“Beautiful historic property with disappointing restaurant service”
LikedPestana Palácio do Freixo is a truly unique property. The building itself is beautiful and steeped in history, and staying there felt a little like staying in an old castle. The front desk staff and the butler who greets guests were exceptionally friendly, and everyone we encountered was pleasant and welcoming. I have a particularly sensitive sense of smell, and when I first entered the hotel, I noticed a slight odor of moisture. However, I quickly became accustomed to it, and it did not bother me for the rest of our stay. The gym is small and has mostly light weights, but it was clean and well maintained. Overall, I really enjoyed the property itself. The historic building, atmosphere, and friendly staff make Pestana Palácio do Freixo a memorable place to stay. Unfortunately, the restaurant service did not match the quality and character of the hotel, and that was the biggest disappointment of our stay.
DislikedThe biggest issue for us was the restaurant service. There were plenty of excellent self-service options at breakfast, but the table service was extremely slow. One morning, the hostess noticed that it was my birthday, congratulated me, and made an effort to find us a nice table. She also gave me a menu, which I had not realized was available because it had not been presented to me on our first morning. She and several other servers passed through the room multiple times, but no one asked what we wanted to order. After waiting for some time, I finally waved the hostess over and ordered two omelets and a cappuccino for my wife. The cappuccino never arrived. Our dinner experience was even more disappointing. Three nights earlier, we had gone to the restaurant specifically to make a reservation. The person at the hostess desk took our information. When we arrived for dinner on the night of the reservation, however, we were told that they did not have our reservation and were not sure they had a table available. Fortunately, they ultimately accommodated us. Once seated, things started reasonably well. We were given menus, our drink order was taken fairly quickly, and our wine arrived promptly. We were also asked whether we wanted bread. However, we had to remind two different servers because one of our appetizers arrived before the bread. When the bread finally came—about an hour into the meal—we were offered gluten-free bread, which I requested, but it never arrived. The amuse-bouche took approximately 40 minutes to arrive. It was also presented oddly: everyone else seemed to receive theirs on a tall white plate, while ours was served in a simple black bowl. I ordered a beet salad, octopus, risotto, and soup for the two of us. The server initially told us that it was too much food. We explained that we wanted the beet salad and octopus as appetizers and still wanted all of the dishes. He reiterated that the beet salad and octopus would be brought together.