Vila Gale Collection Palacio dos Arcos

"Returned to the hotel after staying for a short trip two years ago. This time decide to use this hotel as our whole holiday base for 8 nights while we explored Lisbon, Cascais, Belem and more. The hotel yet again did not disappoint. We loved it all from the staff, room, pool, food and location. We like the location because it is off the main tourist busy areas but easy reach on train or taxi to Cascais, Lisbon, Belem with the train station right behind the hotel. Local area has an amazing gardens/park called Parque dos Poetas, and a enough local restaurants to choose or short taxi/train to more. We stayed in the modern building suite room again. It's perfect for a family of four and has a great balcony with views of the garden and pool. Food was nice with good breakfast selection and pool bar food good. Staff are all friendly and helpful. Pool is great and never overly busy even in August with plenty of sun beds. Only feedback would be to make more of a feature of the bar by having a permanent bar staff manning the bar. This would bring in more people to use it. The space and bar rooms/balcony seating next to the reception is lovely but was always empty and drinks take a long time. Although when they do come where good again. Overall great stay and we will be returning! Thanks"

"My family and I had the most wonderful week here. The location is great if you don’t want somewhere too busy or rowdy. There are beautiful sea views, beaches nearby and a train station a few feet away. The rooms are large and clean. The staff are almost all friendly and helpful, especially the reception and spa staff. Our children loved both pools and the play area. I had a lovely massage in the spa. The breakfast is plentiful and the egg dishes cooked to order are perfect. The building is stunning, including the church and the gardens. It’s like living in a museum! We would have liked an English information book in the room and for the towels to have been changed more often. The one evening meal we had took long to arrive and all the food was disappointing, despite the high prices. The negatives, however, are tiny compared to the positives and I am frankly shocked at the negative reviews. It is a beautiful hotel and we would love to return. One tip is to remember to take swimming caps for the indoor pool."

"The hotel is rated 5 star but we, and our travel companions disagree. There are only two charging outlets, one by one side of the bed and one in the bathroom. The hotel directory is only in Portuguese and if you want to find out about the restaurants or spa you have to go to their corporate website and select this hotel! I imagine they would make more money if they accommodated other languages. Its location is about a 30 minute taxi ride from the city. And you are charged for coffee capsules for the coffee machine ( which you have to request!)"