Casa de Esteiro

Lovely little old-school studios tucked into nature, with really nice staff too!

The Casa de Esteios is a fantastic, well-kept space, and Sr. Tiago and the whole team welcomed us warmly. It gave mothers and children a chance to be active and have fun together, sharing joyful moments and strengthening family ties through movement.

“Decadent charm” is how I’d describe this place. The 19th-century colonial-style house holds the story of its owner and family. He was an ambassador posted far from home and spent his final days here. The history is proudly on display, and guests can enter the house for breakfast. We were struck by the collections: tableware, plates, paintings, tapestries, furniture, lamps, and so much more from Portugal’s pre-Republican colonial period. The grounds are huge, with trees hundreds of years old, including two that are 120 and 160 years old. It’s quite a squeeze getting a car through the entrance. This was once a hunting forest, with ponds, a stream, and many native and foreign plants and trees, but the greenery is clearly suffering from a lack of care. The six rooms are split between the main house, which has two, and what seems to have been a guest house, with four. Some rooms are small, but they keep the same colonial, stately style. There’s also a pool for relaxing when the beach next door is too windy. Breakfast is included and served in a wonderful main room beside the kitchen. It’s well worth having, and the stay really does take you back to the 19th century, right down to the details. Service is welcoming and very discreet. We hardly saw anyone outside breakfast. The rooms have Wi-Fi, Smart TVs and all the amenities. The “decadent” part is apparent as soon as you arrive and walk around. The gardens and paths need maintenance and cleaning, there’s no irrigation, the fountains have stopped running, and the water lilies have dried up. The trees need more care too. Even with all that, I’d recommend staying here. It’s a wonderful place that brings you back to an earlier age of splendor and bourgeois life.

The atmosphere is warm, the rooms and apartments are comfortable, and the service is simply fabulous. I recommend it! Just outside Caminha, Casa de Esteiró sits in an idyllic garden that gives you plenty of privacy and peace. The house was built in the 18th century and extended in the early 20th. It offers residential tourism at the mouth of the Minho River, 800 meters from the beach, in a protected environmental area.