Hotel berhampiran Poço da Broca de Frádigas, Loriga

Aqua Village Health Resort & SPA absolutely poor exprience from a never-to-be-guest. Yesterday 14th May 2022, after driving for no less than 2 hours, my wife and I arrived at what looked to be a fine establishment. We entered the parking and having seen no signage indicating where to park, decided to stop next to the reception where we were greeted by a friendly concierge and were told how to complete check in. We had made our reservation roughly 3 weeks prior for my wife’s birthday and had very high expectations from what is advertised to be a 5* resort. On the way from the car to the reception, I had pointed out the 32C heat to the concierge - being from South Africa as well as being well traveled, I had experienced far higher temperatures elsewhere, but it was pretty hot. We were asked to provide our identity documents and while those were being processed we were taken through a map of the resort and had the facilities explained by another front desk attendant. This is where things took a turn for the worst, having been told that this SPA had no SPA for the weekend! It was almost like the way in which you would greet a stranger in passing. This was obviously less than ideal given our expectation and sheer excitement up to that point. No SPA we asked? The response being that these facilities were undergoing maintenance, that there was some issue and as a result the SPA would remain closed for the duration of the weekend. We were also told that we could use the pool, however this does not benefit from the thermal water which the area is well known for. At no loss for words, we asked how this matter would be resolved as right then, although we were less interested in staying the weekend, we were exhausted and in dire need of freshening up. I should mention as well that at no point up to this moment, were we offered even a glass of water. I am fortunate enough to have stayed at several 5* establishments prior to this and so had some expectation of the level of service, which was clearly amis. We were asked to wait while the front desk attendant contacts the manager. I’m not quite sure how long this took but it felt like an eternity. I would guess about 15-20 minutes later we were told that the resort will do nothing to rectify the situation. I should say that we had also pointed out the fact that since 2PM on the day [it was around 5PM at the time], the staff were well aware that the SPA was going to remain closed for another 2 days, and still for some reason did not think to contact us letting us know. There was no notice of maintenance on their website and in none of the correspondence received from the resort to date, was it mentioned that maintenance would be carried out to the SPA during our intended stay. Upon asking if we could speak to the manager, again we were asked to wait as this person was not on site at the time. In the meantime as if by magic ice cold water appeared and we had finally been offered something refreshing. As we

We stayed here because we heard that the spa was interesting. And it is -it's presented in a fun way with caves and pools and very good saunas, steam rooms and showers, though it has more of a fun holiday atmosphere than a truly restorative 'serious' Spa. We stayed at the hotel and the room was comfortable. Most if the staff were friendly, and the quality of the food was great, the buffet breakfast deserves a special mention because there is EVERYTHING on offer - really excellent. Tarnishing the experience a bit was the fact that we met one waiter who essentially flounced off because we said we couldn't speak Portuguese, and could be heard mockingly (and quite loudly) echoing us by saying 'we don't speak Portuguese' to his colleague. The colleague then dutifully came over and served us very politely and pleasantly in English, but we were left feeling a bit unwanted and out of place to be honest -its simply nit feasible to speak every language! So, a bit of a mixed bag but definitely worth a try if you're in the area.

Hotel muito central e bem localizado para servir de base para trabalhar na Serra da Estrela. Quartos confortáveis e com vista piscina. Relação preço - qualidade muito aceitável. Bom pequeno-almoço e pessoal atento. Wi-fi lento. Piscina e jardim envolvente de hotel de 4 estrelas.

O hotel fica localizado num espaço sossegado perfeito para quem quer ter um momento relaxante e tranquilo. É pequeno mas foi isso que o tornou ainda mais acolhedor. O quarto era espaçoso e estava equipado com tudo o que era preciso, A/C, wi-fi, tv. O staff é atencioso e simpático. O restaurante do hotel também serviu óptima comida. De entrada comemos um folhado de queijo com rúcula, compota doce e frutos secos, de prato principal escolhemos 1 risotto de alheira e boletos e secretos de porco com legumes salteados e batatas fritas, de sobremesa foi apenas um leite creme pois já não conseguíamos comer mais. Ficamos muito satisfeitos de termos escolhido o restaurante do hotel para jantar. O pequeno-almoço foi servido no mesmo local do jantar. Tinha várias compotas caseiras para colocar no pão, croissants e afins. Tinha também frutas, queijos, fiambre, entre outros para usufruir. Tinha também disponível ovos mexidos com bacon feitos na hora. A zona de spa tinha cacifos para guardar os pertences. É necessário passar na recepção para marcar hora e levantar o robe. E para utilizar a piscina é obrigatório o uso de touca. O espaço para além de ter piscina aquecida tem também sauna e banho turno. Tem 2 chuveiros, um em cabine que até música dá para colocar. Voltaremos de certeza!

