Portugal Starwoods: from the Algarve to Porto [Master Thread]
 

We are visiting Paris in early April and would like to get away for a week to a warmer climate. Portugal seems to be the front runner right now amongst the places we have not seen in Europe. When checking the *wood prperties, there seems to be a major difference in room rates for Algarve coming at about 250 euros as opposed to Lisbon and Porto at around 120 euros.
We are mainly looking for good climate, clean surroundings and some good food. Any suggestions on how best to divide the week based on past experience. Also, how are the *wood hotels in these locations? Thanks. Mukesh

Algarve is a beautiful resort area. Lisbon is an ordinary city. Lisbon is for business and there are plenty of business hotels. Algarve is for fun, and there isn't as much competition in resorts.

The Lisbon Sheraton is a decent business hotel with a nice towers lounge service. You'll be well taken care of and most tourist activies are a short cab ride away.

Thanks for the inputs. Sound like a 2-3 days in each place may be the best option. Anyone with any comments about Porto as a place to visit and the Sheraton!

I love Lisbon and hope to return this year. The Sheraton there is "nice" -- check out those threads above for more info; but I think Lisbon is definetely more noteable than "just for business". I had some splendid shopping, walking, exploring and nightlife in Lisbon.

My favourite people/culture in Europe are those of Portugal and found this warmth and openness throughout my exploits in Lisbon.

[This message has been edited by AA_SPG_Fan (edited Feb 04, 2004).]

I have decided to split the stay in portugal between Lisbon and Algarve at *wood hotels. I will be leaving Sheraton Algarve to catch a flight out of Lisbon. Any one has any information on direct transport to Lisbon ariport! I will also send an email to the hotel to find out. My flight will be around 2:00 P.M.

For what it is worth, I visited the Sheraton Algarve a few years ago, while staying in Albufeira ... just went for dinner: they had a pretty good restaurant called the Portulano or something like that. I cannot speak for the quality of the rooms but the property looked pretty good. I think it has a decent golf course, too, if it is the place I am thinking of.

The Sheraton Algarve is an excellent property on a cliff overlooking the oceans, with an elevator that takes you down to the nice beach area. The buffet breakfast, which I believe is included, is lavish and not to be missed.

Villa Joya, the only Michelin 2-star restaurant in the country (at least when I was there), is excellent, although difficult to find.

Sheratons in Portugal
 

Hi all,

Just back from a vacation to Portugal, wanted to share my thoughts on the *wood hotels there.

1. Sheraton Algarve
- In a word, wow. Amazing property to hit the first nights of the trip. For 10K points a night, I couldn't have asked for better. We (girlfriend and I, both 26) arrived at 1 PM, and asked to check in. No problem, they had my PLAT in the system, and the room was ready to go. Upgraded to a 2-floor suite with balcony facing the ocean, very nice. Amenity recognized without asking, free bottle of wine in the room within 15 minutes. Also, as a first time visitor, I was given a coupon for a free round of champagne in the lounge bar and a survey to fill out... fill it out, 1000 free points. very sweet. Nicest reception woman every, no attitude at all. Property was amazing, beach was great and the weather made it even better. Cheap grocery store across the street so costs were minimal. Eat at the patio cafe one afternoon, ran us $26 Euros, a little pricy, but that is expected. Room was spotless both days. Free parking.

2. Sheraton Lisboa
- Very nice hotel, don't try to take the back street to get there :) Checkin wasn't as smooth: PLAT status recongnized, room on the 22nd floor was very nice and had HARDWOOD floors... first time I have seen that is a *wood room. Youngish front desk girl didn't recognize PLAT amenitity, had to call later to get more wine, not a big problem as I am use to it now. Parking was $16 Euros a day, but cost was WAIVED because I was on the top level floors, very nice perk. Pool was ok, but in the shade for the most part, and quite busy for a weekday. The Club Lounge breakfast was spectacular. Amazing spread, best I have seen yet. Overall, very nice "city" hotel, would be a nice place to stay on business, and a nice place to regroup in Lisboa. Walking distance to most areas of interest. 7K points well spent.

