Hospedaria O Castelo

remote location wasn’t what we were expecting. Booking site didn’t mention or I didn’t see that, the accommodation I wanted, was outside village that said it was lovely. we we’re orienteering and use of washing machine and warm showers was great. allowed us extra time on departure day to shower and clean up after our event. excellent

slight problem with cooking hob but staff arrived following day and sorted plus provided frying pan as we weren’t using bbq.

The lady who welcomed us was really friendly and the room was clean. Towels and shampoo was provided.

There was no breakfast, but I had already found out this at booking. However, there was not even a minimal facility to e.g. warm some water or a table to sit and have breakfast. 3 beds in a room (we booked and needed two of them) are too much in my opinion. It would be better to have two beds and a table and some space for the luggage. (we used the third bed for the luggage)

We were allowed to have our young dog in the room with us. The owner was friendly.

No insulation between rooms, we could hear toilet use clearly throughout the night. Guests arrived late at night and left around 6am, creating a lot of noise and disturbed sleep. We booked for 2 nights but couldn’t face a second night here.

Every trip has its low point and this was it for ours. Being a holiday weekend we made the mistake of not booking rooms in Evora early enough so had to find somewhere for the night and this place was the nearest available. At 60€ for the night for the 3 of us with no breakfast it was more expensive than usual for our last minute booking technique. (We averaged 45€ to 50€ per night incl breakfast) We arrived to find it locked up but repeated rings on the bell brought a response from the lady proprietor, cheery welcome not included! I was starting to see "Bates Motel" signs flashing in my mind!! The building is clean and well maintained. The room was likewise but dated although the air con worked as did the old TV. We asked if the attached restaurant was open for dinner or breakfast. No. We asked where we could eat and she did the fingers walking signal and pointed towards the town. We then showered to find the bathroom floor went from shiny and slippery tiles when dry to downright lethal ice rink when wet and the water leaked out into the main room thereby increasing the kill zone! The local chorus of barking dogs finally quieted at about 1am and we got some sleep only to be awake at 7 to the calls of the local dogs. This was fortuitous as by 9.30 they were actively changing rooms and knocking up those still in bed to get them cleared out ASAP. The floor was still wet and everything damp. Portal itself is a nice rural town and we had a great meal in a locals bar on the lower square but the accommodation block is best avoided.