BO - Álvares Cabral GuestHouse — Hotel in Porto

I booked this place after seeing the photos and all the positive reviews on Google. Besides from the nice reception area, the property does not look like the photos, it is poorly managed and maintained.

I'll first acknowledge that our check in went well and the staff member was really nice, but this is where the positivity ended.

The room we were given on the first night of our 3 night stay was horrendous - the bathroom was absolutely covered in mould, the exhaust fan didn't work and there was this horrible odour in the room which made me feel physically ill and the windows couldn't be opened.

It was such an unpleasant first night that I complained and we were eventually switched rooms the next day, with the receptionist acknowledging that our original room needed some serious maintenance.

It took some time for them to actually move us, which bothered me because we just wanted to move our stuff and get on with our day, but it didn't seem like a high priority for them. The receptionist told us we could leave our bags in the hallway next to the new room and they'd take them in once they'd finished getting it ready for us. I was not super comfortable with just leaving our belongings out, but I did it anyway because I was tired of waiting around. When we came back to get into our new room, our bags were still sitting in the hallway! I understand that miscommunications happen but this was so unprofessional.

Our new room was definitely an improvement, but the TV and exhaust fan didn't work on the first day. They starting working the second day (am guessing an electrical issue).

They do provide free breakfast and a laundry room, however the laundry room is also poorly maintained - it was dusty and also mouldy so didn't feel very hygienic to wash clothes in. The breakfast was fine, mostly a cold spread with capsule coffee.

Our day of check out was the day we were supposed to be leaving Portugal, but our flight was cancelled. I went to reception twice to try and see if we could have a late check out so I could sort out what I was going to do but nobody was there. I ended up just emailing to ask and was told that the receptionist 'starts at 9:30am'. When I think about it, I rarely saw any staff around and the reception desk was almost always vacant the whole time I was there. They did give me a late check out which was nice, but they clearly try to cut corners with staffing which is evident in how the property is maintained and managed.

I ended up getting stranded in Portugal for an extra three days due to issues with flights, but opted to move to a different hotel near Trindade station, which was a little bit more expensive. I assumed with all the stress of replanning three days of my holiday that I would be feeling pretty low, but I actually felt my mood and energy increase as soon as I got into my new hotel and had an awesome 3 days there.

Safe to say, I would not stay at BO - Alvares Cabral Guesthouse again, or recommend...

The location of this guesthouse is excellent in central Porto. It is close to most of the usual tourist places and many restaurants. The breakfast was very delicious with ample food. Our room was spacious with a huge tiled bathroom. The room and bathroom were very clean. We also had a veranda on the other side of the bathroom. We had a quiet room with no noise issues, but other people above the very busy street might not be so lucky. If possible ask for a room away from the street. The bed was comfortable, and the WIFI worked great. We didn't need the AC during our stay. Note there is another guesthouse called "Alvares Cabral" but lacking the BO in the name. it is only about 200 meters from the BO guesthouse, so I'm guessing this could be confusing to some people. The owners were very accommodating as we left our luggage as we arrived early; in addition, they allowed us to leave luggage after checkout until we needed to get to the train station. They also provided some helpful ideas about places to eat and visit. We greatly enjoyed our stay in BO Alvares Cabral guesthouse. Muito...

A lovely little boutique hotel in a very good location for exploring the city and beyond. We had a garden room which was decent, clean and quiet. One minor issue was the pillows were a bit lumpy and bed quite hard but would rather have that than too soft, you can't please everyone I guess. Breakfast was excellent and the wonderful waitress / chef and her colleague were super helpful. I can honestly say it was one of the nicest breakfasts I have had in a hotel and in a lovely little eating area. The chopped fruit was lovingly prepared, fresh and super tasty, melon, water melon, pineapple, orange, kiwi etc or a variety of these each day. plenty of cereals, cold meats, cheese and the most tasty fried eggs to have on toast. A selection of Portuguese pastries and all the coffee, tea and freshly squeezed orange juice you could drink made this a pleasure to eat every day. Reception staff were great, very helpful with great English vocabulary and happy to talk for as long as needed. Nice little decking area at the rear of the garden and a lounge at the front. Would...