from the tower is amazing). It is therefore a solid 2.5/5. With potential to be quite more.

The stay had everything to be excellent. The building is beautiful, the location is fantastic and the experience of staying in a historic castle is really special. Unfortunately, everything was marked by an incident and, above all, by the way it was managed. On the eve of a wedding, I ordered an ironing iron for the hotel. The iron had a visible mark on the base and, as a precaution, I did a brief test on a towel. Since it did not hold on to the fabric or release any residue, I assumed naturally that the hotel knew the equipment it was making available and that that brand would be only aesthetic, with no impact on normal use. Unfortunately, by passing a man's shirt, the iron marked it, burned it and eventually ripped it apart. The employee who handed me the iron was irreproachable: he immediately saw what had happened, apologized and informed me that the manager would be contacted. However, during my entire stay, including the check-out, the manager was never present. What disappointed me most came later. Instead of acknowledging what has happened and seeking a common sense solution, the whole approach went by trying to take away the responsibility of the hotel, resorting to arguments that I consider completely disproportionate to what happened. Problems can happen in any hotel. What sets a good hotel apart is how you solve them. Unfortunately, that is exactly where this unit failed. It's a pity, because the potential of this castle is enormous. However, for those, like me, who value professional management and a genuine concern with the customer when a problem arises, my experience was far behind expectations.