3. Sheraton Porto
- Where to being. Wow. Hotel was opened in 2001 I believe, and it shows. We checked in at 11 AM without problem, amenity recongnized, and upgrade to Executive Suite. 2 rooms, 2 plasma TVs, wine arrived 5 minutes after we sat down. Club Lounge on the 12th floor had ocean views, great appetizer and wine from 6-8, and breakfast from 6-11. The real key to this hotel, was the Spa. Opened in the past 3 month, this is a state of the art facitily that would have been worth paying for, if it wasn't included in the hotel cost (or points in our case!) One note - we ask the cost, and the girl asked "are you with a group?" - I asked her, and it turns out if you are staying there on a package deal of some type, you have to pay to use the Spa. The gym was great, Turkish Bath great, and the hottub was hard to beat. Location of the hotel is not optimal for walking, but with cheap taxi fares (5 Euros to the city core) its not too painful. Hotel is right across the street from FC Boavista's stadium, and our suite could see onto the field, would be nice on a game day.

ONLY PET PEEVE WITH ANY OF THESE HOTELS:
- UNICEF. I understand the purpose of the program, but staying over 120 nights a year, and contributing personally already, the UNICEF charge on the bill per night is a little annoying. At the Algarve, it was 5 EUROS, which you had to ask to remove. Other hotels was only 1 EURO, but I really just prefer to give money when I choose to, not to feel bad about asking to remove a $1 charge from my bill ... not a big deal though, just don't like things like that imposed on me!

All for now, Safe Travels.

T.

Porto Hotel was actually opened in 2003 and is indeed a fine property. I'd stay in all 3 Portugal properties again. :)

Travis, how did you get from Faro to Lisbon to Porto? Did you rent a car or take a train, and how long did it take you?

Thanks!

Europcar
 

Hi,

We rented from Europcar (http://www.europcar.com/) at the Faro airport - there are a number of rental car places there, and we found it to be the cheapest... we rented from Faro and dropped in Porto for no additional fee.

The car was very handy as we got to make our own schedule and parking is abundant in most places if you are willing to walk a few extra blocks.

If you have a map this will make more sense:
From Faro:
- We staying in the Algarve for a few days, then headed north to Evora.
- From Evora we went to Lisboa, Lisboa to Sintra
- From Sintra we drove to Tomar (highly recommended - I think we were the only visitors there!) - Tomar is near Coimbra on the map.
- From Tomar we did the craziest drive through the North-East region to Amarante (via Vila Real)... the new highway was not complete when we were there, so the roads are challenging at the least... weather would make them very scary.
- From Amarante we drove to Oporto to the Sheraton and parked it for the remainder of the trip - parking and driving in Porto was pretty tough.

From the Sheraton Oporto it is about 20 minutes to the airport and the car drop.

Let me know if you have any other questions - enjoy Portugal, it is beautiful!

T.


sorry - times are pretty close to mileage - you can drive 130 KM/H on all the highways. The only part that was MUCH slower was the Tomar-Amarante bit... around 30KM/H max. (and make sure you have lots of gas :)
Lagos to Lisboa is around a 4 hour drive.

I am going to Portugal in August, Tuesday to Tuesday. Spending two nights in porto, three in Algarve and two in Lisbon. We are flying into Lisbon and picking up a car, then off to Porto then the Algarve and returning the car in Lisbon. My wife and I have not been to Portugal and have different interests, she likes the beach/pool and I like to explore. Any recommendations concerning our itinerary? Should we spend a night at the Convento do Espinheiro in Evora? Any detailed trip reports out there with more touristy stuff to do and restaurant suggestions?

Just to clarify, the Sheraton Algarve is a member of the Luxury Collection.

So is Convento do Espinheiro...
 

The Evora property is also part of the Luxury Collection. Has anyone stayed there yet? And yes, I have searched, and found no reports. We had the highest opinion of the Porto hotel, even though the Spa and Lounge were not yet open when we stayed there (it was that new). We would put the Algarve in the middle, and the Lisbon hotel at the bottom. We are thinking of returning this Fall, as we enjoy Portugal. One can easily spend several days in Porto just tasting Port...

