Villa Graça - Hostels and Apartments — Hotel in Santarém

The reception staff person was everything a guest might wish. Every concern is listened to and proactively addressed. In a word, top-notch. 5 star treatment and absolutely top echelon professionalism.

On the other hand, the restaurant staff were unprofessional and rude, making for a very unpleasant experience. I had just arrived. A pugnacious worker yelled at me that my bike was not allowed inside. I was checking in at that moment, and there was no need to yell at me. Utterly mean and unprofessional conduct.

The reception staff member helped me load my bike into the hostel’s garage. When I asked about room service, I was told to order in person.

When I asked for a menu from the wait staff, he glanced at the menus atop a piece of furniture — and then walked away. I was famished, so I grabbed a menu. I asked my brother to order for me, as I did not want to be treated needlessly unprofessionally nor rudely again by the two restaurant employees. In a word, jerks. They need a lot more training in respecting guests of all colors and sexes, and how to comport themselves professionally with all guests, not just the ones they like. (My brother said he was treated nicely.)

The room is actually a nice size, updated, very pleasant apartment, modern furnishings and a separate bedroom, small living area with a kitchen (stove, oven, refrigerator/freezer, medium size kitchen sink, a good amount of cutlery and cookware, and a washer. The shower is a walk-in with no tub. The modern windows have soundproofing, making for a blissfully quiet apartment.

I removed 1 star for the 2 unprofessional and rude restaurant...

Check in was in the hotel near the Villa Graca church but we were taken to a very new, clean apartment overlooking a square. The square had fine views of Marvella Church and had cafes which were noisy but the double glazing was well sound proofed. We'd reserved an apartment with a balcony but there wasn't one. We were too tired to go back to the hotel to ask about this. The apartment was very well equipped with a nice TV, wifi, kitchen with washing machine, microwave, dishwasher, big opening windows for ventilation, large walk in shower and dining area. The apartment came with an information folder but this seemed to have many rules including guests had to recycle waste yet there was no information on where the recycling points were either in the building or out on the street. There were threats of big fines to guests if they made noise, guests had to wash their dishes and there was a statement that guests had to leave the apartment as they found it. We were unsure what this meant and whether we'd be fined if we didn't tidy up. This begged the question whether the management of Villa Graca and fully embraced the true spirit of hospitality. The rules seemed to be designed to make life easier for the...

Check in was in the hotel near the Villa Graca church but we were taken to a very new, clean apartment overlooking a square. The square had fine views of Marvella Church and had cafes which were noisy but the double glazing was well sound proofed. We'd reserved an apartment with a balcony but there wasn't one. We were too tired to go back to the hotel to ask about this. The apartment was very well equipped with a nice TV, wifi, kitchen with washing machine, microwave, dishwasher, big opening windows for ventilation, large walk in shower and dining area. The apartment came with an information folder but this seemed to have many rules including guests had to recycle waste yet there was no information on where the recycling points were either in the building or out on the street. There were threats of big fines to guests if they made noise, guests had to wash their dishes and there was a statement that guests had to leave the apartment as they found it. We were unsure what this meant and whether we'd be fined if we didn't tidy up. This begged the question whether the management of Villa Graca and fully embraced the true spirit of hospitality. The rules seemed to be designed to make life easier for the...