Hostel Gaia Porto — Hotel in Vila Nova de Gaia

I was traveling around the world for 10 years, and I NEVER wrote any negative comment on Internet. NEVER! Dirty place, broken bed, missing furniture- name it! Never wrote anything negative. Until now. So 2nd of June 2018- our last night in Portugal. Looking for a place to stay last minute (our mistake!). We found something on the well-known prebooking website, and then we realized we are close to hostel, so we decided to go directly there. Waiting for someone over 10min to open the main doors wasn’t a problem (sometimes happened). The problem started when the owner told us the prices for beds. To our concerns they were “slightly” different than the prices on the Internet. We were offered 24 euros with breakfast. You could book it that day for 18euros on the internet. And the info on the website said 15 euros. We still decided to take offered price as a place looked nice. During the reservation process:||I said: “Just to let you know on one of hostelbookers there is a misleading information about the price”||He said: “NOT, IT ISN’T”||Me: “ Actually it is, because we read that like 5 min ago, and it might…” (didn’t have a chance to finished||Owner FIRED OFF: “Not IT ISNT, it’s a low season price”||Me: (I’m like ocean of calmness): “for us is fine, but it might mislead other people”|| Owner: “YOU Will not tell me what to do, I’m the owner here, ||Me: “I’m not telling you what to do and I’m not negotiating the price”||Then something umbeliveble happened|:||Onwer: “Get out from my hostel, you fu**, because I have 9.2 on booking.com and (…don’t remember what he said)||me:“are you seriouse?”||Owner:“Get out or I will call the police” grabbing the phone in a theatrical way. ||Hahah.. you said 9.2? :D||||I double check with my 2 friends if I was rude on any stage and they said that it was a normal conversation from my side. And as a person working in hospitality for years I will use it as a option to correct info not to get furiouse. But my portuguese people told me Porto has change a lot..money..money..money||||Tip 1: Change your info because is still saying 15euros with breakfast||Tip 2: If you hate people start working with plants. ||||Wish you good luck Mr Owner. But I’m not...

This place was wonderful; it was well run and very clean. The location was great (only about 5 minutes walk to the river and public transport such as trains and buses). Being back off the main roads meant that it was also pretty quiet.||The owner was lovely, speaks great english and was full of knowledge and helpful tips to help guests enjoy their stay. I was of the impression that it is family run; the owner's(?) family and kids would frequently be seen downstairs and out front, which I found to be quite charming.||The private room was fairly small (the ensuite was well sized however) but had a very large wardrobe and storage space; it would be well suited to solo travellers and well organised couples. The room was cleaned daily, and as far as I could tell the cleanliness was very good.||The only thing I'd note (and this is subjective, as it may be an issue for some but not others) is that it's not a particularly social place. It's absolutely fine if you're looking for a peaceful and laid back stay, but if you're looking for socialisation or a party hostel, this is probably not the...

I had a flight cancelled heading to Porto, Portugal and I was without WiFi. When I finally reach Porto at around midnight the following day and on my way to to this hostel, I get the following message:

I'm João Saavedra, the owner of the hostel Gaia Porto, and father of two little boys, that I just missed to put them on bed because I was waiting for a miserable person like you. That simply didnt show up at the Hostel and didnt had the honesty of sending a email or a text to cancel the reservation. You are the smart guy that give a invalid credit card to book this reservation and now we werent able to charge you the three nights. Dont worry, I will do everything to charge you this miserable amount of 45€ of your reservation.

Our family wish you a great 2019.

Kind regards,

João Saavedra CEO

As well as a message from my bank advising me they had blocked the transaction in question and were replacing my card (I am abroad...). Thanks Joao, you're clearly a sane and great host from your kind words.

STAY AWAY from this...