You are driving a lot...!
And Evora would still be more driving. I have been in Evora, but stayed at Pousada da Rainha Santa Isabel in Estremoz. Pousadas are the way to go in Portugal. Most of them are nice, the food was never good.

The Sheraton in Lisbon is O.K. ... in 2004 they had "old" and renovated rooms.

BTW, the beaches near Cascais are very nice. The robbery was not there, it took place between Lisbon and Cascais.

The other option to travel around Portugal is by train. I went there before it joined the EU and was still using the Escudo as their currency. I remember the very comfortable trains from Lisbon to Porto only took 5 hours. Since most attractions I wanted to see were in the centre of town I didn't need a car and didn't have to worry about driving. Evora I must say was very memorable. I attended a wonderful classical concert inside a church at midnight and went up north to Braganca and south to Castelo Branco near the Spanish border. Without a car I couldn't stop in small villages in rural areas to see how they live and spend more time in the countryside. It is a small country yet has so much to offer and of course the food and wine and not to mention their Port, umm, I'd love to go back soon.

Portugal report[Lisbon, Porto, Evora; *wood & Le Meridien]
 

Just returned today. Appreciate advice/feedback on this site, so my turn to contribute. Attempting to provide as much detail. Le Meridien owned partly by *wood, had stayed at Meridien's (Gold/top member there) prior to joining *wood and wanted to try also.

Lisbon (was an intermediate point between North, East, West)

Sheraton:
1. Plat amenities - Table Wine, Port, Movie, $10 mini-bar, fresh fruit [no 500 pts option, no $10 off restaurant option].
2. Club lounge - closed from July 17 through early Sept. Did have one terminal for Internet access, though a few users on for a long time. Food good. They'll cook breakfast in smaller 'dining' room. Views great. Same views can be seen on Panorama floor (25th)
3. Panorama bar/floor/restaurant - smokey. At 11:02pm, absolutely no food available to order from regular menu - after concierge experience (see below), this was not good and I left - if I wanted tortillia chips type snack food, I would have gone elsewhere
4. Staff - check-in and lounge staff quite helpful, though for most anything beyond the basics, they suggest the concierge. Noted three concierges - Jorge was helpful.

A few less than helpful experiences with other two concierges.

(1) Returned from Porto 10:30/45-ish, was hungry and wanted to try a very good restaurant in town. The other two concierges, on duty at same time, said they thought the restaurant would be closed - they said they would call the restaurant - and via the Club Lounge said that in-town restaurant's kitchen was closed. So, I tried the Panorama floor restaurant (whose kitchen was closing as I arrived). After thinking, people eat late, and this is a weekday evening, I returned to the main lobby and asked concierge to confirm - same story. I insisted they check and that in-town restaurant was open.
(2) On Saturday afternoon, enquired about specialty stores for wine, cheese, olive oil. Concierge indicated there were a couple of stores in Baixa area, but it was Saturday and they would be closed. Tried to direct me to a store north of airport. Went to Club Lounge to look at some other flights, restaurant menus (concierge desk does not have these and not many are on-line after some searching), etc. A guest couple overheard me ask the Club Lounge staff member about menus, wine, etc, and approached me with their guidebook which had a couple of specialty stores listed. Checking on internet they should be open 7 days/wk. So, I asked Club Lounge staff to phone one of the two stores and it was open -- until 8pm. Walked to Baixa, both stores were open as was a third, somewhat similar store.

(3) in middle of helping me with restaurants, attended to other guests, spending more time on their questions verus finishing info look up for me.

5. Staff (check-in, Club Lounge, Porter) -- quite helpful, though wish they knew more about local area to help more as 2 of 3 concierges not so helpful.

6. The room -- quite good, marble floors, Molton Brown products, tea/coffee honey, water, etc.

7. Turn-down service / amenities in addition to Plat amenity. On first of three stays, received fruit and chocolates. On second stay, a 375ml of Port.

