Palace Museum & National Monument - Espaço Palmeiras

Very interesting old house and well positioned to explore Porto. Close to restaurants and a short walk into the old town. Very clean and quiet. Ricardo and Maria were excellent hosts and couldn’t be more helpful. Breakfast was amazing.

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beautiful building with stunning architecture

Here are the pros and cons of our stay, based upon the description of the Palace: - The Palace is in the “heart” of Porto -- no. Although it is close to the “heart” it certainly isn’t in the center of the city. And btw ... traffic can get really bad to get to the “heart”, in which case it does not feel very close at all. - There are facilities for disabled guests -- no.  We did not see any

We recently stayed at the Palace Museum in early May 2023.  The Palace is run by Maria, the owner of the Palace, and Riccardo, who is her employee and wears many hats.  Maria is very good at marketing ... she advertises the Palace on her website in such wonderful terms.  She indicates that the venue has many amenities.  Unfortunately, many of the things in the description of the venue are either false or embellished. First ... the venue is really a Bed and Breakfast.  It is not a hotel.  It does not have an elevator.  It does not offer any services.  She markets the Palace as a historic building in the heart of Porto. Although it is close to the “heart” it isn’t in the 'heart'.  The building is basically an old house (170 years old), operating as a bed and breakfast, filled with old furniture (not antiques).  The place smells of mildew, mold and moth balls.  In fact, the other couple in my party actually had mold in their closet. BTW ... being a B&B is fine.  Many times when I travel I want a B&B.  But for this cost, I certainly did not.  I wanted a European hotel.  And to make matters a bit worse ... I feel that this venue was not honestly described on their website. Upon arriving to the facility, the Palace lacked signage or anything indicating we were at the correct address. The door blends into the rest of the street. You would think a lodging facility and a “museum” would have something outside to indicate what it is. When we entered the facility we were greeted by Ricardo, who proved to be the concierge, reception person, tour guide and a really helpful and nice man.

The concierge person was very helpful and attentive

When we first pulled up to this “hotel” in the taxi we told the driver that he must have taken us to the wrong address. He insisted it was the right address and basically laughed at us thinking we were stupid Americans. The exterior of this house is dirty and rundown and looks nothing like a hotel. First let me say that this is not a hotel and should not be advertised as such. It is a B&B, a very expensive B&B. My husband and I found mold in the armoire when we first arrived. They dealt with cleaning it up quickly but since I’m highly allergic I was not comfortable putting my clothes in it. The “hotel” is advertised as a museum but I’m not really sure that it qualifies as one. The house is 170 years old which is relatively young as far as houses in Europe go. The furnishings were nice but nothing museum quality as far as I can tell. The location was far from town, no parking available so definitely not ideal. Many of the services advertised in the listing were misleading in my opinion. There is no spa, there’s a balcony but no seating on the balcony and the garden can hardly be called a garden. It was more of a outside area littered with cat food bowls and dirty run down lawn furniture. We spent 3 weeks traveling through Spain and Portugal. This was the worst place we stayed in and it was by far the most expensive. Unfortunately they charge you for full payment prior to arriving so you’re left we little recourse. I left feeling taken advantage.

rich in culture and comfortable like staying at home

Maria and Ricardo were very gracious and helpful hosts. Staying at the Palace Museum was a fantastic and fun experience - beautiful building and superb location. Had some of our best nights sleep in Portugal at the Palace Museum. Would love to return some day!

The hosts welcomed us on arrival and the hospitality was outstanding the entire visit. What a fabulous place.

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Absolutely beautiful property in a very good location. We booked the duplex suite, which was spectacular. The room was spotlessly clean and quiet and the bed was very comfy. The breakfasts were delicious and very thoughtfully set out. Our hosts Maria and Ricardo were wonderful and made sure we had a great stay. We would be very happy to stay here again and would happily recommend

amazing stay in a 5 floor palace museum of almost 200 yrs old in the centre of Porto. wide and luxurious suite : Host and staff super welcoming and attentive. I will come back