Gran Cruz House — Hotel in Porto

I stayed at the Gran Cruz for a long weekend at the end of March. The hotel is absolutely charming and my room (Vintage on the 5th floor) was beautiful. It was a River room so I had excellent views of the river and the riverwalk below. The room was immaculately clean, beautifully furnished with lovely bed linens and bath towels. The room itself was a nice size (especially for Europe!). In the bathroom are bathrobes and slippers, as well as shampoo and liquid soap in the shower and bar soap, lotion, shower cap, shoe mitt, and vanity kit on the counter (and hair dryer). There is a safe in the closet. My room had a complimentary bottle of tawny port. The hotel only has seven rooms, each with a different theme. The hotel itself is actually owned by Gran Cruz Port (the drink, not the wharf), which has a port cellar just across the river. Apparently if you want to do a tasting at the port cellar and you let the front desk know, they will make arrangements with the port cellar, which includes a discount on port sales.||The staff is wonderful. Everyone at the front desk and in the restaurant were delightful. I particularly loved all the people who staffed the reception desk; they were so helpful and willing to share suggestions on everything from where to eat egg tarts to what to see and do. Housekeeping staff is super discreet. The rooms are meticulously serviced every day. ||Highly recommend the restaurant for dinner. I reserved a week in advance. The day of, the restaurant was completely booked. It's not that large. The value for money, especially for the five course tasting menu plus wine pairing, can't be beat. For the included breakfast, it is served a la carte so it's not quick but it makes for a marvellous leisurely experience. If you need to leave early, request the breakfast bag the day before. I did so one morning and it included fresh squeezed orange juice, yogurt, two little tubs of jam, an apple, an orange, and a little roll with some ham.||I also went through the hotel for my Duoro Valley day trip and it was fantastic. A small group tour with a total of eight guests plus the guide/driver. Highly recommend this smaller group experience, particularly because the itinerary is preferable to what some of the larger group tours do. ||The location is excellent. You can pretty much walk everywhere from the hotel, including across the bridge to the port cellars in Gaia. The area along the riverfront, where the hotel is located, is very lively with music and restaurants but when I closed the shutters, the noise sounded quite distant (and happy). In any case, the noise died down at 11 pm (Saturday and Sunday night) so it was hardly disruptive at all. And I slept incredibly well in the very comfortable bed. ||I took a taxi from the airport, which cost about 35 euros but 10 euros was traffic trying to get closer to the hotel since the river road was completely backed up. The driver finally suggested that I get out and walk since I didn't have much luggage and it would be much faster, and I am glad for that suggestion. The trip was 30 minutes but 10 of that was being stuck in traffic. On the way to the airport, I took an Uber, which cost about 13 euros and 20 minutes. Cars cannot get to the hotel because there is a huge pedestrian plaza; however, they can pick up about a block away (which is up a hill). The hotel offers airport transfer for 40 euros and this option will take you to the hotel itself.||I had an incredible trip to Porto, which is just absolutely lovely. But staying at the Gran Cruz with the lovely rooms, fantastic location, and warm and welcoming staff was a major contributing factor also. I can't wait to return to Porto and when I do, I'll be headed back to...

We loved the room, king size bed with great views of the Douro River. Water pressure in the shower was great that featured a rain shower and shower wand. Could have used more vanity space, we did not have enough room for our toiletries. ||To go anywhere you have to navigate going up a few hills and of course, returning to the hotel. To get an Uber or Taxi you will need to go up the hill to the first street as cabs and Uber cannot come down the hill to the hotel. ||Right outside of the hotel are a variety of restaurants and an easy walk to the city across the Douro River; Gaia. ||The hotel is within walking distance to all of the sites Porto has to offer as well as restaurants, bars, etc., although staying in city centre would be a more convenient option which we would select if we came back. ||One restaurant we highly recommend is TAPABENTO, located in the São Bento Train Station. ||A couple of areas where we felt the hotel could have done better. Due to the proximity of the restaurants directly outside of the hotel, if you leave your windows open at night you would hear a good amount of noise. The air conditioning does not get the room as cold as you may like but each room does have a fan to help but may not be sufficient for everyone. That is the reason to open your windows but you have the noise issue. The WiFi is not as fast as the other hotels we have stayed in when traveling internationally. The staff is nice, and|for the most part accommodating. One major complaint we had was on our last day. The elevator was not available after breakfast for about an hour. We were told the elevator was out of order and needed to be repaired but when we asked the Front Desk they said the elevator is working but staff members are using the elevator to deliver supplies to the floors. We actually ran into two of the staff members and asked| If we can use the elevator as there| was enough room, they said no so we had...

We loved everything about our stay! Especially Bruno (front desk) and Alteir (not sure if I'm spelling it correctly but you can't miss him at breakfast)! They met us with smiles every time and gave us fantastic ideas of things to do in and around Porto. Our room was small but super cozy (comfy bed!) and over looked the square and the Douro River which we loved! Also, we could open our windows wide open to feel the fresh air and hear the people below. So fun watching the tour boats coming and going, too! We ate the included breakfast each morning which was delicious and so much to choose from (I had the smoked salmon which was a treat) as well as espresso and Americanos! Although the books say no need to tip, please do! The servers appreciate it so much!! Although we didn't eat dinner on the terrace, we did enjoy a bottle of wine at night overlooking the lights and festivities of the evening around the Douro River. We will be...