Douro Castelo Signature Hotel — Hotel in Lamego

The hotel seem pretty new and the location is fairly good in the city of Lamego. The town is a good place if you want to explore the Douro Valley, but don't wan to stay at one of the vineyards which are often a bit remote with little selection if you want to eat outside. Rooms are fairly nice with a balcony and a good view. Only thing annoying about the infrastructure is that the hotel has this 'humid' smell and the light on the balcony can not be turned on or off individually. However, there are big issues with the service in the hotel and the hotel "management", also be aware some of the staff speaks very little English:

1.) When we arrived there was no more availability in their parking garage (which is very small - only a few cars and will be further reduced when the new SPA is built). So the receptionist told us to park on the street as it was free on the weekends. Seems this wasn't quite true as we still got a parking fine on Sunday. Now I have no problem to pay for parking, but I have an issue with giving wrong information that resulted in a fine and more importantly hours wasted figuring out how to settle it. So we asked the hotel to pay for the fine. Unfortunately, the receptionist did not have the authority to make that call but talked to the hotel "manager" om the phone who asked us to send an email - he did not want to speak with us directly or face us, but instead left his employee (who had limited English conversation abilities). So we sent an email and got a reply that they would refund us, however to this day no money has been payed (it's been more than 3 months), despite a few follow-up emails ( I could post these here, but for privacy protection will not do so). Suffice it to say, that we are severely disappointed with the hotel management - if you don't want to pay it's fine, but for God's sake have the guts to stand up and face your customers!

2.) Hotel restaurant was heavily sold to us by the receptionist as the 'best restaurant in town'. So we decided to give it a try and booked a table for 7pm. When we arrived upstairs there was no one around to greet us and the dining room was dark, so we sat by the pool and waited. About 5-10' later we heard noise from the kitchen so we went and check. The employees seems surprised by our presence but agreed to give us our welcome drink (which we hadn't used so far) and asked us to wait. At around 7.30pm we could sit in the dining room - which the whole evening should see only one more guest. We ordered a bottle of wine (which was unavailable, so the waitress recommended us another wine), which she poured from an already opened bottle (okay, house wine is fine) veal croquettes, steak and the vegetarian main (as the chef selection wasn't available either). The veal croquettes were really good and the vegetarian dish was fine as well. Steak however was (below) average, e.g. the outside was almost burnt and the meat not as tender as would be appropriate. And in the end the waitress put a whole wine bottle on the bill (which we noticed only much later) instead of the only two glasses we had. Overall, I the 'best restaurant in town' left us pretty unimpressed.

On the plus side, breakfast was pretty good, albeit a bit slow at time. Due to the above experience we certainly won't be back. And I definitely won't...

Charming hotel in Portuguese wine country. The big advantage to this hotel (over the wine quintas and some other lovely looking hotels on the outskirts) is that this place is right in the middle of town - within easy walking distance of the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios and other historic sights. So, when you've finished going port wine tasting all day (very nearby, but you really need a car for the gorgeous drive along the Douro and up and down the hills to tasting sites and quintas) you have a beautiful, historic town to walk around. The stand at the Castelo Signature was amazing - can't say enough about how helpful they were. VERY affordable, even the room we got with a terrace overlooking the town and the Sanctuary. Rooms lovely, not luxurious but very nice. Bathrobes and slippers. They have an on-site little cafe/bar, with an outdoor area as well by the pool. There's a spa area that looked nice when we were shown it, but we were too busy wine-tasting to use it. The free breakfast is amazing; they made us omelets and there were great pasties, breads, meats, cheeses, fruits, etc.|The BEST thing about this hotel is arguably the restaurant, which I wold not be surprised to earn a Michelin star one day. My husband had the veal kebab and rice; I had a shrimp risotto that was spectacular. Incredibly, with this gourmet meal, including dessert and a bottle of one of the nicer wins, was just 76 Euros.|One last thing - Lamego is an overlooked gem in the region. People stay at quintas, which are nice but limiting, or maybe in Paso de Regua or Pinhao (absolutely nothing to do, nowhere special to eat). Or they day-trip from Porto. Lamego is worth a trip on its own, and you then can be more leisurely about your wine-tasting expeditions.|I firmly believe the Douro valley will be Tuscany in a decade, and Lamego will be at the center of...

The hotel is quite well located within Lamego, very close to the castle and city centre. The hotel open in the summer of 2021, so it was still quite new at the time of my stay (December 2021). The room was nicely equipped and the bed was very comfortable. The breakfast was okay (due to covid there was no buffet). Also it could have a bit more variety,in terms of cheese and meat (only had basic cheese and ham, which in Portugal is a bit of a pity, taking into account the great variety there is). The service was amazing! Very friendly and attentive, it was one of the best service I've experienced so far in hotels. The staff was all very friendly and welcoming. I did not use the spa, so I can't comment on its services. You can park the car in the hotel's garage, but please note depending on how full it is and how big your car is, it can be tricky take the car out.

It is also a good place to have as a starting point to visit the area (which was what I did).

The hotel also has a restaurant. The food was simply delicious! I had a starter, main dish and dessert and enjoyed all of them. It is not a gourmet restaurant but the food has a great presentation. The portions are very reasonable. The service was amazing. The waiter explained all dishes that were ordered and had a deep knowledge about the restaurant's menu and wine available. The restaurant is in the same building as the hotel, but don't let this "fool" you. You can see the kitchen and the meals being prepared from the dining area, which in my opinion is quite nice. The food was great. In terms of of price, it is not a cheap restaurant but the quality, service and the dishes definitely make it worth a visit. If you are in the area, I would recommend to eat here.

Overall I had a great experience staying here, and if I'm again I'm the area I would...