Hostel Alegria — Hotel in Porto

We travelled as a couple in September, 2015 and had our own twin room. It was bunk beds, however they were comfortable and the white linens and comforter were very cozy. The room itself was narrow, long and large overall with a nice view of the backyard. The downstairs kitchen opens to the back patio and yard which was a popular spot for sitting and talking with other travellers and with Nuno, the friendly artist/proprietor. The artworks everywhere, by Nuno and his wife were a nice touch. The location in Porto is excellent. It is a 5 minute walk to the Metro and it is a 20-25 minute walk to the historic centre of town. Down the street is a restaurant called Estrela de Lima with excellent food, good prices and very friendly owners.||I gave this place a 4 out of 5 because a few more upgrades would really take it over the top. It needs at least one more shower stall. Currently there are 2 shower stalls and a 3rd one would make it easier to have a shower at a normal time, especially when the place is full. There also needs to be at least 1 more toilet. There are presently 3 - 1 on each floor. Our room was on the 1st (or 2nd in North America) floor and our toilet could only be used by us and the 4 bed dorm next door which was at times tricky if 6 people were sharing. Also our toilet had no sink with it which is a little unsanitary because you can't wash your hands after. We had to buy hand sanitizer. For shaving and brushing teeth there was only 1 sink on the 2nd floor with hot and cold running water and it was in the same room with of the other toilet. Again, when the place filled up that room was often occupied by somebody using the sink or toilet, so I had to be very strategic about timing shaving and brushing of teeth.||In terms of security, the rooms don't lock from outside. Our room had lockers at the window end but the same key would work on all the lockers. People staying there were totally cool and I never felt uncomfortable about our stuff. However, for the benefit of both guests and management secure locking/lockable spaces will protect everybody and there won't ever be any awkward situations and accusations.||Breakfast was OK, nothing special. Basic white rolls, butter jam and coffee. Yes, it is better than nothing and I always appreciate a cup of coffee in the morning. However, the standard at the best hostels, which this could be, is usually also cereal, cheese, some kind of meat cold cuts and at a least a little variety in the bread and rolls.||I don't want to sound too negative so I will finish by saying that we have good memories of Hostel Alegria and the proprietor is a great guy and really does care about his guests. We...

Our flight was delayed into Portugal last minute, so we madly scribed an email to the owner, advising that we would be late, as we had read on booking.com that check in is from 3 - 9pm. We had not recieved a reply before our arrival in porto and we could not access the airport wifi, so we decided to go to the hostel anyway and see if we could check in as we had no other choice. After a 20€ taxi ride to the hostel as public transport had stopped, we arrived at about 2 a.m... about 5 hours later than our expected time of arrival... there was no one there to check us in. ||Finally we managed to find someone to lend us a phone and we called the owner and explained our situation. He was quite rude to my sister, who began to cry, so I took over the call. Basically what he said to me was he was sorry for our predicament (as was I - 2 o'clock in the morning with no place to stay running on 2 hours sleep), no we can't do a late check in and no we won't be staying in his hostel at all. Having booked 2 nights at the hostel... I thought this was a little rude. ||We ended up having to stay at a very expensive hotel about 20 minutes out of town.||So, unless you can make the 9 o'clock check in... wouldn't...

Nous sommes un jeune couple ayant séjourné, une semaine à l'auberge en juin 2014.|| Nous avons apprécié notre séjour et l'auberge de Nuno où nous nous sommes tout de suite sentis comme a la maison.|||| Notre chambre composée d'un lit superposé était très propre et confortable avec un bureau. Sur le même pallier, un WC et des casiers avec clés pour ranger les affaires. Il y a aussi des dortoirs de 4 lits ou plus.|| L'auberge est joliment décorée par Nuno et sa femme qui sont des personnes très accueillantes et chaleureuses et qui nous ont fait passé un agréable séjour.||Le petit déjeuner est servi à l'heure que vous conviendrez avec Nuno, ou il vous laisse sur la table tout ce qu'il faut (pain, beurre, confiture, fromage, jambon, jus de fruit et boissons chaudes).||Vous pouvez cuisiner, il y a tout ce qu'il faut, et mettre des choses dans le frigo. C'est agréable de prendre le petit dej dehors dans le petit jardin au calme.||Quand nous y avons séjourné, il y avait peu de monde, c'etait très calme.||Pour se laver, vous devez vous rendre au dernier étage où se trouve deux douches et une salle d'eau/wc.||||Nuno vous indiquera ou prendre le métro,à deux rues de l'auberge, sinon il est très facile de se rendre en ville a pied (15 minutes, il suffit de descendre la rue tout droit).||Le métro se prend "dans " l'aéroport, pas besoin de sortir dans la rue et vous mène a une station où vous changerez de ligne, tout est très bien indiqué. Nuno vous attendra a l'auberge, a l'heure de votre arrivée approximative.||||Nous avons passé un super séjour: beaucoup de marche dans les ruelles du vieux Porto ( nous n'avons quasiment pas pris le métro), resto délicieux et pas chers (7 euros menu complet avec boisson!!), balade en bateau sur le douro( 10 euros, gardez votre billet il vous permet de vous rendre dans 3 caves et d'avoir des dégustations de porto gratuite, on peut en acheter partout au bord du douro ou dans les monuments), visite de la tour, de nombreux monuments||Nous avons aussi loué des vélo (Nuno vous indiquera où) environ 6 euros la journée, nous étions allés en bord de mer pour nous baigner (l'eau était extrêmement fraîche!! mais c'est faisable !!)||Il y a de jolis parcs avec des jeux pour enfants||Nous avons prix le train une journée (la gare vaut le coup d'oeil) pour guimaraes : château, joli village, rando sur les hauteurs jusquau mont de Penha (beau panorama, petits sentiers entre des blocs rocheux...) possibilté de prendre un téléphérique pour ce qui n'aime pas la rando||||Pour téléphoner, nous avions acheter une carte sim pour notre portable dans une presse non loin de la gare : 5 euros qui nous a permis d'appeler en France (attention il y en a des beaucoup plus chères pour les même prestations)||Nous ne parlons pas portugais mais anglais ou espagnol (Nuno le gérant de l'auberge parle parfaitement français et répondra a toute vos questions)||||Pour manger, il y a donc des ptits resto pas chers où vous mangerez des bons plats copieux genre pot au feu, poissons, ou des fast food comme des kebab ou vous pouvez manger la francesina (qui vous calera pour la journée!!). Il y a des petits marchés et supérettes.||||Les façades des immeubles en mosaïques sont superbes||en résumé, très bon séjour chez Nuno, avec qui nous avons bien sympathisé, ça nous donne envie d'y revenir en famille.||bon rapport qualité/prix, je...