Grand House - Relais & Chateaux

Charming boutique hotel. Soraya and her team were kind and welcoming. The beds were very comfortable and a welcome relief after a stay in another nearby hotel. The beach club was delightful and located on a small peaceful beach. Food was excellent. The reason for 4 stars rather than 5 relates to the size of the room versus the high cost - not sure it was value for money. Having said that we would return in a heartbeat.

What an incredible evening, Tiago back in the restaurant as head chef… WOW the culinary delights were amazing. If this man does not get his Michelin star then there is something very wrong with their system. Food was simply amazing, already booked to go back for our wedding anniversary. If you like fantastic food then this is a “must visit” place.

This hotel is architecturally really lovely. It’s five stars is propped up by an excellent chef and some wonderful waiting staff. And now the however. The front of house staff are ill trained and from the check in onwards the standard of service was variable. The dining service was impeccable as was the beach club. But frankly the hotel is not five stars for service nor for room amenities. Not even the basic things one would expect were present. no shower cap, no kettle (albeit they provided one when asked) no robe no slippers no mini bar (an empty fridge). They cannot make a decent cup of coffee and as none of the staff were local they had no idea of anything of the local area. We had a question as something was taken from our room (purely accidentally there is no doubt) and we asked the manager and staff but received no reply and no follow up. Party lovely, partly very disappointing.

I stayed in this Hotel last february and I´ve had one of the saddest and also worse experiences in an Hotel ever. It all started when I spilled my drink on my bed, this was late in the night, around 1am, so I called the reception excepting to ask for someone to come upstairs and change the bed, but after my several calls had not been answered I had to come downstairs to speak with the receptionist. When I arrive at the reception, there was no receptionist at all, but a man in his normal clothes, on his cellphone. When I tried to ask for help with the sheets, he responded that he was not a receptionist, he was just "guarding" the Hotel, with the little english that he could speak. When I asked where was the receptionist, he answered that he was the only employee at the Hotel, which is UNACCEPTABLE FOR A 5 STAR HOTEL. No receptionist, no Room-service, nothing, when for a 5star you have to have both 24 hours. Only a guy in his normal clothes that was basically useless to deal with my problem. So, without my problem being solved, I came back to the room and decided to try and make the bed by myself, but, as soon as I take out the old sheets, I saw the condition of the mattress, and believe me, I never saw anything so disgusting, it had mold and was dark, when it was supposed to be white. I ended up sleeping on the floor and left this 2 star Hotel first thing in the morning, with 2 nights left to end my stay. At the reception I tried to get my money back for the 2 nights I wasnt going to be there, with no success. Also asked why there was no receptionist or room-service during the night, which the receptionist answered (she was very kind), with the lack of staff and that in fact, the current employees did not receive their salaries for 2 entire months. This is unnaceptable for the price you pay for a night here. This is unnaceptable for a relais & chateaux. AVOID AVOID AVOID

From the moment you enter the building, it truly is a Grand House. The staff are warm and friendly and very informative. The interior of the house has been very tastefully thought out, with a lot of attention to detail, and lovely little touches. Although the communal rooms are small, they are perfectly formed, and you could just relax with lovely vistas and never need to leave. There are plenty of books to read, a chess board, and the setting is so peaceful. Our room had everything you should need, and has the most beautiful linen and towels. It was light, cool and airy, and a wonderful nights sleep was had in the very comfortable bed. At breakfast, you are seated in the dining room which overlooks the marina, and is extremely picturesque. Breakfast is buffet style, and then you have a small choice of a cooked breakfast and other items off the menu. The coffee is the nicest and hottest I have tasted in a long time. As part of The Grand House experience, you can also use the facilities of The Beach Club. A car will take you direct from the hotel, and the beach club is less than 5 minutes away..... and wow.....absolutely gorgeous when you get there. A lovely infinity pool along with very comfortable sun loungers, towels and cushions. The staff are very friendly, and helpful, especially Guiri. He was the perfect host, and even though they were busy, made you feel so special. I would have no hesitation in recommending The Grand House and Beach Club to anyone. A very special place.

We loved our 5 days at the Grand House. The building itself is beautiful, historic and excellently cared for. The food, at both the hotel (breakfast & dinner) and the Beach Club (lunch) is exquisite, Michelin-star worthy imo. But above all it is the staff who make this place extra special. Professional and caring, nothing is too much trouble. Their attention to detail is faultless. Rosa and Dulce on reception will help with any queries you have, bookings you’d like to make, etc, patiently and with a smile. Guri and Flavio and their team on the restaurants/bars strike the perfect note of professionalism and personalised, friendly service to ensure every meal and drink you have is to the highest standard. This is a high quality establishment for the discerning traveller who values quality and service in peaceful, relaxing surroundings. We cannot recommend it highly enough. We will definitely return.

