Lam Hotel Porto Gaia — Hotel in Vila Nova de Gaia

Margaret found what appeared to be a decent looking hotel called The Golden Tulip at a reasonable rate and started to complete the booking form but I suggested that she pause whilst I checked it on Tripadvisor and what I found caused a great deal of concern. There were no recent good reviews. Every one was negative and quite picky. |We discussed matters for a while but decided to give this hotel the benefit of the doubt and we are so glad we did. The blurb said that check-in was from 3.00pm and we arrived at 1.30 and I, being cheeky, tried to wheedle access to our room but to no avail. Carla was friendly and polite when she explained that the staff were not available to clear the rooms for check-in until 3 but said she would store our luggage for us and meanwhile we could use the car-park so no joy there. The foyer and lounge area were, admittedly rather pleasant.|Whilst waiting, we walked along the paved seafront, looking over the ancient rock formations that bordered the majestic waves but when the rain came down decided to high-tail it back to the hotel and await the call which came at 2.40. There we encountered our first shock; and it was a shock. We had been given a large, warm, comfortable room with larger than king-sized bed and an enclosed terrace which, as requested, looked over the sea. It was nothing like we ewre led to believe. The cleaners had not expected us to get there so soon after they had cleared it and were still in the process but seemed delighted to show us where everything was and afterwards, when we had moved our gear in, I told them that we thought the room was lovely and their delight really was genuine.|One of the more derogatory comments made by an earlier reporter was that the furniture was old. I think that the word they may have been looking for was antique or reproduction, but it was all of good quality. Even the mid-Victorian refrigerator. A nice touch, that. Everything about the accommodation was clean and in excellent condition. Because of the potentially damaging other comments, Margaret and I, using our nosiness as experienced mystery shoppers did, in fact check most thoroughly for faults and I came to the conclusion that the complaints about the rooms were vindictive and petty.|The shower room and toilet were beautifully tiled and brightly lit. The Terrace was wide enough for the two wicker chairs and the table to give us plenty of space. I suffer from Sleep Apnea but I slept better on that bed than I have slept for ages. It was so comfortable. Everything about our room spoke of a lost bygone age (apart from the refrigerator). |After an excellent night, we went down to the breakfast room expecting the usual hotel fodder. It never changes, does it? Well, the sea view was an improvement from the usual and the orange juice was certainly not the usual over-diluted pap and I took my Liptons Earl Grey tea bags to the tea/coffee stall when I beheld packs of AHMAD Earl Grey tea. Wonder of wonders. I turned to the diminutive lady standing beside the coffee machine and I asked her how I could get some of that and she said, “Would you like me to make you a pot?” Now she could have said, “Put it in a cup and press the button for hot water,” but her reaction exemplifies the attitudes of all of the staff we engaged with at the Golden Tulip Hotel. A china pot of Ahmad Earl Grey Tea. Bliss. Sorry, I sidetracked myself, the rest of breakfast was excellent as well. The central buffet bar was copiously stocked, as was the hotplate. Such a shame about my diet, but there was plenty of fresh fruit.|Now it was not all sunshine and roses, up on the fourth floor, we couldn’t get internet access although we could in the foyer. It didn’t bother us because I had brought along a well stocked laptop and we like each other’s company. Also, we could sit in reception and people watch.|Another negative is that the bar was unstocked. I think it was unstocked because it was never used and it was never used because it was unstocked if you get my drift. It was next to reception and drab. Shame that.|The main question is, “Would we go back? Definitely. It is a quaint hotel, staffed by some...

I hope the owner reads this, I present my review with genuine desire to see improvement.

This hotel is an example of wasted potential.

In desperate need of investment as it could be the premier location to stay, eat, party, rest, play and explore Gaia Porto.

A few points: The pool and gym are like and abandoned building. There is mould on your room, paint peeling from the poorly removed jacuzzi, the maintenance of the water in the pool is poor, the gym is low quality, the spa and Turkish bath are a safety hazard that will likely get you sued for an OHs violation when someone injures themselves. The control box makes it look decrepit and run down. The outdoor area looks cheap and hastily thrown together with no thought or care. The champagne lounge being closed looks like a horror attraction at a fair you go into to get scared for fun. The staff seem so disengaged through what I believe is lack of management or ownership support to fix anything so they do the bare minimum. Rooms are nice but the bathrooms are terrible. Bad plumbing, horrible shower set up with the silly small bath tub and shower head that's so low only a 4"5 person would comfortably shower.

I love the location and feel that whomever owns this hotel should do a facility audit, pull a plan together from feedback of guests, staff and the locals to have it be THE PLACE TO STAY IN PORTO GAIA

Happy to...

The hotel is close to the beach and the customer service is good. It’s all downhill from there. There is a lot of mould in the shower tiles and ceiling over the shower. The A/C doesn’t work from the room itself, we had to ask the front desk to turn it on. As it turns out, the A/C was showing an error message from their end and so they turned it on every few minutes after the A/C would shut off on its own. For €127/night I was extremely disappointed. Some of the lamps don’t work as well in the room. I will be requesting a partial refund. I’m 35 years old and I travel a fair bit, staying in many hotels around the world, and I can confidently say that this is in one of the worst 3 experiences I have ever had in a hotel. It’s by far the worst hotel I’ve ever been in when I consider the price. Considering how bad my experience has been, I believe that many positive reviews on here with no comments added are false reviews. You can see by clicking on the profiles that many of them don’t have any reviews for other businesses. Meaning that accounts were likely created by a third party company to hired manage businesses’ bad overall review scores. This is unethical. I will never stay at the Golden Tulip Porto Gaia Hotel...