Bonfim Otelleri

Me and my family are planning a holiday to Algarve, but as direct flights don’t run everyday to Faro, we decided to make a 3-day short trip at Porto before heading to Algarve. We saw Almada Domus on Expedia and decided to stay there as the photos look pretty and it describes its location as very central to all tourists attractions in Porto. Unfortunately, after we made the booking we realised that the hotel is actually located some blocks away from the main streets and requires a short climb uphill to get to, which will be a challenge for my husband who suffers from recurring Achilles tendinitis that makes walking difficult and would require walking aides. On the same day, within 2 hours after making our booking, I emailed the hotel to enquire about cancellation. I explained to Fabio (which I assume is the manager/ owner of the hotel) about my situation and at that time he seemed to be willing to accommodate my request but advised me to contact Expedia directly. I then spoke with Expedia and was told that they can do a free cancellation upon confirming with the hotel that they’re ok with it. Over 20 emails back and forth with the hotel since last evening, and this morning Fabio abruptly changed his tone and said he will not allow a free cancellation and we will have to pay a 50% penalty, as the booking is now “outside the 2-hour cancellation window”, and it would be “unfair to other guests” (even though I did contact the hotel about cancelling within 2 hours after making my booking, hoping to minimise the impact on their business). I was also told by Fabio that “Porto is a hilly city like Lisbon, which are not friendly for people with walking difficulties” and said but we can Uber everywhere…. I was very shocked with his last comments and obviously disappointed that he was unwilling to help even though he said he would at the beginning when I first contacted.

The hotel is very close to the train station and a few minutes walk away. Since I brought my child, I made up some fees at the front desk and upgraded to a family room (the child has a separate single bed). The room is very large, there are two small balconies, the facilities are very new, clean, the service is very good, check-in and check-out are very fast. A little distance from the attraction, but walking all the way to see, will not feel very tired.

This place is actually an old motel that has clearly gone bankrupt and still tries to get naive customers to a trap. It smells of mold, there is no shower ( just a broken whirlpool ), there is no maintenance and the staff is clearly unwilling to look after the guests. To make it worse - if possible - they tried to cheat Booking pretending I was not there ( although I have my credit cards statements to prove ) just not to pay their commission. When I wrote this on the Booking review the owner was extremely impolite and aggressive , as his plote was denounced. Honestly, it makes no sense staying there even if it was for free. Run away from this joint!!

Great concept, excellent transport links. Really liked the vibe and local neighbourhood had good places to eat

Stayed four night as a base for Porto centre. Would give it 3.5 if possible to use halfs. Rooms were clean although showing signs of wear. Bed made up daily and fresh towels. Lack of shelf space in cupboard. Used for breakfast once but also tried the Mitica Inspiracao out of the back door twice for a more relaxed setting and no temptation to overfill v the buffet. Shower has good temperature and flow. Friendly and helpful reception staff. Nearby supermarket for anything you need. The bus from the airport took 50 mins during the morning midweek, and initially goes away from the hotel before heading back towards it. If I was doing it again I would take the Metro to Ramalde the nearest stop and then get an Uber to the hotel. The airport Metro is just behind the road at arrivals. Bus 304 seemed the quicker bus than the 300 or 301 into town. Had issues with bus reliability getting back from town after 8pm using information from route planner on Google maps .. chasing round various bus stops near the Town Hall Square to no avail. Ended up prefering to get the Metro back to Ramalde and then €3 for an Uber. Opted to use luggage lockers at Trindade Metro, €6 small for upto 12 hours rather than detour back to the hotel on the last day. Other sizes available but limited availability.

We had to make a last minute booking. Our main criteria for the hotel was cleanliness, Based on the reviews this hotel was what we were looking for. We gave it a try and weren't disappointed. Hotel was very clean indeed. Rooms felt a bit small, but they were nicely decorated. Hotel was located about 20-25 min walking distance from the city center. We didn't mind to walk. Most of the time we were returning back to the hotel after 9 pm, and we never felt unsafe walking in that area. Free breakfast was a pleasant bonus. Breakfast was sufficient. I just wish they had a slight variety. We stayed there for 4 nights and they offered almost the same food every day. Another room for improvement is balcony furniture, Our room had a balcony, with two cushioned chairs on it. We checked in to the hotel same day after the rain, during our stay we were never able to spend time on the balcony, because the sits were soaking wet. Everyone who was working there was great and extremally helpful. All our concerns were taken seriously and we always received maximum help and attention. Special huge thank you to the guy working the evening shift! He was amazing. Sorry, I can't remember his name. I would stay there again and would recommend this hotel.

Gostei, está novinho em folha!

I have stayed in this hotel recently for weeks on end, so I think I can write with some authority about what kind of hotel it is and what can go wrong from the customer's point of view. Perhaps the biggest issue is noise. There appears to be little soundproofing between the rooms, and it is clearly unfit for purpose. Worse still is how the noise can sometimes be dealt with. On a recent visit I had a very unpleasant experience on my first night back to the hotel. At 1am, there was a lot of noise from the room of one of my neighbours. I called reception and spoke with Claudio, the person in charge. I explained the situation and asked to change to another room. Claudio sounded sceptical and said he was going to check the room from where I said the noise seemed to be coming. I told him that I was hearing noise not from the corridor but from my room, and predicted that he might not necessarily hear anything from the corridor. He phoned me back and said: ”the weirdest thing is that I heard no noise”. I told him it wasn’t at all “weird” and reminded him of what I had said. He suggested that I move to the room next door - the other side of the room from where the noise was coming. I told him I wanted to move away from, not stay beside, the noisy room. Soon after I moved to the new room, a couple entered a neighbouring room and started to shout and argue. I spoke to Claudio again. He sounded even more impatient now, and again expressed doubt that there was any noise occurring. He told me that I could move to yet another room - but warned me: ”you will still have neighbours no matter where you go.” It was now after 2am, and I was exhausted. Claudio's badge was not visible as he walked in front of me, and so I asked him what his name was. He turned around and said ”Claudio” and then pointed to his badge and said, sarcastically, ”you can see it on my badge.” I asked him not to patronise me, that I was not stupid, and also that I did not have to be reminded that there are always neighbours in a hotel. I reminded him that, as a frequent visitor to Eurostars hotels (I had spent almost 4 of the previous 12 months living in them in and around Porto) that I had never encountered such unprofessional, patronising, rude and arrogant behaviour from a Eurostars employee or one from any other hotel. Eurostars later asked me to give an account of my stay there. I told them about the above experience. I did not receive any response from them. However, when I spoke about the incident to the manager, Marco, he told me he was aware of my complaint. His position about it was strangely ambivalent. After apologising, he qualified the apology with: “I would ask you to look at it from our point of view.” His point that we all have bad nights. True enough, but there are limits to what a customer should be expected to tolerate. Another night, after 1am, when I asked to change room again due to noise next door, another person in charge, Ruben, curtly told me I could on

The room on the 1st floor was Spacious, clean, the air con and black out curtains worked well and the bathroom had 2 sinks, a bidet and a large shower. The staff are all very helpful, polite and friendly. The lovely roof top terrace is a great bonus after a day sightseeing, the drinks are reasonably priced e.g. 3.50 euros for a large beer and 7 for a cocktail (these are well made, not like a certain place we went too in Porto -WOW !!) you could taste the alcohol and the bar staff will bring them up to you, also a very nice addition is free nibbles later in the afternoon. All round great hotel.

While the hotel and the staff were great - getting to the address was difficult. Rua da Allegria is a long steep hill with all traffic coming down - so no chance of an easy bus ride. There IS a Metro within walking distance but there is NO Tourist Office at the city bus station