The hotel is old and overdue for renovation. The pool, part of which is advertised as outdoor, is actually covered by a blurry plastic hood. For all this I would have given it three stars, but the story I describe below completely disappointed me. I drive an electric car and before arriving I phoned the hotel and made sure that there was a charger. When I arrived and asked at reception to charge, I was told that there was no charger, or rather that there was, but it was for the hotel's internal use only. I pointed out that I had called and clarified in advance and that I was expecting charging at the hotel and I only had 10% left now. The lady went off to call the manager. I was refused to charge and the only option they offered me was to go to another hotel where they said there were public charging facilities. I went there, but they also refused to provide a charger, telling me that their charger was also for internal use only. I went back to the hotel, ending up wasting almost all my remaining charge. Informed the lady at reception that I had a fully discharged car and needed a charger urgently. I asked to speak to the manager directly but I was refused. She called the manager again and informed me that I was allowed to use the charger, but for no longer than one hour during dinner. That was enough to drive to Covilha, and fast charge there. I ended up spending the whole evening on this problem and came back late at night. I was completely disappointed with the totally awful attitude. Firstly it is impossible to imagine a large and expensive hotel that doesn't have a charger. Secondly I was given false information on the phone. But most importantly, the hotel staff, particularly the mysterious manager on the phone felt absolutely no guilt for the situation and was completely indifferent to the situation in which he put the guest. And stubbornly refused to simply allow his equipment to be used to save the situation. I would like to know the name of the manager who was so indifferent to guests, forcing them into a helpless situation and spending hours of their time to resolve it, but unfortunately he avoided direct contact and was hiding behind the receptionist. The situation took place on 27.12.2022.

Had to stop in the mountains during our Portuguese road trip and couldn’t find a more ideal and apropos location. Serra da Estrela is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal and this delightful cabin sits atop of the mountain overlooking the quaint city of Covilha. The views are sweeping and stunning, right from the armchair in your living room. This place sleeps 8 or more, but we enjoyed it as a romantic retreat for just the two of us. It’s kitted out beautifully with a pellet burning stove as the heat source, much sought after laundry facilities and all the comforts one could ask for, with stylish panache. The location is fantastic, with great restaurants and bars within steps of your front door. We hadn’t heard of Portuguese ski country until we planned this epic trip and would encourage anyone to add it to their list of stopovers whist in this fine country. It was especially fun to visit in January to see how Portugal’s local population enjoys winter within their own borders. It was a great location to visit the historical Piódão as a daytrip and the driving the area offers countless gob-smacking vistas, as well. It’s a wonderful chance to see another side of this fine country and sample the local sheep’s cheese, rustic food specialties and cozy attire that’s exclusive to this unique area. The beds were cozy and comfortable, and the views from every aspect of the cabin, unparalleled. Both bathrooms and the kitchen were immaculate, offered all amenities, and were tastefully presented. In fact, there were many aspects we didn’t have an opportunity to enjoy, like the stone BBQ in the backyard, or the sprawling lounge areas – but we could imagine many large groups enjoying all it had to offer. The only area for improvement would be the arms-length connection with the host. For example, we were directed to pick up our key at reception at the unaffiliated hotel across the street. They claimed no knowledge leaving us with only the sporadic Airbnb chat mechanism to connect with the owner. As my husband and I experienced severe heart palpitations, we re-grouped to weigh our options, having no place to stay in the area, despite having paid upfront. Only then did the woman call us back giggling that she had the key after all, having misplaced it. Glad it worked out but - yikes! We tried to make reservations at the local restaurants in advance, but that proved impossible, so we asked the host to book on our behalf. He informed us that no reservations were required. That simply wasn’t true, leaving us scrambling for our meals in this tiny location. We had Portuguese only instructions for the pellet stove, but muddled through and managed to get our one heating source operating in -5 degrees, never-the-less. All of this worked out in the end, but made it a bit harder to relax, which was the point of our stay. All in all, we really were delighted our stay, despite some noteworthy hiccups. We suspect it’s the bastion of mainly domestic tou

O Hotel Vila Galé corresponde às expectativas dos hotéis do grupo, este especificamente supera, pela localização, pela paisagem para o vale glaciar do Zêzere e para a vila de Manteigas, pelo espaço da piscina e pela amabilidade do staff. Os quartos extremamente limpos e confortáveis. O espaço de SPA com as dimensões e equipamentos adequados. Voltarei certamente!

This was not the first time we stayed at this hotel. It’s a hidden gem in the middle of the mountain. The roads to get there are in shambles and you don’t have absolutely anything nearby like a pharmacy or a small market. But maybe that’s part of the charm. The service is amazing, very welcoming and the food outstanding. They have a great indoor pool. The loan you bikes and can do a packed lunch for your trekking. They even give you guides. Toiletries are one of the best I’ve seen.