Luna Chalés De Montanha

“A Charming Place to Stay in Portugal’s Mountain Region…”

Had to stop in the mountains during our Portuguese road trip and couldn’t find a more ideal and apropos location. Serra da Estrela is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal and this delightful cabin sits atop of the mountain overlooking the quaint city of Covilha. The views are swee... more

Had to stop in the mountains during our Portuguese road trip and couldn’t find a more ideal and apropos location. Serra da Estrela is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal and this delightful cabin sits atop of the mountain overlooking the quaint city of Covilha. The views are sweeping and stunning, right from the armchair in your living room. This place sleeps 8 or more, but we enjoyed it as a romantic retreat for just the two of us. It’s kitted out beautifully with a pellet burning stove as the heat source, much sought after laundry facilities and all the comforts one could ask for, with stylish panache. The location is fantastic, with great restaurants and bars within steps of your front door. We hadn’t heard of Portuguese ski country until we planned this epic trip and would encourage anyone to add it to their list of stopovers whist in this fine country. It was especially fun to visit in January to see how Portugal’s local population enjoys winter within their own borders. It was a great location to visit the historical Piódão as a daytrip and the driving the area offers countless gob-smacking vistas, as well. It’s a wonderful chance to see another side of this fine country and sample the local sheep’s cheese, rustic food specialties and cozy attire that’s exclusive to this unique area. The beds were cozy and comfortable, and the views from every aspect of the cabin, unparalleled. Both bathrooms and the kitchen were immaculate, offered all amenities, and were tastefully presented. In fact, there were many aspects we didn’t have an opportunity to enjoy, like the stone BBQ in the backyard, or the sprawling lounge areas – but we could imagine many large groups enjoying all it had to offer. The only area for improvement would be the arms-length connection with the host. For example, we were directed to pick up our key at reception at the unaffiliated hotel across the street. They claimed no knowledge leaving us with only the sporadic Airbnb chat mechanism to connect with the owner. As my husband and I experienced severe heart palpitations, we re-grouped to weigh our options, having no place to stay in the area, despite having paid upfront. Only then did the woman call us back giggling that she had the key after all, having misplaced it. Glad it worked out but - yikes! We tried to make reservations at the local restaurants in advance, but that proved impossible, so we asked the host to book on our behalf. He informed us that no reservations were required. That simply wasn’t true, leaving us scrambling for our meals in this tiny location. We had Portuguese only instructions for the pellet stove, but muddled through and managed to get our one heating source operating in -5 degrees, never-the-less. All of this worked out in the end, but made it a bit harder to relax, which was the point of our stay. All in all, we really were delighted our stay, despite some noteworthy hiccups. We suspect it’s the bastion of mainly domestic tourists at the moment, which would explain a great deal. We’d encourage international tourists to sample this region’s delights and this fabulous chalet, but a few tweaks could bring a sojourn here from terrific, to outstanding! We’d still highly recommend this place for any mountain getaway.

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“Nice and well located wood houses”

The chalets are located in Penhas da Saúde, which is a good location for someone who’s planning to stay in Serra da Estrela with easy access to the top. Built in wood, the houses are cozy and warm. Since there was cold and raining/snowing, the access to the entrance was icy and slippery. This po... more

The chalets are located in Penhas da Saúde, which is a good location for someone who’s planning to stay in Serra da Estrela with easy access to the top. Built in wood, the houses are cozy and warm. Since there was cold and raining/snowing, the access to the entrance was icy and slippery. This potentially dangerous situation could’ve been addressed by the staff and easily avoided. The house floor could be better cleaned.

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“Very Good”

I´been there with my family and we were very delighted with the chalé, they have an excelent location, good environment, very cozy, good view, the only two things that i don´t like was the bed, very hard and unconfartable and they didn´t clean de hause any day.

“Great experience”

We actually stayed here in January 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Blanketed in snow so was a great experience for us coming from Australia. The kids loved stepping outside and having snow at the doorstep. Kids playground and toboggans to hire nearby. Rooms were beautiful and old. Can be a bit n... more

We actually stayed here in January 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Blanketed in snow so was a great experience for us coming from Australia. The kids loved stepping outside and having snow at the doorstep. Kids playground and toboggans to hire nearby. Rooms were beautiful and old. Can be a bit noisy in the bedrooms at night... but you get that being so high up and being the middle of winter. Would stay again

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