Check In

We did a short Portugal-trip a few days ago. First hotel was the Convento do Espinheiro in Evora, which is an old Monastery. Its part of the Starwood Luxury Collection.

When I booked the hotel the Deluxe Suite was 418 € with breakfast, at a third party site it was 740 € for 3 nights. I did a best rate claim, opted for 20% off and got a confirmed rate of 197,50 € per night – bargain I would say!

When we arrived, there was no one in front of the main entrance and we found our way by ourself to the lobby. The check-in was fast and a bellboy helped us with our luggage and car. So far so good. When we arrived at our „room“ it was a bedroom with bathroom. Anything missing? Yes, where is the living room? First the bellboy told me that we weren't entitled to an upgrade to a suite. OK, but I booked the suite. He understood and told us it was a misunderstanding. He said would get our suite after all and that we only had to wait a few minutes. OK, no problem.

Courtyard (cloister):


Hallway:


Part of the bar:


Library:



Chapel:


An hour later we went back to the reception and asked if our suite was ready. The GM told us we couldnt get the suite as we booked the „best available rate“ and this is a Standard room. Now I got really angry. She argued with me. This showed me that she didnt understand a thing about customer care. If I disagree with a guest I only do if Im 100% sure Im right. Otherwise I doublecheck. After a while she asked a collegue who spoke German to talk to me. I explained the situation to him and after looking at the booking history he agreed with me – I booked a suite! Bingo, thats what I call a great „Luxury“ check-in experience. Now we had a new peoblem: She told me they had no free suite! After a while the German guy told me he found a very special suite, which was actually a room but priced the same as a suite (what kind of idiot pays for it?). After another waittime (with free drinks at the bar) we went to our room which was in the tower.

Room

It was a big room with only 2 small windows, so it was dark all day. Also it smelled moldy, you coudnt open the windows completely. You had a kind of sofa, which was more a third bed and it was hard to
sit on it. We had to sleep on 2 seperate beds with a big gap in between which was not really comfortable. We had an old fireplace in which we found bird feathers every day. The bathroom was OK, but very tired. If I had known that I would have to sleep in such a room, I would have payed 600 € to spare me the experience! Nightmare....

Way to our room:



Our room:





Bathroom:




The great bed


The fire place



Some highlights









Next nightmare came at night. The room had some nice mosquitos who robbed me of my sleep and blood. I guess they came in through the fire place!

Pool

Otherwise the grounds at the hotel were nice, they also have an old church and historic rooms. The outdoor pool is OK, but too cold in May. They also had a pretty good indoor pool and gym.

Service

On the second day I asked if I could finally have my booked suite. Even though it was available online they told me it wasnt possible. I promised my wife not to argue and she asked why I book such a hotel (not really my words....). What can I say.....

Dining

We booked the halfboard which was 40 € per person and day. The restaurant was nice with good service and really tasty food. Only problem was that they always tried to give us a table at 9:30 which isnt a time we normally eat. On one evening they claimed we didn't have a reservation although the restaurant was empty. Great! After some „kind words“ from me, we were able to eat at the time we intended....

Overall

At check-out they apologized and gave me 15000 bonus points at SPG. Better than nothing.... The good bye was very friendly.

Bottom line: It was the second Luxury Collection stay this year (first was Fürstenhof Leipzig) and both were terrible. Really not impressed....