Monte da Provença - Hotel Rural — Hotel in Elvas

We stayed here for three nights in June 2021. |First, the good stuff. The property is beautiful, rural, and has a very nice pool. The rooms are clean and spacious. The breakfast is very good and the serving staff for breakfast are very polite and helpful.|Now the ‘bad’ - basically we had three issues. |It appears the owners also act as the check-in/out clerk, bartenders, and waiters. The husband is very nice and helpful. The wife is rather cold and was unfortunately the one who we did our initial check-in with. We felt somewhat uncomfortable; it was as if she was doing us a big favor to take the time to check us in. We found this very odd given this is rated as a 4-star. Surely, you can hire dedicated front-desk staff. |Throughout our stay, It was a rather convoluted process to get one of them, just for us to order some drinks to enjoy the beautiful view on the deck. I would either need to push a button on the front desk to call one of them from upstairs, or go into the kitchen area to ask for what we wanted, only to have the kitchen staff phone the owners, who would then come down and deal with us. All that to say, we did not order a second round of drinks.|Second, there is no air conditioning. This was a big surprise and I may not have booked it if I had known. Luckily, we had rather mild temperatures and so with the windows open, there was enough air circulation to keep the bedroom cool enough. But I am not sure the peak summer months would be bearable here without A/C.|Third, the owners have two large dogs; one of which barks throughout the night at anything that moves outside. After two nights of being woken up several times, we complained. The owner was sympathetic, but noted there was not much he could do to keep the dog from barking (really?). The dog did not bark on our third night, so obviously our complaints changed something regarding the dog. So why stay at a quiet, rural 4-star hotel, if the owners have a dog that barks through the night? I could stay in a 2-star in town and be woken up all night by the traffic for a lot less money. It was especially annoying as we needed to have the windows open to compensate for the lack of A/C.|Ultimately, this is a very nice property. You just need to be prepared for a bit of...

Have you ever checked into a hotel and been made to feel that you were an inconvenience? That you were interrupting someone? That you were being looked down at by someone who thought they were superior? I was fortunate in my work and now in my retirement to have traveled the world for 30 years averaging about 250 nights of travel per year. Never, ever, have I been “greeted” with such rudeness and arrogance. We were demeaned by the owner “hostess” and considered leaving but resolved to stay and put this rudeness behind us. The next morning I was outside taking some photos and the owners’ Dobermans starting barking furiously. No problem. The dogs were upstairs in the owner’s residence out on a balcony looking down at me. Then to my surprise the owner came outside and, with her, yet another dog that was barking madly and racing toward me. Fortunately, I’m very familiar with dogs and have a dog at home. So, I looked at the dog as it got perilously close to me and I let out a deep roar which stopped the dog dead in its tracks. Then the owner had the temerity to begin to lecture me. In a startled state I reflexively told her exactly what was on my mind — that she was rude, nasty, and unfit to be in the hospitality industry. It was surreal. A few moments we overheard her complaining about her two “uncivilized guests.”

Again, we resolved this put this episode behind us. We had a wonderful morning of sightseeing and lunch in Elvas. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Golden Hour. Highly recommend.

We enjoyed the afternoon at the pool on the property. All ten of the units and the owner’s residence are structurally connected. The common areas of the hotel, the pool, and immediate surrounding area are gorgeous.

I highly recommend dinner at the hotel. The male owner is a kind gentleman. An outstanding host. And, the cook is a goddess. We are quite spoiled when it comes to food and the two dinners we had here were superb. Just be sure to steer clear of the lady owner.

During our stay we conducted a search of reviews for this property on multiple websites. Unfortunately, we were not surprised to see a lot of bad reviews due to the rudeness and arrogance of the lady owner. Had we read the reviews first, we likely would have stayed...

Have you ever checked into a hotel and been made to feel that you were an inconvenience? That you were interrupting someone? That you were being looked down at by someone who thought they were superior? I was fortunate in my work and now in my retirement to have traveled the world for 30 years averaging about 250 nights of travel per year. Never, ever, have I been “greeted” with such rudeness and arrogance. We were demeaned by the owner “hostess” and considered leaving but resolved to stay and put this rudeness behind us.|The next morning I was outside taking some photos and the owners Dobermans starting barking furiously. No problem. The dogs were upstairs in the owner’s residence out on a balcony looking down at me. Then to my surprise the owner came outside and, with her, yet another dog that was barking madly and racing toward me. Fortunately, I’m very familiar with dogs and have a dog at home. So, I looked at the dog as it got perilously close to me and I let out a deep roar which stopped the dog dead in its tracks. Then the owner had the temerity to begin to lecture me. In a startled state I reflexively told her exactly what was on my mind — that she was rude, nasty, and unfit to be in the hospitality industry. It was surreal. A few moments we overheard her complaining about her two “uncivilized guests.” ||Again, we resolved this put this episode behind us. We had a wonderful morning of sightseeing and lunch in Elvas. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Golden Hour. Highly recommend. ||We enjoyed the afternoon at the pool on the property. All ten of the units and the owner’s residence are structurally connected. The common areas of the hotel, the pool, and immediate surrounding area are gorgeous. ||I highly recommend dinner at the hotel. The male owner is a kind gentleman. An outstanding host. And, the cook is a goddess. We are quite spoiled when it comes to food and the two dinners we had here...