Vila Gale Porto Ribeira Hotel

“Great service, very clean, small room and bathroom .”

I have it a 4 because the room was small as was the bathroom. I like the artistic vibe- I stayed in the Klimt room. I also enjoyed the wine that the establishment produces ( and the price).

“Fine but there are too many problems with this place”

A nice but slightly odd place. The main entrance looks like the back. The front desk is just a table by the bar so you're not really sure where you are. The person on reception was on the phone when I arrived - she did not indicate she was aware of my presence even though I waited for 15 mins. I w… more

A nice but slightly odd place. The main entrance looks like the back. The front desk is just a table by the bar so you're not really sure where you are. The person on reception was on the phone when I arrived - she did not indicate she was aware of my presence even though I waited for 15 mins. I was just ignored. Once she put the phone down she decided to acknowledge me. She was polite. The room was fine. The bed was comfy. The bathroom was awful - there is no 'bathroom'. There is a shower room with a good shower (although hot water dips in and out so you get a blast of cold water every few minutes). There is no shelf or anywhere to put your things so you have to put everything on the floor which is gross. The sink area is open so there is no privacy. The room with the toilet occasionally smelled like a urinal which was not good. The room was also tiny. Anyone tall or large would struggle to use this room. Occasionally in the corridor I could smell sewage but couldn't tell where it was coming from. Reception acknowledged there was an issue but didn't say anything more. The restaurant - breakfast is simple. The hot food was always cool/cold. There wasn't anything for non-dairy or gluten free customers. For a 4 star hotel this was not a good breakfast. During the evening I ate here a few times - the kitchen and service was excruciatingly slow. I was there for 45 mins before I even got service - an hour and half before I received the first course. The food is fine but not great and the delay alone negates this place. It's not worth it. Its just so slow. They are missing a massive trick as there's so much passing food traffic. Its hard to find nice places to eat close to the hotel - I ate at a few places and nothing stood out and all of them were expensive. The hotel location is good - its a 10 min walk to centre. Overall - the staff I encountered were nice I wouldn't stay here again. It's not a 3 star hotel but its not a 4 star either. There are just too many problems with this place for a smooth stay.

less

“Nice location, bit of walk to centre . Good breakfast . Friendly staff.”

A nice hotel in walking distance to city centre (up hill of course ! ) there are trams and a bus that stop near by. Breakfast very good. Good restaurants near by but book ahead. Rooms need better sound proofing. You could hear other guests at times. Friendly staff

“Wished it was a better experience”

This hotel bills itself as a four-star property yet misses the mark in a lot of areas. There are really no personal touches or special amenities to make guests feel important/welcome. Service is mediocre at best. The “front desk” staff spend a lot of time talking amongst themselves. It took sever… more

This hotel bills itself as a four-star property yet misses the mark in a lot of areas. There are really no personal touches or special amenities to make guests feel important/welcome. Service is mediocre at best. The “front desk” staff spend a lot of time talking amongst themselves. It took several minutes for someone to show up when we arrived to check us in: two rooms for three nights. When I inquired about possibly getting a river view room I was told the cost would be 30 euro per room per night. This despite the fact the hotel wasn’t at all full. When I asked a staff member if there’s a pharmacy near by as one of our family members had a cold, I was told, “not really.” Breakfast buffet is average. The scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and potatoes were always lukewarm. Not sure if you’re able to get an espresso drink as no one ever asks/offers. There’s an ice cream “station” right at the front door that I assumed was an amenity. But alas, after the bartender arrived with a scooper she asked me for my room number. Seems I missed the small print alerting guests to the cost. And the hotel provides only one glass bottle of water per room, per stay. Use it and you have to buy bottles from the bar. We’ve stayed at dozens of four and five star properties throughout Portugal and Italy these past few months and water has always been provided for the room. Our rooms were good sized and showers are large but the toilet is literally right next to the shower so you have to angle your body a bit when you use it. There are no tissues provided in the bathroom and while bath towels are large, they are very thin. Carpet in the rooms are worn. When I checked out, the hotel associate asked me about our stay. I informed her that I had some issues which I outlined in an email to the general manager but hadn’t heard back. She handed me a square plastic magnet of the hotel. And then she failed to correctly charge me for the city taxes so I had to hassle with paying that while flying home.

less