Moinhos do Paneiro — Hotel in Santiago do Cacém

Fantastic concept but needs some tweaking. The place is ideally situated in the countryside away from noise and traffic, down a dirt country road with no one around with beatifull grounds, a beatiful pool, but the rooms (at least my room) needed much improvement.||We stayed in one of the "casitas" down from the windmills, the exterior looked very nice, and the inside wasn't a bad room, it just needed help with the amenities. The bed didn't look very inviting it was pushed against one corner of the room with a set of stairs going to the loft across the bottom corner of the bed, a small kitchenette at the entrance and a very small bathroom, besides being old it that needed the most help. The hand held shower had no place to hang (it set on top of the faucets). so you had to wet yourself, put the shower down, than soap up and then wash yourself off. The soap dispenser had no soap (good thing we bought our own) and the sink was just a sink on a cabinet with no place to put your toiletries (Equivalent to a 'one star' hotel). Aside from all of this the place had a covered sitting area at the entrance with a small table and chairs where breakfast was left in a basket in the morning and a daybed. No one told us we had to take the breakfast basket back up to the main house? so it set there all day with milk, cheese and yogart in it.||Parking is another issue, it's aleast 100 yards or more from our 'casita' you have to carry your bags that distance along gravel paths thru the woods.||The windmills, one was converted into a liabrary and the other into an exercise room and the main building were all very well apointed and decorated, wish they had carried that design thru all of the rooms.||All-in-all the place was okay just needs some...

We paid 58 euros for a twin room, one night. Plus 20 euros, each person, for dinner and breakfast. On the Rota Vicentina this appears to be the only accommodation between S. do Cacem and Cercal. Unless you're packing a lot of food, you certainly need the dinner and breakfast, and they're well worth the price. Our room was in the "Familia" building, which has 3 en suite rooms and a huge communal kitchen, well equipped, with free coffee, tea, hot chocolate. The room was clean, very nice. Beds OK, bathroom and shower clean and functional. WiFi was very weak. And spotty: on/off on/off. It wasn't much better in the main building or the dining room. Moinhos has 8 or 10 outbuildings scattered through the shrubbery below the two old windmills. Mosquitoes were rampant. Our room had a plug-in mosquito "diffuser" with a bottle of liquid screwed into it. The bottle was empty, and the electronic plug didn't work (its red light didn't go on). We got another one, and it seemed to do the job. No more mosquitoes, once it got working. Side note: The place accepts cash only. When we booked, the place wanted half of it wired in advance; the wire itself cost another $35. When we paid the bill, they didn't know about the prepaid half. She took our word for it, didn't seem surprised. But, clearly, our reservation would have been good even without...

My husband and I stopped here on a multi-day walk on the Routa Vicentina. It is well located between Santiago do Cacem and Cercal for an overnight on the walk. The hotel has a great setting with two windmills and lovely views and nice owners. The room was huge, beautiful, with a nice tub. There was hot water for showers at nigths, but none in the morning (I lucked out - I took my shower at night).,.Other guests also lacked hot water. ||||The owner served us dinner and breakfast - necessary since the hotel is not near any restaurants. The dinner was filling, with good soup, but I didn't think that a mostly potato and cheese dish was a suitable main course. Filling, yes, and meets basic nutritional standards, but that's about it. ||||So, overall, it was mixed, but it is a good location for a stop on the walk and the setting is something you will remember for a long time. Because of the setting, beautiful rooms, and the atmosphere, I'm giving it a higher review than I usually would for a place lacking hot water in...