Porto Royal Bridges — Hotel in Porto

Porto musings…..

Porto Metro is easy to use, with just four lines A B C D . We found it to be clean, safe and enjoyed the travel over and underground, across roads and roundabouts! Buy an Adante card for 0.6 Euros from ticket machines and kiosks (Lojas Adante) and then credit the card with 1/2/10 trips across 1/2/3 zones as required. You can get one at the airport and travel to your hotel for far less than a taxi or Uber (provided its after 6am and before 1am, we had to Uber back to the airport because could not be sure the journey would make good time for an early flight) . Just remember to scan your card at the stations. I think if you get back on within an hour it’s free but we never tried it.

We stayed near the Sao Bento Railway station. The area had plenty to offer in the way of restaurants and shops. At Bolhao metro station nearby (we walked it , a bit like Marble Arch to Covent Garden distance) there was good shopping and an interesting food market. At Sete Bicas metro stop is a big shopping centre, includes Primark. All over the place you will find SportZone and Decathlon, good shops for gym clothes at cheap cheap prices! South of the river are the Port wine lodges. You will probably recognise the names such as Sandemans, Croft, Taylors etc hardly Portuguese because the trade was linked to English developers as a result of the English banning the import of French wines during the war of the Spanish Succession. You can book a tour with wine tasting at most of them, starting at about 10 euros. The River is the Douro, and yes this is where Douro wine comes from. (Who needs French wine anyway?). Have a glass for me! I recommend a visit to Centro Portugues de Fotografia. Tram stop 22, but we walked from our hotel. It’s on Largo Amor de Perdicao. It’s free to enter and open Tues-Fri 10-12.30 and 2-5pm. It is a photography museum with great views of the city from the upper floors. It has a fascinating history as a building as it is a former prison. There are photographic displays which change regularly (and brought a tear to our eyes). Not far from here are the Jardins do Palacio de Cristal on the Rua Don Manuel II. A nice park with lovely gardens and views over the river. There are birds including peacocks walking around. At Metro stop Casa De Musica is the Mercado do Bom Successo. This is a massive place full of food stalls and bars where you can eat virtually anything and drink virtually anything at reasonable cost. The locals flock here. It’s open 10am-11pm and there’s entertainment in the evenings. There’s a couple of shopping centres nearby. At metro stop Mercado dos Matosinhos (the coast) there’s a fish market. I wouldn’t go upstairs again…. Live rabbits and birds …I’m guessing for the cooking pot. On Rua Herois de Franca are great fish restaurant. We ate in one where they charged us by the kilo for our fish that we selected from the display and they cooked and filleted infront of us. Local things to try : Pastels de nata of course the custard tarts about 0.5 euro from a supermarket bakery Francesinha – a sandwich with steak , sausage, ham and cheese (one for the men I think) Octopus and rice – just be aware it’s cooked with choritzo, they don’t really understand no meat!! The orange juice, even from the worst café, was freshly squeezed from oranges in front of me ! ‘Meia dose’ = for one person (you can request this); “Dose” = for 2 people. If in doubt ask for meia dose as you can always order more. Most people speak English, but expect things to be lost in translation as far as food goes! And Finally, Leave the heels for the hotel, Porto is hilly (Think San Francisco) and many many streets are cobbled. Smart clothes are good, but sensible...

I stayed in the Deluxe Premium room for 5 nights. When I arrived, it was well past the standard check-in time, yet the lobby — which also serves as a lounge and café — was completely empty of guests, despite the hotel being fully booked. It felt oddly deserted. Eventually, a staff member greeted me, and although they spoke politely and apologized for the limited availability, I was surprised by the atmosphere.

However, the issues started immediately. The main light in the living room kept flickering like a club light. I was on a tour schedule, so I couldn’t report it right away and decided to shower first—but then discovered that the shower booth was clogged and wouldn’t drain at all.

The next morning, I reported these problems with photos and videos. I also calmly explained that my travel companion has epilepsy and that flickering lights can be a seizure trigger, asking for prompt action or a room change. The staff seemed surprised, but their response was still disappointing. They vaguely mentioned that a room on the 4th floor might be free sometime in the afternoon, but they weren’t sure—and the way they said it felt dismissive and bothered, rather than genuinely concerned. There was no sincere apology or any meaningful consideration for the health-and-safety concern.

One male staff member even responded almost defensively, saying he could go up right now and fix the flickering light—as if the issue were somehow my fault for raising it. But shouldn’t that have been checked and repaired before a guest moved in? Even the housekeeping staff should have noticed it. Waiting an entire day only to fix it later shows a lack of professionalism.

When I returned from dinner, the light had been fixed, but the shower booth remained clogged until I checked out.

On my last day, another staff member casually asked if I’d had a comfortable stay—it was clear my complaints hadn’t been communicated to the team. The lack of follow-up and accountability was extremely disappointing.

This was the first and only place in Portugal where I genuinely felt discriminated against—as a young Asian woman traveler. What made it even more disheartening is that I am a professional who uses English in my career, yet I still felt I was treated unfairly. For that reason, I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone except...

We stayed at Porto Royal Bridges for five nights, prepaying over two hundred dollars a night via a third party booking app that saves money. The disappointment began when they lowered the rate by one hundred dollars a night right after the 72-hour cancellation window closed. We were staying four nights, so the math adds up to a lot.

Despite my request, the hotel staff and management wouldn't adjust my rate or cancel my reservation for a rebooking at their new rate. The manager came over to reception and didn’t make eye contact with us, and had the other associate offer only a minor room upgrade that didn't justify the price difference of paying almost a third more for our room. Interestingly, they claimed all other rooms were booked, but I found availability for more than twelve rooms that were an upgrade to ours, though again they said that these upgraded rooms were booked.

(This is a small boutique hotel so the twelve vacant rooms are a good part of their inventory. Also to note, the rate that we paid already was almost the same rate as what they adjusted the highest room option to be, for the best room option in the hotel which was still available in their inventory according to the internet listing their availability.)

They also refused to do small-reach things like offer us the breakfast that is sometimes included with rates, which would have helped justify the price adjustment — which seemed like an easy thing to add on. The miscommunication and refusal to accommodate left a sour taste, dampened our stay, though the location and design of the hotel are top notch.

Be sure to keep checking prices and their updated current rates if...