Valverde Sintra Palacio de Seteais

Maybe this place is for you… it just wasn’t for us. There are certainly some nice things about this hotel. The property is pretty unique albeit a work in progress. Upon arrival we were swept into a sitting room and served lemonade and pastries. Nice. Yet quite formal. There is definitely a stuffiness and lack of warmth the place gives off despite much of the staff being totally lovely. At our first lunch we told them we had to be fairly quick to get to a palace reservation time. We thought an hour would be plenty as the restaurant only had three other tables who had already ordered. 40 minutes later still no food. I had to pester the manager. Ok no big deal it happens. Then that evening we learn that the hotel is situated at the beginning of a huge long one way loop. so if you want to take a car you either have to walk a mile into town or go like 40 minutes around the loop. can’t control but could communicate. lol okay no big deal we’ll act accordingly. But the final straw, on the day we are leaving they had encouraged us to explore grounds. So we’re walking around taking pictures. We notice a man in a suit B-lining it to us - and it’s clear we are in trouble. (?!) He’s confrontational and asks if we are guests or not. His demeanor suggests he thinks we are tourists who snuck in. after all we had the audacity to wear shorts and t shirts. We explain that we are and he doesn’t really apologize, just makes some small talk and uncomfortably walked away. We try to laugh it off but I was pretty shaken because as i reflected on it he had made us feel quite unwelcome. So i went to the front desk and asked to speak with a manager (turns out he was the GM!) and i explain what happened to his #2 just letting her know how it made us feel. she gets defensive saying that tourists are often coming in and they were just protecting the guests. She did not seem to understand that we had essentially been accused of not being guests. She seemed a lot more concerned about her situation than mine. I was appalled. We’d been there for two days. The place didn’t seem that crowded. She just kept blaming me for having any issue with the whole thing. So there ya go. Really don’t like leaving negative reviews but feel like hotels at this level usually have stellar management with highly developed bedside manner and interpersonal skills.

The location is stunning. My partner grew up in Sintra (so is used to all the sights), but even she thought the setting was amazing. The building itself (not including the rooms) was genuinely impressive and you could feel the history. The pool is also beautiful, unfortunately the weather didn't allow us to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, other than the positives mentioned above, there was very little to recommend from our stay. We arrived around 10pm due to a delayed train - obviously not the hotel's fault. During check in, we asked if we could possibly eat (as we hadn't since the morning), but were told that dinner service had just finished. We were slightly frustrated as we expected room service might be an alternative, but apparently not. We walked around Sintra to find somewhere to get food, but did not succeed. When we got back to the hotel, we noticed that there WAS room service, as advertised on their unresponsive Smart TV digital guide. Even better, it advertised that certain menu options were available on a 24hr basis. We excitedly rang the front desk to place our order but were rudely told "Obviously not at this kind of time". It's already poor as the service is advertised as 24hr, but what was upsetting was the attitude. If the service was truly unavailable, say "I'm so sorry, the digital guide has it wrong - we will fix that as soon as we can. I apologise for the confusion and disappointment". Do not imply we're the ones at fault for such an 'outrageous' request. Whilst the above was frustrating and set a very bad tone, the state of the room was the really disappointing part. As you can see from the numerous pictures, 'tired' or 'needing some work' don't quite cover it. The closer we looked, the worse it got. Firstly, the cleanliness was simply unacceptable. That brown sticky substance on our bedside table welcomed us on arrival. Worse yet, it remained there for the duration of our stay. This was very much a trend for the general state of things. The furnishings are simply beyond their service life. As you can see again from the pictures, the bed frame is falling apart, the fittings are coming off the walls, and the walls are covered in marks/badly done paint patches. You pay 5* prices but certainly do not get a 5* experience.

This place is not a hotel, even less a 5 stars hotel but a beautiful house to visit as a tourist. The service is a joke. Everything was a joke. I was staying in a suite and I could hear so much noise from tourists passing by in the corridor. I had to ask 6 times for a adaptor before getting one and it seemed like I was asking for something very special. They refused initially to do room services out of kitchen timings. This is a beautiful place to see but not a hotel

This hotel is magical! We visited with our kids and initially thought to pass through Sintra and go to more tourist spots in Portugal. Happy we decided to stay a day here. The afternoon tea time is a must. Centrally located and within walking distance to major attractions.

Diego at the front desk was so helpful to us during our stay in August 2024. This was the first time we were traveling with our infant son internationally and he made the check in and our visit the most magical time. We will visit again in the near future.