PIPAD'ORO by YoursPorto — Hotel in Porto

This little hotel is tucked away in the backstreets so we were glad our taxi knew where to go. It was still within walking distance of the centre of Porto though. |It’s located up the top of the hill and is a couple of older buildings that have been converted, so it has lovely older features but also the comfort and ease of a modern fitout. |In the building we were in, there were 4 floors (floor -1 where reception, pool and restaurant are), floor 0 with two rooms facing out the back towards the view, floor 1 with two looking out the back and one on the street, and floor 2 with two rooms facing the back and two facing the street. There’s a lift to all floors and some beautiful sandstone steps if you want the exercise.|Reception is in the basement (-1 floor) along with the bar and restaurant and entry to the pool area. The people were very helpful, and when we arrived, took us through a local map and gave us lots of information. They also booked a transfer to the airport for us that, while more expensive than a taxi, was driven by the sweetest guy (and bang on time).|The restaurant offers dinner but prices were relatively high and there is a lot of choice around so we ended up not eating there. |Our room (1) was on floor 0. Everything was clean and (except the walls) modern. It was long and narrow with a bathroom, bed area, kitchenette and loungeroom in that order, with a great view over the valley from the lounge room. It had old exposed sandstone walls and double doors out onto a Juliet balcony. |The bathroom had a shower, large vanity and a loo with its own door, and also acted as a good noise break from the elevator behind it, which we never heard. The bedroom was an alcove between the bathroom and kitchen/lounge but had glass panels so it let light in. Kitchen / lounge had a pullout sleeper lounge and a table and three comfortable dining chairs. There was a small but functional kitchenette.|Bed was comfortable with two pillows each.|To consider - These are all minor and I’d stay here again.|Our room on the ground (0) floor was a bit noisy – we were directly over the speaker playing doof-doof music to the pool area in the afternoons, although the double glazed windows did block some of it out. Also as the pool is raised up, anyone in the pool could see into our lounge area so we had to hang towels over the balcony. No biggy, I’d just request a room on one of the upper floors next time. |The wardrobe area next to the bed had no shelves so wasn’t really useful. |The lounge wasn’t the most comfortable and on the wrong side of the room – much better if it was on the other side to see the view. |Pool area was packed as it was a heatwave but that’s to be expected.|If you’re going to the airport, I’d suggest leaving plenty of time – we were advised that 1.5 hours would be fine but luckily I decided to be there two hours early as it took an hour to check our bags in then there was a huge line to go through immigration just before the gate so...

We are renting one of the two-bedroom penthouse apartments. It is absolutely beautiful, and the price (mid-February) could not be a better value. |Gorgeous, I mean really stunning views of the port, super comfortable beds with nice bedding and lots of pillows, and pretty much brand new modern renovations in an old building. The kitchen has everything you'd need including a dishwasher. The bathrooms (2!) are modern and nice.|There's no lift available, but even the stairs are new and they're not steep. I hate stairs but it's pretty easy to get up the three flights to the penthouse apartments for an older, out of shape person like me.|The location is great, too. 5-15 minutes to wander from one place to the next. Porto is hilly so just know that. Lots of restaurants and shopping nearby and the sights to see are close by, too. |Bottom line, this apartment is great and I'm so glad we chose it. The people checking us in were nice, and super-helpful with good recommendations for the area.|I would tell you to rent from these folks, and that I'd definitely...

I have to review this hotel because I think (contrary to - and perhaps because of - my original expectations) it was probably the most impressive accomodation I have ever stayed in. The hotel entrance is in an unassuming backstreet of Porto and the reception area is very ordinary and unremarkable. Our apartment/room was on the top floor of the building and it is advertised on Booking.com as the Penthouse (although the price suggested it was a normal apartment, just on the top floor with a slightly better view). However, the room itself was massive and it had the most extraordinary view over all of the city of Porto and over the river. The balcony was large enough to have a table and chairs on it, and there were two separate entrances to the balcony area, each via double doors (see picture). As I mentioned, the room was very large and it was stylishly decorated throughout with a contemporary feel. I will definitely try to stay here the next time I'm in Porto, although I expect it may be booked up for a while to come, now that the...