Hotel berhampiran Church of Saint Bartolomew, Coimbra

We stayed in very nice hotels on our Portugal trip. The ”stories” are mostly about how easy they were to reach and how convenient they were for parking. ”Reaching” this one involved a 15-minute re-route, but once we took the right turn, parking was a breeze! The hotel sits opposite the retaining wall of the university above it. Guests can park all along the wall on the alley approaching the hotel and then place a parking permit on their dash. Finding the hotel in the first place was trickier! GPS had us approaching it. We were SO close! But we missed the last narrow, alley-like turn. Suddenly we had a 15-minute re-route until we could approach the hotel again. Play very close attention to your GPS!! Nice location. Nice room. Nice breakfast. Helpful staff.

Paulo was the best! He is why I give this place 4 stars! He was the friendly front desk person that you want to have greet you after a long journey. Although there was a long line of people waiting to check in, he did not make anyone feel rushed and gave you the information you needed to orient yourself.

On a busy street that feeds one of the main bridges over the Modego River, the hotel is at first intimidating to locate & park at, and unloading luggage. Once inside, the rooms are standard EU class but it is the staff that made the difference for us. Isabel in particular was extremely friendly and helpful with advice- free parking at several spots, free shuttle van, possibly the nicest laundromat in the world (!), and restaurant options. She and the staff were tremendous, so I would recommend a stay there on tour of Portugal. Cheers.

We stayed here for 3 nights in April. I booked this hotel because it was reasonably priced and had a pool, which we were glad of because the weather was very warm. Our room was on the second floor and had a fridge and a safe, no kettle. Bed was comfortable, everything was clean and modern. The bathroom had a bath and shower. Our room overlooked the street but because it’s one street back from the main road it wasn’t noisy. The window was able to be opened (which I like because I like fresh air) and the air conditioning worked. The pool area is very nice, it was quiet while we were there, although I expect it gets busy as the season progresses. We did go in the outdoor pool although only briefly as it was a bit chilly, but we used the indoor pool and sauna a couple of times, plus the gym. The hotel is outside of the old town, it’s about a 15 minute stroll away. We arrived into Coimbra by train, the train station is about 20 minutes away on foot. There are some decent bars and restaurants not too far from the hotel and a big supermarket. This hotel is a good choice if you don’t want to stay right in the centre of the old town and want a nice pool to relax by. The large Forum shopping centre is just across the river, 20 minute walk. The guy who checked us in was very helpful and spent time explaining what to see and do. We would stay here again if we returned to Coimbra.

Fantástica localização , da para ir a pé a universidade para visitar a Biblioteca Joanina e a capela de São Miguel a curta caminhada , por estar mais próximo não há muito morro a subir . Tem estacionamento , não necessita reserva , é gratuito , há elevador a partir da garagem . Quarto confortável , silencioso ,café da manhã de acordo , com boas opções . Os funcionários são destaque , atenciosos e atentos a dificuldade . Tivemos um problema na chegada que a princípio nao havia sido localizado a reserva , mas depois foi localizado . Porém nesse período de checagem agradecemos as funcionárias que nos atenderam no horário da chegada , em especial a Magda que foi proativa em resolver a dificuldade e ter o quarto a nossa disposição juntamente com a garagem .

Tive uma experiência maravilhosa na Pousada da Juventude de Coimbra! Desde o momento da chegada até a partida, tudo foi impecável. O atendimento foi extremamente cordial e profissional, fazendo-me sentir bem-vinda durante toda a estadia. Os quartos em que fiquei são espaçosos, limpos e muito confortáveis. As instalações são boas e o pequeno almoço é excelente, com fruta e uma ampla seleção de itens frescos e saborosos. A localização da Pousada é excelente, com fácil acesso às principais atrações da cidade. Além disso, a equipa de colaboradores esteve disponível para fornecer recomendações e ajudar no que foi preciso. Recomendo a Pousada da Juventude de Coimbra sem nenhuma hesitação e certamente voltarei em futuras viagens. Uma experiência a repetir!