8. Food (restaurant and room service). A little less than pleased. Quality so so (though did not end up having a couple of dishes I would have like to have tried), the 11:02pm situation, salt and pepper shakers at room service both filled with pepper, asking for whole wheat bread only (which they said they had) and receiving 90% white rolls/bread.


Le Meridien

1. Staff (check-in, concierge, etc) -- all very helpful, including assistance to make reservations in Porto with Meridien's Moments points.

2. Restaurant - great food - fresh, food of the Azore's festival - try the Azores' lobster. Knowledgeable staff on regional foods, etc. I would return.

3. Lobby, bar, restaurant area -- much better layout and much brighter versus Sheraton.

4. Room - larger, a view in two directions, quite bright, modern furniture, comfortable chair after a long day of walking and carrying purchases from an interior Portugal visit. Bath products the typical Meridien (Molten Brown wins there), bath robe better, shower facility better, etc. The bed was very comfortable - it beat the "sleeper beds" of Sheraton. Generally more elegant.

5. Amenities - fresh fruit (better mix than Sheraton) and a litre of water (much needed).


Sheraton vs Meridien? Depends on your situation.

Portugal - Porto experience (*wood and Meridien)
 

Somewhat the opposite of Lisbon in the Meridien vs Sheraton comparison.

Meridien

Arrived in evening, but that is not a factor in my impression. In short, pass on this hotel. Dark in lobby, in room and hallways. Somewhat helpful staff. Bed was comfortable.


Sheraton

Ok, to start off, I walk in the door, approach the staff for help and .... WOW !
Quite different from Lisbon Sheraton where check-in desk staff say to speak to the concierge, the Porto check-in staff is helpful (technically, before I'm a guest) and only on a couple of questions later in stay was I directed to the concierge -- yet check-in staff had much better recommendations for attractions, restaurants, things to do, transportation, specialty stores, events, very knowledgeable on hotel's facilities. :-:

That was all before a review of the Platinum amenities (same as Lisbon) and going to the room. So, things couldn't top that you think? Absolutely, positively, they were topped ... I was escorted to the room, while features of the hotel were described, and the room was AWE-mazing - corner suite, two plasma screens, huge bathroom, with see through glass (with electronic blinds), a table for four, two couches, all in a softer colours. And, I'm only staying one night? Argghh, I thought, and with very helpful, friendly, knowledgeable reception staff...and I can't recall exactly what preceeded it, but I was informed the staff could contact the airlines for itinerary changes, alternate travel arrangements, etc... like someone reading my mind... double WOW!! :)

Later in the day, a printed message was there waiting with the few alternate travel possiblilities researched. :-:

Club Lounge, Outdoor bar area, whole lobby were great. Did not try the restaurant, but the menu did look interesting.

Next day, more suggestions followed from prior day reception staff, along with an introduction to the manager who indicated a slight problem with an Evora reservation, but that they really wanted to help out. These sent me slightly off the beaten path on discovery of other parts of Porto where I saw fewer tourists. And a newer restaurant about 50/50 locals and tourists.

On third day, was disappointed the reception staff from first day was not present (perhaps a change in shifts or a day off? :( ). Though I continued with the suggestions from the prior day and at the train station one of the local free newspapers was handed to me and I noticed a wine festival of Aligo and a Galician town in the newspaper, so I made another excursion - when I informed the staff then on duty I would possibly check out they indicated to let them know by 2pm and they even provided a couple of hotel suggestions along the Duruo.

Thoroughly enjoyed the stay and have probably forgot to mention several other things. This is one place I would definitely return to! :-: ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ :-:

My impression, as well...
 

Your positive reaction to the new Porto Sheraton mirrors the feelings that we had. It sounds like we also had the same style suite. Our children had a regular room, and that also had the high-tech glass bathroom. What about Evora?

Just back from a trip to Portugal including stays at the Sheratons in Lisbon and Porto, so thought I'd add to these generally positive reports with one of my own, even though I have no status with *wood.

