Monte Real Hotel,Termas & Spa — Hotel in Leiria

Another awesome weekend for us, with 3 nights well spent in this great hotel. The building itself is beautiful, both outside and inside. It's inserted in a quiet village with not much going on, surrounded by a good amount of forest and nature, with walking paths connected with larger hiking routes, and a cute small animal farm in the premises that we visited more than once to check on it's happy inhabitants. The inside is very pleasant and well decorated, even if showing the need for some maintenance here there. Together with it's surroundings it's clearly designed to promote a soothing and relaxing atmosphere, which in my opinion it does with great effect. Very good breakfast, diverse with quality fresh products. The restaurant has amazing dishes and deserts, which just by their names you won't realize just how good everything is until you actually taste them. We were hoping to be able to go through the entire menu, as portions are so well served that we shared some of the meals. But bringing everything together is the amazing service by the staff. Currently, this is the only hotel we've been more than once, with such a large staff team, that has so consistently provided such nice service. From the reception, to restaurant and bar, to the spa... People here are all so nice, meeting you with a smile and always offer to help you instantly, without it ever feeling unnatural, unlike other places we've been to, including another hotel from the same group. Every single staff member, no exception. And everyone seems happy working here. The experience of our stay wouldn't be the same without this and I would say this is the main factor for us to want to keep...

The hotel itself is very beautiful, and our room was spotlessly clean — the housekeeping team did an excellent job. However, it can be quite noisy in the evenings and at night if the balcony door is open, which means you have to rely on the air conditioning.

The restaurant staff are very friendly. That said, we found it a bit puzzling that, despite having booked half board, we were never asked to sign a receipt for drinks, nor were we given one at any point. On the second-to-last evening, however, I was suddenly asked to sign a drinks receipt — without being given a copy. I have also never seen any other guests being asked to sign.

Service in the restaurant has also been inconsistent. Sometimes we were given a full bucket of ice cubes with lemon slices for our water, sometimes only small bottles, and sometimes large bottles without any extras. This felt rather inconsistent.

The buffet food tastes good, but tonight there was, unfortunately, a dead fly in the octopus. I only noticed after placing it on my plate and sitting down at the table. I chose not to say anything at the time to avoid drawing attention or spoiling other guests’ appetites. Shortly afterwards, however, the unexpected request to sign the drinks receipt occurred — perhaps I should have mentioned the fly then.

Whether we would return to the hotel or recommend it is uncertain, due to these unusual and somewhat...

The Reception made our Check-in process a breeze and allowed us to occupy our room right away before the stated time. Room 230 is spacious, away from elevators and faces the forest side of the property, with a terrace. It was very clean, but a bit too dark. Linens, towels, mattress, and pillows are good quality. But, to my surprise, one towel was really thin and had six holes in it. The service at this hotel was above and beyond our expectations. For lunch, having the restaurant arranged for an event, a table was set up in minutes at the lobby, facing the pool for us. The food, presentation and service were the best we have had in a long time. The included buffet breakfast offers items for all tastes and/or diets. Dinner was a great experience as well and prices are more than reasonable for the quality and the service. The only critic is that they offer the same menu for both lunch and dinner. With a two night stay, we had the chance to try dishes we did not have for lunch. The Spa offers many types of services and treatments. Unfortunately, our short stay allowed us for just a small sample. The Spa space is beautiful, and the therapists were very good. As hotel guest you can get a discounted price. Parking is free for guests. We recommend this property and would love to go back for a longer...