Immerso Hotel, a Member of Design Hotels

We had made the booking for a groom and his best man the night before the big day. I asked them to put a bottle of something in the room on their arrival which they did. The staff were very attentive throughout.

Beautiful hotel in a peaceful location with amazing views of the sea

Hotel is elegant with bags of style, including a cute little shop and a kitchen garden. Our room had a good shower and one of the most comfortable beds we've ever slept in. Fabulous mattress, linen, and pillows. Charming, well-informed staff with perfect English. Which is lucky, as the majority of the clientele were British (the rest were mostly American or European). Food and drink terrific (discovered loads of new Portuguese wines). Lunch at Emme Fire we found a little overpriced relative to portion sizes but it was a lovely experience nonetheless. I absolutely LOVED the breakfast buffet, which offered interesting and healthy options (lots of home grown produce) alongside the most delicious pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts) and traditional patisserie. Delicious omelettes and always a pleasing selection of fresh fruit including passion fruit and avocado to enjoy with more-ish Portuguese ricotta. Useful to know before you visit: hotel is up a hill in a very residential area with nothing around it. There are fantastic (super quiet even in August) beaches and places to eat (not only in Ericeira itself) within a 10 minute drive, or the hotel has bikes. I wouldn't recommend this place for families, unless you're all here to surf.

I only have 3 gripes. 1. The lack of wardrobe space in our decently proportioned Room 101 was inadequate for a stay of more than 2-3 days and a triumph of form over function. Why are hotel designers so un-keen on useful hooks and drawers? 2. The pool is smaller than ithe photos might suggest. 50% is a shallow kids' pool and the other is a little small for laps, though like other guests I still swam (the sea is usually too cold and rough to swim in). Actually the gym is tiny too, and in the basement with no view. 3. The yoga and pilates deck is the first I've ever encountered in a smart hotel that has zero shade. It faces west with a delightful sea view but when I attempted a 6pm pilates class on a blistering hot day I had to give up as I felt totally nauseous.

(I have never written a bad review before, this is my first... that alone says a lot) Are you a shabby surf hotel or a high-end retreat? Prices, website, and advertising clearly position Immerso as a high-end retreat. Unfortunately, our experience tells a very different story. Hostel esc artwork and sculptures randomly placed throughout the grounds make me question what kind of clientele they are aiming to attract? Here are a few points which made us discover why we regret booking Immerso for our anniversary. A construction site just meters away from your hotel was active daily from 8am to 6pm, with constant banging, screeching, and drilling. This completely undermined the peaceful experience we expected. This should have been disclosed before our arrival. If we had known, we would never have booked a week-long stay here. Your receptionist insisted you were unaware of the works happening… but later told me they have been going on for weeks. Daytimes and evenings that should have been serene and centered on sunsets and nature were instead dominated by booming bass-heavy music echoing across the valley, coming from ‘EMME ON FIRE’. Despite your reassurance that construction noise wouldn’t continue on weekends, on Friday night I was forced to wear earplugs in bed to fall asleep. The music continued past 12:00AM. Each morning we would wake up to the smell of toilet. It’s clear there is a drain issue. Despite all the added extra noise there is a huge highway that is unattractive and extremely loud. This is not the experience one expects, nor accepts, from a hotel of your positioning and price point. Right now, Immerso is delivering something far below its promise.

Adorei a minha estadia. O hotel é muito confortável, a comida é deliciosa e o staff muito atenciosa. Sem dúvida que irei voltar!