EVOLUTION Valbom Hotel — Hotel in Lisbon

Nice newly decorated / newly named hotel in a good location (lovely restaurants closeby) BUT quite a few issues. ||All of the reception staff, except for the tall white guy with the beard and the young black guy who greeted us when we arrived, need basic customer service retraining. The others including what seemed like the reception manager were unfriendly, rude, unwelcoming - not what you want to feel when you are staying in a hotel. When we checked out we went to the front to hand in our keys and the tall, old man with the hunched back barked at us ‘just a minute’ and then started muttering under his breath (in Portuguese, which I understand) to his female colleague who just stood there passive. And then sighed when we asked him to leave our luggage in the store. I mean hospitality is a service industry - if these people don’t have the basics maybe they are not right for it. There was no real welcome, no greeting, no real goodbye. |Seriously in a 4 star hotel? Service should be the key. ||The breakfast was really good and the restaurant/ bar area are well designed though some of the seats are quite low, esp if you are tall. Cesar and the German head waiter were very professional and friendly though the head waiter did often seem overwhelmed with a lot to do and not many staff. On our last morning there was a manager in a black suit and another manager in a beige suit just standing and staring while chaos was happening around. Again not what you expect in a 4 star hotel - even if it’s busy staff should be like swans - calm on top even if they are furiously paddling underneath. ||The rooms are comfortable though a little bland and to be frank the toilet / shower situation doesn’t work - it would have been better to have a big wet room with a door opening to the side. It felt basic, makes you not want to spend longer in the shower than you have to, also creates issues with lighting for the toilet at night, no proper hooks for towels, the area outside by the central station gets quite wet, no bin there etc etc, I put a bin there to use with tea making / waste from getting ready and the cleaner moved it to the far corner again. Design and functionality not working together, not properly thought out. Style over substance. ||And very unclear about the tea / coffee in the room situation - one day our supplies were not replenished, the next they were - is this a money-saving exercise like the sheets / towels ‘sustainability’ mode that some hotels seem to suggest now - it’s not about saving the planet, it’s about saving you money on laundry. ||Overall very...

I highly recommend the hotel. I only spent one night there but it was a very good experience and I tried to experience as much I could from the hotel’s offers.

The room. Well sized. The bed is a bit near the sink space but it leaves some space for a table and two seats by the window which I appreciated to get my coffee in the room. The bed is comfortable. The bathroom is open to the room but it was fine because otherwise the room will feel tiny. Weird thing is that the toilet has a glass see through door. It has some designs but you can still everything inside, for the shower it’s fine but for the toilet it should have been different. I loved the fact that the curtains are automatically controlled and there are blackout switches that shut down all the lights and close the curtains. Another thing that I found strange is that among the 6 coffee capsules they put in the room 3 are complimentary and 3 are paid (1.5€ each) for one night it’s fine but for a longer stay it doesn’t seem right.

The gym Small but efficient. It’s absolutely a plus. It has the essentials for when you are on vacation. The machines are new and good quality. I only found one person when I went there and then I was alone which was perfect. They have towels and infused water.

The pool The rooftop has a small/tiny swimming pool but I see it as a positive thing as it shows that they are to offer as much as possible considering the limited space they have (but you never feel enclosed) The rooftop is a nice space to chill, sunbathe, and get a drink, the view is okay.

The breakfast Here I will start by the thing that annoyed the most; the restaurant manager. He made us really uncomfortable since we’ve arrived. He’s rude towards the employees there and treats them badly and the way he tries to be nice towards customers seems overly inauthentic. The food was good, a lot of variety. I enjoyed the wide tea selection they have and the...

En nuestro último viaje a Lisboa nos hemos alojado en este hotel, han sido 3 noches que nos han cautivado y nos ha dado mucha pena abandonarlo.

Se trata de un hotel muy nuevo y eso hace que todo esté impecable, situado en el barrio de Saldanha, un barrio residencial, una localización que hace que tengas una boca de metro, la de San Sebastián a escasos 5 minutos a pie y estés perfectamente comunicado con el centro.

Rodeado de restaurantes en la próxima avenida de la republica y tiendas muy curiosas consigue que puedas salir a pasear por el mismo cuando estés cansado del centro de Lisboa...hay de todo, panaderías, Lidl, restaurantes de todo tipo...y una cosa muy importante, el museo Calouste a 100 metros, un museo con unos jardines de acceso público que te transportaran a un sitio idílico, multitud de árboles perfectamente cuidados y un recorrido hecho de hormigón para que lo recorras sin prisa, con rincones con bancos donde descansar y reflexionar, un lujo si te gusta pasear por la mañana o a última hora de la tarde para estirar las piernas.

En la misma calle del hotel, se puede aparcar...de lunes a viernes de 9 a 19 hay que pagar 1,60€ por hora con un máximo de dos horas, por el contrario, el fin de semana es gratuito...también hay muchos parkings en la misma calle y garaje en el hotel que no usamos.

La recepción es abierta, sin mostrador, moderna a base de unos atriles con un ordenador, allí, a nuestra llegada, nos recibió un señor que los días posteriores nos sirvio el desayuno, una enhorabuena para el, desconozco el nombre, pero aparenta unos 50 años y su sonrisa permanente e intento de agradar hace que te sientas como en casa, y además chapurreaba algo de español.

La calidez del hotel se siente en todos los rincones, un lobby bar con luces tenues y madera, mucha madera, mesas altas y bajas y pequeñas butacas para que el tiempo pase lo más lentamente posible acompañado del disfrute máximo.

Las habitaciones son muy curiosas, es como si dijesemos que tiene baño americano a semejanza de la cocina americana de los pequeños apartamentos.

Cabina cerrada para el plato de ducha e igualmente para el WC...un mostrador incorporado a la habitación permite que el lavabo y un precioso espejo se fundan con la habitación.

El sistema de luces es moderno, muy moderno y conviene no ponerse nervioso al usarlo, hay que entenderlo. Las cortinas son eléctricas y la cama espectacular, grande, comoda y con un edredón muy confortable...tb dispone de cafetera Nespresso con una cápsulas de cortesía y una botellas de agua sin coste.

Muy bien insonorizadas permiten un descanso placentero y reparador.

El desayuno es un espectáculo, no quieres que se acabe!!! Calidad en todos los productos, variedad y continua reposición de los mismos.

Cafetera muy buena y posibilidad de pedir los huevos o tortilla al gusto.

La uniformidad del personal hace que el ambiente relajado se transmita directamente por el personal, todo un acierto.

Un pequeño gimnasio abierto las 24 horas equipado con máquinas de última generación y con vistas a un pequeño jardín complementan el lujoso establecimiento.

Una noche cenamos allí, una burger bastante decente, ensalada Cesar muy curiosa y una tabla de quesos portugueses que nos encantó, el precio similar a un restaurante de la calle, muy accesible.

En uno de esos hoteles donde podría vivir de forma permanente, un remanso de paz a escasos minutos del centro neurálgico y caótico de Lisboa

Una opción muy recomendable para alojarte.

Enhorabuena a todo el equipo por conseguir semejante...