Herdade dos Delgados — Hotel in Mourão

Pros:

Amazing location right next to Alqueva. Very peaceful, if the sky is clear, great to watch the stars. The room was modern, spacious and clean. Bathroom was spacious and well maintained. Breakfast offered a decent choice. Restaurant food was good, but not really traditional. It was a mix of traditional with new flavors added. Prices are higher than average but the experience is also different vs traditional restaurants. The are bikes on site that you can book for free. Service was friendly. Wi-Fi worked well You get a friendly and personalized welcome card with some sweets and fruits (nice detail!)

Cons:

Although the room has air conditioner, it didn't allow me to choose cold (it was winter) but the room was quite warm. You can't have windows open because due to the proximity with fields and water bugs/insects will come inside the room. It would be great if there was some sort of bug net on one of the main windows to allow guests to have windows open without worries.

There is an inside warm pool but it is unfortunately quite small and in a small room. There was a Jacuzzi but it was not working while I stayed there (not sure if you need to reserve and/or pay extra). You do need to reserve a time slot for the inside pool.

The TV is placed in an odd location and quite far from bed (not the main point, but just noting it).

Summary

I really enjoyed my stay and loved the location. I would be happy to come back. It is definitely a great place to relax...

Mostly I found things to like about this place. Very nice waiters and receptionists. We went outside twice on clear nights to check out the stars. Pretty good. We had made sure moon would not be up but could not see the Milky Way which was still below the horizon. Nice pools inside and out. Good food but TOO SALTY. Ask for no added salt. Receptionist was very helpful but insisted there is a sign saying ANCORADOURA (anchorage or dock) to the lake beach PRAIA FLUVIAL). It’s on Apple Maps. Mourao is worth visiting; castle and several good restaurants. Moura is not worth visiting. Negatives: House-keeping was very poor. Female sanitary pad container itself has prob never been cleaned. Disgusting mess clinging to underside of lid. We did not use it during our stay. Trash container and inside trash door not clean upon our arrival, until I complained. The day prior to our departure day, cleaner picked up my wet towel from the floor and hung it up: no new towel. Windows not cleaned prior to our arrival nor during our stay even though I twice asked reception to have them cleaned. About 50 tiny flies on the ceiling above the main room light when we arrived. Cleaner should spray them. Who wants tiny flies in the apartment? After I removed them with damp paper there were none for remaining days. Cobweb on main light not cleaned even...

We booked the Lua Cheia restaurant in Mourão for a Monday night dinner. The hotel is highly rated hence we had high expectations. We arrived and there was only one waitress and we waited 30 minutes until the waitress approached us. She was alone in a place with around 20 customers. Starters - what we ordered was not available in full.... Main dishes - we ordered and all ok... 20 minutes later they came and told us one of the dishes was not available anymore. My wife will will not have dinner tonight and will have to "feast" on the bread and butter. Funny enough when we got the bill and we paid, only after that we noticed the dish that was out and never came was still charged on the bill. The wine - we ordered white...they brought red... Back to the starters, 50 minutes in and it has not arrived. We ordered still water.... 30 min in and they did not bring it. And we keep counting as I write the review. Well.... at this stage I just feel like leaving. It is really strange a place like this, fancy and famous , survives like this with this level of service. I will def not come back and I really recomend people not to come to this place. It is...