I booked a Towers-level room at the Lisbon Sheraton and was offered a room on the 24th floor. If I hadn't insisted on a non-smoking room (the highest non-smoking floor is the 22nd), I'd have got a room with a view over the entire Tagus estuary and the whole city. As it was, half of that view from the 22nd floor was obscured by the ugly apartment block next door. At least we got the full view from the lounge.

The room was quite plush and comfortable, though not exactly spacious. And the view was on the good side of the building. My main problem was with the Towers lounge, which is probably the worst I've ever seen at any hotel, *wood or otherwise.

For a 65 euro mark-up over a standard room, we got a happy hour that was accurately named only in that it lasted exactly one hour - from 7 to 8 p.m :rolleyes: . But it wasn't exactly very happy. The lounge is tiny - the size of 2 regular rooms, so I guess we were lucky the Towers rooms weren't too busy because we got to sit down and actually eat off a table.
The beverages on offer were Portuguese only: red and white table wine (drinkable but nothing special), some ordinary tawny port and a sparkling wine. There were no spirits of any kind and absolutely no beer. Even the soft drinks were limited to water and fruit juice. No Coke or the like.
The "canapés", meanwhile, were what I would call UFOs - unidentifiable fried objects. The round ones tasted vaguely fishy while the triangular ones tasted of nothing at all. There were no nuts, chips/crisps or anything else.

I got up too late to try the breakfast.

So the LIS Sheraton is a good choice for anyone content with a standard room in a good hotel. It's also convenient for Picoas metro station and the staff were very friendly and efficient.

A few days later we arrived at the Sheraton Porto, which is a magnificent modern building. My 10th-floor Club floor room was perched 30 metres above the lobby atrium - only 10 cm of concrete floor between my bed and the void below!
The room was extremely comfortable with the high-tech glass bathroom already mentioned, but unfortunately a huge steel beam extending diagonally across the window. There wasn't much of a view anyway.

Again my main complaint is that the 45 euro mark-up for the club floor just wasn't worth it. The Club "lounge" was unstaffed (so check-in was at the main reception desk on the ground floor) and although happy hour lasted 2 hours it was barely any better than in Lisbon. Unsurprisingly, the selection of port wines was a lot better, but otherwise the wines were local again, and no spirits or beer were available. The food was fishy when it wasn't tasteless, so the whole experience was generally disappointing.

Either of the LIS and OPO Sheratons is a perfectly good hotel that I would recommend, but the Towers/Club level rooms are a total rip-off.

Sorry to hear your comments about the SHR Lisbon, my experience there was wonderful. Very large room on the 24th fl., nice amenities and over the top staff at the Lounge, both for c/in-c/out and for breakfast. Breakfast was superb ^

The Lounge is not huge, but in the week I stayed there I never had any problem finding a free table. The Club floors are not that busy. The free Internet was nice too

As to the evening drinks, I've found Portugues wines excellent and I'm surprised the staff didn't get you a beer or coke when you asked for one, in my experience they tended to bend over backwards when one asked for something

I must confess it never occurred to me to ask. I assumed that if it wasn't out on display, it wasn't available. I was stuck in the mentality that there are two types of lounge: the ones where everything is self-service ^ and the ones where you have to ask an attendant for everything you want :td: . The LIS Sheraton is in a 3rd, hybrid category.
Anyway, I'm not saying I didn't like the hotel - it's a very good property. My only complaint is that IMHO the Towers level is not worth the extra cost.

Starwood in Algarve, Portugal
 

We're thinking of spending a couple of weeks in the Algarve region of Portugal next spring and would like some feedback on the SPG options there. I've searched but only found reviews for the Sheraton Algarve, the vast majority of which highly recommend this property. I'm hoping that someone has stayed recently at either the Le Méridien Dona Filipa in Almancil, Cat. 5, or Le Méridien Penina Golf Resort in Portimao, Cat. 3.

Thanks for the help,

While I can't speak at all about the properties themselves, I can speak a little about the location.
Le Méridien Dona Filipa is almost on the beach.
Le Méridien Penina Golf Resort is about 2.5 miles from the beach. (Free shuttle provided.)

