Hostel Cruz Vermelha — Hotel in Vila Nova de Gaia

The room was very nice and clean, and the location was fantastic, but feel that I can't recommend it. The internet was functional maybe 15% of the time, and there was no one to contact regarding it. Instructions regarding locking the exterior door were contradictory. No information was given regarding check out procedure (I just put my key in the box by the door and had to hope for the best). The shower curtain just disappeared from the bathroom one day, it is a mystery.||||Another issue was the lack of a fan in the room, sleeping was difficult, with a Sophie's choice between sweat and street noises (I should have brought earplugs). ||||Staff is not really available, with the reception closing sometime in the early evening. We had reserved a room to stay overnight after a trip to Southern Portugal, but realized that due to the late train, we would have no possibility to check in. We attempted calling when we realized, but there was no answer. Rather than chance a night outside, we made arrangements with another hostel and sent an email explaining the issue. We never...

Located on the Gaia side of the river this little hostel is in an ideal location, just 8 minutes scenic walk from the restaurants on the riverside and 5 minutes from General Torres Metro station (with link to the airport). The nine rooms are comfortable, well decorated and those facing the rear are quiet with a view across the rooftops to the river, the front facing rooms suffer from traffic noise at night. The bathrooms (male and female) are shared but with 4 basins, 2 shower cubicles and 2 wc's in each there was never a problem and were kept spotlessly clean. Rooms are cleaned daily and the whole accommodation is run efficiently by friendly, helpful staff. ||The hostel itself is situated above the first floor offices of the Red Cross and the ground floor day centre for the elderly which it funds, the staff go home at 19.00, for this reason the check in time prior to this may prove unsuitable for some guests.||Bring your own teabags/coffee as there is a kettle, cups and saucers in the TV lounge. Very limited choice of breakfast (go to one of the cafes just...

We're a group of 3 mid 20s Americans. We found the place to be decent for the price, but it's definitely not ideal. There is no A/C so it was very hot in the room. Our room was also right on the street which was surprisingly extremely loud. The rooms are very plain with white everything. I found a centipede in the room. Bathrooms are shared and the showers are extremely small and hard to use. The people on the 1st floor seemed to be the types of people you would expect at a red cross (old, sickly), but the hostel floor above had a few younger guests. There is very little space in the hostel--the number of rooms is very small. They DID NOT LET US CHECK IN EARLY but they did hold our luggage for us (unguarded and unlocked, however). Check in time is 2 and check out time is 12. The location of this hostel is great as it is only a 5-10 minute walk to the main drag on the river and the metro is only a 5-10 minute walk in the opposite direction. Overall, a decent place if you are not traveling alone and if you are on a...