Our second visit to The Grand House and as the old saying goes “never go back”. We visited this hotel last year and could not fault it - however everything that made it special they no longer offer. Checked in and despite an email the previous week requesting ID which I provided we were asked to provide again - no big deal but annoying. Reception team do not seem to have a clue about anything- I had asked for reservations at the beach club and a dinner reservation in the hotel - neither of which had been done prior to arrival - had to go through it all again - still managed to get dinner reservation wrong. I had emailed to make the reservation, stating we were returning guests, no welcome back in fact barely a welcome. Everything that made this hotel special they no longer do, transfer to beach club is now a taxi not their own vehicle, turn down service comes at about 6.30pm generally when everyone is in their room preparing for dinner, so twice daily towels no longer happen unless you are already done and out of room. No one in the bar at 6.15pm so you cannot get a drink until later. Room amenity kits no longer in room, presumably you have to ask if you need something- you will be lucky if reception team understand what you need. Decanter of port in room to end your evening no longer happens which was such a lovely touch. Cheap fridge magnet gifts seem to appear in the rooms at some point in the day - not sure they are befitting of 5 star hotel. No mattress protector on beds or pillow protectors. Breakfast now mainly buffet - no longer the delight of pretty much everything being bought to your table, ginger shots no longer provided - I could have been in pretty much every 3 star hotel going - nothing to set it apart or live up to Relais and Chateau standard. On leaving today no orange juice available at breakfast, they had no oranges - really send someone to the supermarket- no other juices offered or water. Paid the bill and did not even get a goodbye. Sadly we will not return as no longer lives up to its own hype.

Slightly disappointed with our room insufficient space no wardrobes very few drawers staff very polite and helpful but considering the few people staying breakfast was disorganised especially the cold table,the cooked food at breakfast was very good.

We had a really awful experience at the Grand House. It was our friend’s 30th birthday and his partner had organised for us (group of 4) to do the 5 course tasting menu. There are so many wonderful places to eat in Portugal with amazing service and respect for dietary requirements but this certainly isn’t one of them. Their disregard was so dangerous. The birthday boy has dietary requirements and can’t eat pork or shellfish, so his partner had contacted the restaurants 8 weeks in advance to confirm these dietary requirements and the swaps for the vegetarian menu options for some courses. Something they had done before as they had stayed in the relaix in other countries. We also reminded the team at the grand house immediately when we arrived at the hotel of his dietary requirements and we could see a written note had been made on the booking and so felt assured they listened, but we shouldn’t have been because the dinner and service were an absolute disaster. We arrived at the restaurant/bar and we were taken to a side room to have our drinks. We asked for a menu and were told that’s not how the bar works, that it’s all ‘concept drinking and dining’ and so we should tell them what kind of alcohol we like and they’ll make us an original drink. We asked for two amaretto sours and two old fashions, 65 minutes later, our drinks arrived. We chased our drinks order multiple times during that hour of waiting, and we were told they would be 2 more minutes every time. We weren’t even brought water until 40minutes in. When the drinks arrived, they told me and my friend that don’t have any liquor like amaretto and so they made our sours using red wine and kiwi, which would taste similar, needless to say the drinks were horrible but after waiting so long we just wanted to start our dinner and it was meant to be a celebration so we didn’t make a fuss. We were taken into the main restaurant and just left for 15minutes before being served water. The restaurant had 3 other booked tables of between 2-4 people. It really wasn’t busy enough to justify the poor service. Then the first ‘snack’ arrived for the 4 of us, a plate of Parma ham. At this point our friend’s partner began to manic as it became clear that the dietary restrictions and her repeated email reminders and supposed confirmations had meant nothing. I speak fluent Portuguese, so asked in Portuguese for them to double check the rest of the menu they were serving had no pork or shellfish and had been substituted with the Vegetarian options as requested. I was told it was a one off mistake and the rest of the menu would be fine. Then the first plate arrived with some normal fish and we thought things would improve but how wrong we were. The next plate arrives with a giant prawn on the birthday boys plate. At this point again in Portuguese, as I didn’t want to make a scene as it was his 30th birthday and we wanted it to be a fun night, I reminded them of his dietary requirements as the wa