You may also be interested in this website about the surrounding resort as you evaluate the Sheraton Algarve...
http://www.pinecliffs.com

My wife and I stayed at the Sheraton Pinecliffs a year and a half ago for 3 nights. I would consider this hotel to be below average for a luxury collection hotel, we were there in August which I imagine is a very busy month so service wasn't that great and the room was worn however we had a junior suite which was comfortable. The hotel is situated on a cliff and access to the beach is via an elevator or rather long walk. Overall we had a very nice time however a room refurbishment is needed. I would use points again however wouldn't pay to stay here. Very kid friendly and tons of families there.

Not in the Algarve, however I would highly recommend the CONVENTO DO ESPINHEIRO HERITAGE HOTEL & SPA. We spent 3 nights at the hotel and it was amazing, rather hot in August however the hotel was almost empty (and I mean empty). We really had the place to ourselves. Our room was in the original convent section where they have restored the old chapel for weddings. The pool is very relaxing and they have spa services available, service/food in the restaurant was very good. Evora is an extremely interesting historical town and you get a good local feel of Portugal vs. an abundance of tourists in the Algarve similar to the south of Spain.

We also stayed at the Sheraton in Lisbon on this trip and the Convento was head and shoulders above the other properties. I believe they were all the same redemption amount.

Another option for historical properties in Portugal http://www.pousadas.pt/historicalhotels/EN


--

Thanks for your advice - we actually stayed at the Espinheiro after reading you post and it was truly excellent. Had a great time there and enjoyed their nice restaurant & spa areas.

Parking fees at the Sheratons Lisbon and Porto
 

Is it true the parking is free in the Lisbon Sheraton?

Stayed at Sheraton Lisbon in late Nov'07. The hotel was still undergoing renovations to its fitness center and parking facilities. Thus, the valets were parking the cars out front for free.

Now, that the renovations are most likely complete, it is probably back to what I would guess 15-20 euros or so per day. I also remember reading somebody's post in the older threads mentioning that Plats were comped the parking. Better e-mail the hotel to find out about the current situation.

We plan to go Portugal for Golfing. There are several options such as Le Méridien Dona Filipa,Le Méridien Penina Golf Resort or Sheraton Algarve.
Anyone have any golf experience at the above golf resorts?
Which one is the best golf resort overall?

Thanks in advance.

Yes - if you are a Platinum guest. I just finished an 8 day stay here and had free Valet parking provided - a big plus in Lisbon :D

Le Méridien Dona Filipa & San Lorenzo Golf Course leaving Starwood
 

Leaving Starwood on November 24, 2008
Le Méridien Dona Filipa & San Lorenzo Golf Course will be leaving the Starwood system on November 24, 2008. Reservations for dates on or after November 24, 2008, will not be eligible for Starwood Preferred Guest membership benefits, award redemption or accrual.

A Category 5 property.

Will not be missed by me. I stayed there a few months ago and have to say it is a bit of a dump. Rooms in desperate need of updating and the whole hotel just has a dated feel of English seaside hotel from the 1950s.

Agree that Sheraton Pinecliffs is not up to 5-star standard. We stayed in a duplex suite and it was very old and in need of modernisation. The grounds are nice however, there is a great selection of (very expensive) restaurants, good selection of pools and a nice beach. My main problem though is that throughout summer the hotel is overrun by British families with small children.

CONVENTO DO ESPINHEIRO HERITAGE HOTEL & SPA is a beautiful hotel although not quite on the Algarve but rather about two hours drive inland. Very nice rooms (we stayed in the modern wing which was great), nice outdoor and indoor pool and a very good restaurant that does modern Portugese fine dining. Evora itself is interesting for a day or two.

What will be the name of this hotel after it leaves Starwood?

Westin Campo Real
 

Has anyone been recently to the Westin Campo Real, will be there for Holiday in May. Any tip for surrounding areas would be great. Main interests are culinary, sightseeing, and golf of course

nick