Estalagem Falcão Mendonça — Hotel in Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo

Stayed there on a cycling trip through North Portugal. Arrived late in the rain. It was not my first choice but on that night the only choice in Figueira. The old receptionist lady was a little grumpy, the hotel was empty. I've got to choose between various rooms. It is an old dignitary house transformed in an hotel. Thick walls, vintage furniture. Like I said, it's like sleeping at Grandma's except that mine wasn't a grumpy one.||Sign of the crisis experienced by Portugal and likely the decrease in business, the hotel is a bit on the El Cheapo side. Wifi is not working too well and is unreliable. I had a beer in their courtyard bar, open for just for me and then dinner in a large empty dining room. I follow in that case the wisdom of accepting the recommended dish, which was - inevitably - veal ( an enormous piece) with rice and potato fries + a soup too thick to be good. We are in Dao country. So the wine is good - it was actually an good eco-wine.||After dinner, I slept like a baby - the old bed was quite comfortable after all or else I was very tired from my cycling journey or else it was the comforting idea that Grandma was downstair on watch.||The breakfast was not exceptional, compared to other places in Portugal, but still 100 X better to what you can get in many...

Falcão Mendonça is a charming place to stay. If you are on your way to the Douro, Falcão Mendonça is a place worth considering.||The rooms are beautiful and spacious, with great bathrooms. The beds were very comfortable with great bed pillows. (I mention pillows, because, unfortunately, it was the poorest feature of most rooms we stayed in Portugal except for Falcão Mendonça and Hotel Sana Silver Coast in Caldas da Rainha. I would have given a higher rate to most rooms I stayed in Portugal if the bed pillows were better.) ||Upon arrival and settling in, we went to the courtyard and enjoyed a nice bottle of local cold white wine. ||Based on the service and quality encountered at Falcão Mendonça, I asked Dona Dulce for a Estalagem booklet so I could reserve rooms at two other Estalagens on our way back to Lisbon from the Douro. None of them compared to the quality and service we encountered at Falcão Mendonça!||Many thanks to Dona Dulce and her staff for a great stay and for the good service and...

Estalagem Falcão Mendonça is an excellent choice for those wishing to explore Castelo Rodrigo and region. I strongly recommend that one travels between Figueira and Barca D'Alva, because the scenery with olive trees and the Douro River is superb. It took me some time to book a hotel in region. Other hotels in the area were either too expensive (Hospedaria do Covento), unresponsive (Casa da Cisterna, Hospedaria do Covento) or made ridiculous demands of antecipated deposits of immaterial sums in Portuguese banks (Quinta do Pero Martins and Casa da Cisterna). Dona Dulce, one of the owners of Estalagem Falcão Mendonça, is a very helpful, friendly and accommodative manager. The rooms are cozy, clean and inviting (with the luxury of a private hydro tub). The restaurant in the Estalagem offers good food at excellent prices. This inn is an outstanding value for the buck proposition. Highly...