Hotel Vitoria — Hotel in Santarém

I have returned from a tour of the Ribatejo and Estremadura, which overall was very good, marred only by my experiences in Santarém and especially at this residencial.||||I cannot recognise the place as described by krobar-oz on this site. On arriving at the residencial itself, the smell of fish was overpowering. In itself one could get over this but the initial impression was compounded by the manner of the man on reception, who was offhand to the point of rudeness. The lady of the house then arrived and said we’d only booked the standard room and wouldn’t we like a better one which had air-conditioning and a larger bathroom. The temperature was high 30s. We hadn’t realised that standard rooms didn’t have air-con, so reluctantly agreed to upgrade. In hindsight, this was foolish of us. Having travelled quite a lot in Portugal, this is the first time I have come across an attitude that was other than straight-forward and friendly and I was quite unprepared for her approach. The “better” room cost 60 euros, as opposed to the 40 euros room we’d booked, which was frankly just a con. The room hadn’t seen daylight for a long time, with the shutters completely drawn down, so even in that heat, there was no need for the air-con. If the bathroom was larger than the standard, I dread to think how small that must have been. We only stayed one night but throughout this time, the attitude of the owners (or at least the old couple whom I took to be the owners) continued to be unhelpful and sometimes downright rude. I found the room and hotel décor fussy, dark and oppressive, rather than quaint: everything covered in lace-work covers; rugs over the tiled floors making using trolley-suitcases impossible and needle-point pictures everywhere. These are just matters of taste in the main, though: the reason why I would advise anyone thinking of planning a trip to Santarém to avoid this place is because of the attitude of the people running it. And don’t fall for the “upgrade” trick!||||I chose this residencial because of having seen the write-up in Lonely Planet and also the review on this site. I didn’t know that there was a hotel in Santarém, as it didn’t come up on any of my searches when I was planning the trip. There are two listed on the local map: Hotel Alfageme, a 3-star: [--] and Corinthia Santarém Hotel, a 4-star: [--] I can’t recommend them or otherwise personally but others may like to check them out.||||A word of warning: if you have an older guide book, it may say that the museums etc are open on Tuesdays: they now close on both Monday and Tuesday in Santarém (most other towns only close...

Described by the lonely planet [portugal] guide as a 'night at your great aunt's place' - what an apt desciption for a lovely place to relax for a few days - and only 40 Euros per night - tucked away in a quiet but safe back street this place is certainly value for money - don't feel as if you are disturbing the folk who own/run/hang around this place when you come home late at night - they will always greet you with a smile and offer you a cup of coffee [not sure that's a good thing at 1 in the morning - but hey this is europe - the home of coffee drinkers] - and speaking of food I can highly recommend the fare at 'a taverna do fado' [963217405]- just a short walk from these digs - just enjoy the food and ignore the OTT wall hangings of matadors in all their glory - not a place for animal activists or...

One of the other reviews here quotes the Lonely Planet guide's description of this hotel as "like staying at your aunt's place," and that's pretty apt. There are framed needlepoint pieces on the walls, antique looking dishes on display in the dining room, and a faint musty smell in the rooms (nothing too bad). The rooms are clean, the staff is friendly, they serve breakfast in the morning. One minus is the lack of sound-proofing: I could hear people walking, using faucets, coughing, and talking in various parts of the hotel pretty easily. But: it was very affordable and close to the old town, so...