Friendly staff, average location

I actually stayed at this property back in 2014 - when it was rather new and at that time one of the few international chain hotels in the area.  Since I was arriving rather late into Porto and wanted an (international) chain hotel close to public transportation and reasonably priced - this was my choice.  I was also curious how the property is after so many years from my last visit.

The property is located in the north of the city, close to the city football club statiudm Estadio do Dragoa - which is also the name of the metro stop closest to the property.  It is about a walk of 10 mins uphill to the property from the station.  From the airport a change in metro line is needed, which is normally convenient.  However in my case - upon arrival at the airport station, there seemed to be some (last minute?) strike of the Metro workers. Due to this I took a sharedrive option - which is about a 15-20 mins ride away depending on traffic.  Average cost should be around 11-13 Euro's.   

The hotel is situated next to quite a large shopping mall.  Other than that, there's mainly offices and residential buildings close by with some local shops in the area.  With the metro, it should be about 20-30 mins ride to the historical centre of Porto or the Port cellars area.

As it was quite late, as expected upon arrival, I was attended to immediately by a friendly front desk associate.  I already saw in the Marriott app that I was upgraded to a higher category room.  As usual - quite a number of documentation presentation and filling in was needed due to the pandemic.  I was also given a run down of the benefits as an elite member and hotel facilities.  

It took about 10 mins to complete every thing before I was on my way to the room. 

The room was situated on the 7th floor with a view towards the highway and partially the rest of the city.  I remembered the interior decoration as it was from my last visit - and actually quite surprised that most of the furnishing was still holding up quite well - especially the flooring which I already saw some of the flooring showing some tear, and 8 years later, they still held up.

Room size was ok - with ample room to move around.  There was also working/TV desk and a single seating area.  There was also a long (sitting) bench which seems to double as a luggage rack.  Tea/coffee making facilities were available and seems an improvement compared to my last stay was the a Nespresso coffee system.  The minibar was filled - with 1 bottle of water complimentary - the rest of the items are chargeable - albeit for a very reasonable price.  Internet was available via a username/code provided during check-in.  I received one for where I was told to login with the Premium signal - not sure if this is only for elite members.  Speed was good and stable.  The TV size was on the smaller side - with the usual local and international selection (although from news point of view, I don't remember seeing any in English)

Sleep quality was good - I was a bit afraid since it faced, the highway,  but the sound isolation was quite good for the usual traffic noise.  Only small complain was initially when other guests started to use the corridor to use their phone or talk - where it was clearly audible from the room.  Luckily this did not last too long and for the rest of the night, both exterior and interior noise disturbance was non-existence.  As for the climate control, I just left it off - as I was not able to get it to cool down - luckily the room did not become to hot during the night, althogh the next morning, I did open the window to cool down the room (which of course means more traffic noise).  This is a common issue in quite a number of hotels in South Europe in the winter time.  

There was the usual combined bathtub/shower area - with a good water pressure and temperature control.  Even though it was with the glass water shied, the floor did not get too wet.  Toiletries were hotel branded - I did not like the fragrance of the toiletries.  Other than that, they had quite a nice assortement of other toiletry amenities - which is not something you see that often at hotels anymore.   Since this was a higher category room, they did provide also bathrobe/slippers.

I selected the $10 credit per person option for breakfast - which is not sufficient to cover the buffet breakfast cost at this property - which is 13€. This is still most probably better compared to what you can get from US properties.

The breakfast is on the 1st floor which is also where the bar/restaurant is located.  in current situation, guests must use the disposable plastic gloves provided and mask when not seated or picking up food.  

The spread was ok - the usual selections of bread/pastries and cold meat/cheese/fruits.  There were 3 different hot items - including 2 type of eggs.  I did not again check/ask about eggs to order - so  am not sure if this is also an option.  Breakfast service was good - with them refilling items appropriately and clearing used plates adequately.  

All in all - the stay was ok, nothing spectacular nor any major issues.  The only item which I guess it's a point of discussion for quite a number of guests especially higher level elite members is how we have gotten "Bonvoyed" with the Marriott Bonvoy program in a bad way in the benefits.  For me in my case, if I remembered correctly, with the previous Marriott Rewards program, items such as breakfast was complimentary for higher elite members.

As LTT member, this still does leave a bad taste in the mouth especially compared to the HHonors program which these days even though with the problems of suite upgrades, from breakfast point it is still a much more solid program compared to Bonvoy especially in these lower level properties.

Anyway, for me I would still return to this property with the right price and the needs.