BizNYC

Do follow up with the hotel. We stayed at the hotel in August and were told exactly that--the hotel was completely refurbishing (all, I believe) of its rooms this January.

I hope this doesn't affect your plans. We enjoyed the property very much and would liken it to those in Weimar or Asolo--off the beaten path, but unique and worth the effort.

SanDiego1K

I contacted the platiinum desk who had no information about any hotel closing. The agent sent a note to the hotel who sent me this note today:

"After your request, we would like to inform you that for the dates requested our hotel will be closed for renovation.

We are thinking to close on January 4th until January 31st 2015."

And yet there is no notice on their website, I still have a booking, and they have my points.

Starwood Lurker III

Hi SanDiego1K,

My apologies for the inconvenience to you.

I have called the hotel and Front Office Manager informed me that the renovation schedule was decided recently and the website will be updated soon. He also advised that he has been in contact with you to assist with your booking.

If you need any further assistance from us, please let us know.

Best Regards,

Christina Zhou
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

BizNYC

SanDiego1K, I had meant to post a mini-review of our stay at the Convento, including a reference to the planned refurbishing in January, and I'm sorry that I didn't if it would have helped avoid some of this hassle. In the event that it is useful to you in your discussions with the property and any possible future stay there, though, I do want to reiterate that while we we on the public afternoon tour of the property during the last week of August and our guide (and assistant manager, I believe) very clearly and unequivocally stated to the group that they were closing in January to completely refurbish the rooms and that they were all very excited by that. I do believe they should have communicated that to you sooner.

This snafu is a real shame, because we really did have a fantastic stay there and thought the staff some of the best we have encountered in the Luxury Collection (my personal favorite brand).

Thunderroad

Oh my. Extremely bad form on the hotel's part. Hope it all gets sorted out, though I'd imagine your overall travel plans hinged partly on this stop.

raunow

Please don't let this incident put you off going to Convento do Espinheiro.

The staff (including Maria the GM) are extremely professional, hands-on service minded and genuinely proud of their unique property.

SanDiego1K

The hotel is now closed for the month. To this day, there has been no announcement on their website. We managed to stay the first night of their closure, the only guests in the hotel. If you read up, you will see I was never informed of the hotel's closure, despite having a booking made in Feb 2014. I reached out to the hotel who didn't respond in a way that definitively said they would be closed on the date I had booked. However, they asked if I could choose a different day. We had a very slow pace of discussion. Eventually, I realized I could flip my trip and stay a night that was perhaps the last night they were open or the first night of the closure. I wasn't quite sure. Indeed they were to be closed but the GM agreed to our stay. I was told in advance that their food outlets would be closed, the bar would be open, and if we wanted breakfast, we would need to have it in our room. That was all agreeable with me as I really wanted to stay here.

We programmed our GPS to find the hotel. It was insistent that we drive up a rutted farm road, roughly a mile short of the property. We were confident we weren't meant to stay amongst cows, so continued down the road past a cemetery and farmland. At the end of the road was the white structure of the hotel. We pulled up into the forecourt and went into the hotel. Staff was standing awaiting us. "Hello, you must be Mrs. SanDiego1K. Welcome!" Staff throughout our short visit were universally warm and helpful. I was apologetic about staff being required to work for just us, but I was assured that was not the case. For example, people had to be present to answer phone calls.

The property is an old monastery. It had been in ruins until 1999. The front office manager is from Evora and rode his bicycle to the ruins as a child. He remembers the excitement in town when the decision was made to build a hotel. A new section has been built in the back that includes rooms, conference facility, inside pool, gym, and spa. We were in the beautiful historic section.

We were told there are 10 suites in the historic section and 4 suites in the new section. 4 of the historic suites have balconies. Ours did not. Rooms in the historic section were made from monks' cells. That would explain the curious proportions of our suite. We had King Manuel I suite, room 212. The bedroom was massive, the living room tiny, and the bathroom the same size as the living room. I would guess that 3 monk cells were used for the bedroom and 1 each for the other rooms. The bathroom had both a walk in shower and a tub, along with Bulgari toiletries. At the risk of being ungracious, I was surprised that the suite didn't have particular charm. Better decisions could have been made about furniture and better use could have been made of space. Be cautious of room service. There was a 7 euro charge to bring a 5 euro bottle of water to our room.

The chapel is exquisite. This hotel is ideal for a wedding, yet they only host about 30 a year. Everyone can stay at the hotel, the wedding can be in the chapel, and there are places for the meal afterwards. The dining room is in the old section and has great character. And there are a number of public rooms with comfortable seating, most with religious art.

I love the pousadas and paradores of Portugal and Spain, many of them built in wonderful historic spaces that would otherwise have no use. This hotel is comparable in its public spaces and has bedrooms and service far superior to any of the nationally operated hotels.

offerendum

I will be at the hotel soon. Is Fialho still a good option for dinner?

ajnaro

In my opinion, Fialho has become a bit worn out due to tourist overload, but you may still have good luck. I actually like the starters better than the mains. I find the Taverna Típica da Quarta-Feira much more interesting, but like nearly everything else in Évora it too can be overwhelmed with visitors.

SanDiego1K

We did not eat at Fialho when we were there in January. Instead, we chose Dom Joaquim which is a bib gourmand Michelin restaurant. It is a short distance within the city walls. It is somewhat rustic food, and it hit the spot for us that particular day. We had a pork pie that was awesome. They put a number of plates of small dishes on the table. If you eat them, you are charged. You don't need to eat any of them. We would return.

Duke777

Any recent stays? Looking to book 2 nights in July with my GF.

Which suite do people recommend? Worth it for 7k points + $180 a night instead of 3.5k points + $55 night for a base room?

Thanks!

offerendum

Yes, stayed here recently. terrible stay, you find my review here

RafKa

Checked out yesterday. Amazing value for 7k points, superb service from staff. Booked for points and got upgraded to a massive suite in the old section, with massive balcony (room 215). If possible get a suite in the old section, for character. Good chance for an upgrade, as property seemed to be at very low occupancy despite beginning of high season. Beautiful grounds, spa, restaurant. Not to mention the daily complimentary tour of the monastery at 5pm and complimentary cheese and wine tasting at 6pm at the cellar.

Not sure about the negative comments; perhaps unrealistic expectations?

offerendum

are you joking?

travelswithmyself

Don't take it personally, may not have been referring to you?

Having read your post, I must say that the service recovery was not really up to par. Especially silly for the "GM" to say that because you booked a BRG (you meant a BRG and not a BAR right?), you couldn't get anything besides a Standard Room.

And then to offer you a room-that-isn't-a-suite-but-priced-like-a-suite... tch tch.