Nice, big hotel with great views over Coimbra. This hotel is situated on a hill a little out of town. Our room was medium size with a K Size bed and a good sized bathroom. We stayed at this hotel as part of our tour with a group. Bathroom had a shower over the bath. No tea/coffee making facilities. Safe in the room. At night we could hear a lot of noise coming from music down below the hotel and other noisy guests in the passage ways. We had dinner at the hotel but found there were not enough staff to cater for the group ordering drinks. We were also unable to go to the bar to get a drink as it was not staffed.

I visited Portugal on a group tour that included stays at three pousadas. A big takeaway from my experience is that pousadas are remarkably variable. Pousada Mosteiro de Guimaraes was fantastic, and Pousada Castelo Palmela was okay but with some flaws. However, this one, Conimbriga Hotel Do Paço, was abysmal. I recommend you choose your pousada carefully; some are great, but some, such as this one, are bad beyond belief. The hotel itself is nothing special, and a massive disappointment after the delight of the first pousada I visited, Pousada Mosteiro de Guimaraes. This pousada claims to be originally a ‘manor house’, but it just looks like a tatty old house that’s had tacky modern hotel features crudely appended. Tattiness and dirtiness were everywhere. My room was the type that motivates me to avoid touching anything I don’t need to; surfaces were not clean. However, the bed linen was okay, as was the bed. Lots of insects were attracted by the needlessly bright modern garden lights, and doors and windows were left open so they could get inside. Even my hotel key was disgusting: the tag attached to it had an old sticky label which was partly worn away, and its glue residue was holding the accumulated dirt and pocket fluff of innumerable previous guests. Presumably, no one at the hotel could be bothered to clean it. It rather sums up the hotel. Dinner was awful. The dining room’s maître d' was badly dressed in a shabby polo shirt and casual trousers; he looked like it was his job to clean toilets, not greet diners. I was brought soup, and had to request a spoon with which to eat it. Service for me was slow, but I got luckier than my fellow diners – some were waiting two hours for food. I was fortunate enough to have other dining arrangements for my second night in this hotel; some of my fellow diners who did not returned to the hotel with food from grocery stores rather than endure the same dining experience for a second time. Breakfast was also awful. The floor of the breakfast room was wet and slippery, I had to request that it be dried. I also had to request that lights were turned on in the breakfast room, which was dark. Scrambled eggs were strangely lumpy. The toaster was of an impenetrable design. Coffee dispensers ran out of coffee half an hour after breakfast started.

There is such to commend this hotel: the setting in the old part of Lousã, the building which was a former palace, the gardens and pools, the views overlooking the forested hills, the breakfast and the period rooms. But what makes this place more than excellent is the quality of the people who work there, we never encountered anyone front office or back office who wasn't welcoming, pleasant and helpful. There are some things to be aware of: the hotel is a former palace which makes the public spaces more than you might expect but some of the rooms, though well equipped can be small. But I would definitely return. TJ

Un regalo para los sentidos. Nos pareció fabuloso el concepto de hotel y no estoy muy de acuerdo en renovar mucho las instalaciones, sólo lo indispensable, puesto que perdería encanto y subiría de precio. La relación calidad/precio actual la consideramos muy buena. Estupenda elección para el regocijo de la vista, para el descanso y para el paseo por el bosque, lo cual junto al clima y la moderada atracción turística en esta época del año (puente de Diciembre), lo convierten en un lugar muy especial. Las estancias compartidas son un disfrute para los sentidos, como dijimos anteriormente, y las habitaciones, a pesar de los desperfectos que pudieran presentar, no te dejan indiferente tampoco. Y el aparcamiento fácil y gratuito junto al hotel es un aliciente más. La atención del personal ante cualquier duda o cuestión, junto a sus explicaciones acerca del hotel y su historia, hace que te sientas bien acogido y bien tratado. Volver es imprescindible.