Pousada Aquários do Porto

I spent about a week here in February, and every moment felt precious in this little heaven of an inn. The staff were all amazing, beautiful souls, and they added to the dreamy atmosphere. Our suite had lovely decor, with a touch of Greece on every wall. I enjoyed the free wifi, air conditioning, shared pool, and breakfast buffet. There’s also a cat named Coco, very feisty but amusing. 5/5, highly recommend.

About a 10-minute walk from the high street. The room was okay, and breakfast was very good. A lovely place to stay.

The location is decent and the place is quiet, but be careful if you park your car in the square. My spare tire was stolen. The rooms were clean, and the TV and air conditioning worked perfectly. The bathroom water was very cloudy, which seemed to me like it might be a general problem in Porto. At check-in, the staff member seemed unprepared and couldn’t answer my questions. Breakfast was quite poor. There was no cold-cut station, bread was in short supply, and the other options didn’t seem fresh. Staff also seemed inattentive when we wanted to order things. I think the place needs general improvements to provide a really good stay.

The location and attractive shared areas were the only good parts of our stay. The inn caused so much stress that it seriously affected our trip. We didn’t get a proper night’s rest once, and each day started with frustration at breakfast. On the first night, my sister and I were in a triple room beside reception. We couldn’t sleep at all because of the unbearable noise. The reception bell was extremely loud and rang throughout the night, and we could hear every sound outside the room, especially from reception, because there was no soundproofing. After I asked to move, they put us in a smaller room since there wasn’t another triple available. Its bathroom was impossible to use, as the photos show. They then moved us again, but the air conditioning didn’t cool, the light switch didn’t work, and touching the shower tap gave an electric shock. We stayed there to avoid more hassle. Breakfast was another disappointment. Every day, service and restocking were so poor that we had to go into the kitchen to get someone to help or refill things. Everything on the table tasted bad, as if it had been kept for weeks. I tried it all, and it seemed badly made and stale. There were no cold cuts or even BUTTER. I’ve honestly never seen that before. There were only two kinds of fruit and one juice option, which was always mostly water. They seemed to take no care with the food, and I was even worried it could make us ill. A pousada should at least provide comfort, decent rest, and an honest breakfast. That isn’t what we got. This was a case of “cheap that ends up costing you,” and it wasn’t even that cheap.