"I booked this hotel using Hilton points and it was a great deal at the time. I also had another 5 star hotel booked across the river using Hilton points and decided to cancel that booking. I did get a chance to visit the other hotel for a quick cocktail before doing some tastings at the port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia and I wish I would have kept the other booking.
Don't get me wrong, the public spaces are absolutely gorgeous. The hotel itself is a sight to behold. But it kind of ended there. The service overall really fell short for a 5 star hotel. I knew I was in a relatively small room, so I wasn't surprised, but just something to think about when booking this room. It's a tight squeeze if you are not in a suite.
Downsides: Essentially boiled down to service as the staff didn't seem to know what was going on.
-The biggest issue I had was the amount of noise and the bedding. You could hear doors slamming in the hall, trucks and motorcycles outside at all hours of the night. It was the worst sleep I had across my Iberian peninsula stay. Put in "pillows" into the review search bar and you'll see it's a common complaint that the bedding at this hotel is terrible. On our second to last day, I was looking at their room service menu and noticed they actually had a "Pillow Menu" with 7-8 different kinds of pillows ranging from down to memory foam to body pillows etc...excellent! It said to consult with reception for the best option for you. I call reception and ask for 2 very specific kinds of pillows; they say housekeeping will be by soon. 5 minutes later they arrive with 2 pillows are the exact crappy polyfill pillows I currently have on the bed that you find at every Holiday Inn. I didn't bother to mess with them after that.
- At check in, we were given 2 drink vouchers for the bar because they ran out of glassware for a glass of welcome Port. No big deal, thanks for the gesture! We order cocktails at the bar and go to pay and are informed the drink voucher is only for wine even though that's not stated on the voucher...the bartender was kind enough to comp those 2 drinks.
-We were told at check in that breakfast ended at 10:30AM, we showed up on our first morning (Monday) at 10AM and zero problems. We show up at 10AM on Tuesday and they say there are closed, breakfast ends at 10AM on Weekdays and 10:30 on Weekends. But we were just here the day before at the same time? The online menu also states 10:30AM for weekdays and 11AM for weekends. They do end up letting us eat really quick, but they did not seem pleased and we scarfed our food down in about 10 minutes.
-Again...at check in. We asked if we were eligible for an upgrade from a Superior room to a Deluxe room. We were told that Hilton status members always receive priority upgrades, but they had nothing available. I understand that inventory isn't always available to give out, but as I was sitting there, I pulled up their website to book for the exact nights we were there and there was a room available for book via cash. But they weren't willing to give me the upgrade. I even asked again if they were sure there wasn't a one category room upgrade, No.
-Asked if we could do room service for breakfast on our last day as we had an early flight and would like to be eating while packing/preparing to leave. No problem, just a small upcharge. I call the morning of our checkout at 7:45AM to place our order and no one answers, just rings and rings, so we have to rush to get ready and be downstairs to eat quickly before we have to leave. I thought surely they were just packed for breakfast and didn't have staff to answer - there were total 4 tables occupied - pretty much empty.
In reality, no major meltdowns and all my complaints are relatively minor. It's just a lot of small things that added up everyday to make this a 3 star stay and not a 5 star.
Upsides:
-Great location. You're a 10 minute walk to Porto Cathedral and 2 minute walk to Aliados station. There's some nice restaurants within 5 minutes as well.
-Decorated beautifully."