Hotel Astória — Hotel in Coimbra

For about 60 euros plus a night, including breakfast, and given the prices in Europe, the Astoria Hotel in Coimbra seemed like a fun risk to take. The reviews online were mixed, to be sure. Some loved it, as a glorious but faded relic of a bygone era, or a setting right out of an Agatha Christie novel. Others absolutely hated it.

There was a time in the 1920s or thereabouts, highlighted in popular fiction, and in movies such as "A Room with a View", when those with lots of money spent summer in the grand cities of Europe and stayed in hotels that were not dissimilar in style to the great ocean liners of the Art Deco era. These trips to continental Europe were known as the "Grand Tour" and were a mixture of romance, sightseeing, and hedonism with a bit of classical civilisation.

The Astoria Hotel certainly has barely been touched in decades, but we loved it for that very reason. We hope it never changes!

It sits at the river's edge, just meters from the Railway Station where the rich once arrived. The furniture is old, the decor from a bygone era, but it’s fantastic. The lift is glass at its rear with all the mechanics and floors visible as you go up or down, with a little bench inside that cheerfully accommodates two people as it uncomfortably groans from floor to floor, as if it has done that same journey far too many times, which it probably has. At any moment you expect it to stop at a floor and collect Hercule Poirot as a fellow passenger, or find oneself in the midst of a "the butler did it" scenario. We would not have been surprised in the slightest.

At breakfast, in a room reminiscent of an ocean liner, the staff clatter with old wooden trolleys through the silence of morning coffee, orange juice, and croissants, the tables dappled by rays of the morning sun. And that view; a small balcony overlooking the river, bathed in the golden glow of afternoon sunlight. A perfect and happy-making moment.

All in all, we loved staying there. It was scrupulously clean.

Most of our other stays elsewhere were in trendy euroboxes, little modern square rooms, with nowhere to hang your clothes, nowhere to hang your soggy towels, and all designed by some anti-holidaying masochistic person whose clear intention it was to make you spend half your holiday unpacking your suitcase every time you needed something. This was totally different.

Such are the changes in modern life. I hope some hot-shot developer doesn't snatch up this wonderful old building and convert it into a trendily fake boutique hotel.

There are very few relics of the past still left in the modern chain store business of global hotels where you can wake up in the middle of the night and be unsure as to whether you are in Tokyo or Vienna. Long may this simple and aged old wonder sit at the edge of the river in the fabulous city of Coimbra, basking in the sunshine of its golden years.

Please never change this hotel! Its a fabulous adventure into the past for those with a romantic and...

Beautiful and elegant antique hotel. Everything they kept original. It is like you are walking on a 1930 movie. Very elegant and charming. The elevator is very unique and gives you the vintage feeling of the time. Although, I guess… even the carpet is original… this vintage hotel could be so wonderful, but they do need new carpets asap (the old carpet gives the hotel a cheap, dirty, weird vibe). The hotel needs to figure out how to incorporate a new carpet with an antique style. Bedroom was ok beautiful decorated with vintage furniture, bed was very comfortable (although we got 2 twin beds instead of a queen bed. Looks like the queen bed was very small). Common areas,bedroom and bathroom were very clean. The rooms do not have a huge balcony, but quite nice to have the Mondego River view (keep in mind that the view in the pictures is better, in the real life view, the hotel has plenty of bus stops in front of it, and unfortunately they were having construction when we were there - noisy and dusty). Breakfast was poor in quality and options; fruits were not cut; coffee was terrible, not a gluten free friendly place. Hotel is very close to many coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and pharmacies. ( It is convenient). Overall this is a nice vintage hotel budget friendly in a very central location for travelers who are visiting the city for a couple days and don’t want to spend a lot of $ in...

My husband and I really enjoyed our one night stay at Hotel Astoria. We booked a “Superior” room at the south end of the building with three balcony windows and a river view. I loved standing on the balcony and watching the passersby. The room was super clean and had nice bedding. My only complaint is that the room had two single beds rather than a double bed, but I should have realized this in advance because the room was identical to the room pictured on the website.

The hotel put on a lovely spread for breakfast. I wish we had been able to stay longer as it would have been fun to relax and have a drink in the luxurious vintage lounge (which we discovered just before checking out).

Parking across the river was inexpensive (€3 for about 20 hours) and it was just a short walk across the bridge to the hotel. There is a loading zone in front of the hotel where you can park briefly for check in and check out.

For guests who appreciate charm, character, and a bit of history in their accommodations, I would highly recommend...