Santa Bárbara dos Mineiros - Hotel Rural

If you arrive at night, call the number to get the code for your room key. Apart from that, the location is peaceful ✌️ and the room is great 👍

I drove more than four hours from Braga to stay here and left feeling cheated and deceived. At 7:40 pm, I booked an Airbnb and drove another hour and a half back to Lisbon because I couldn’t find nearby accommodation at that time. I work in hospitality, and to me this was false advertising and poor customer service. I’ll make sure other travelers know what to expect. The property looked abandoned when I arrived. The grounds were overgrown, and the pool was green, nothing like the photos. I was told the spa was no longer available, even though it’s still listed on the hotel’s own website. The pictures on its website and booking platforms show poolside cabanas, a serene spa, a lovely terrace, and a nice restaurant, but that isn’t how the place really looks. If I’d known its actual condition before arriving, I wouldn’t have confirmed the booking. Check-in took about 15 minutes because nobody came until I’d rung the front desk and entrance bells several times. In room 22, I found stains on the pillows, a dirty toilet seat, hair on the floor from previous guests, and damp wallpaper peeling off the walls. The AC didn’t work. As a woman traveling alone, I felt uncomfortable and unsafe. I booked through Agoda and contacted them about the problems, but they said they couldn’t reach the hotel. I had the same trouble when I tried the hotel’s WhatsApp number and the number on the business card at the front desk. After checking in, I told an employee I felt uncomfortable and that the hotel didn’t match its own website or the Agoda and other booking listings. They said, “I’m sorry you feel that way, can we do anything?” but offered no other room or solution. The only real solution would be to be honest about the hotel’s condition. They’re refusing to refund my reservation. Being shown something that isn’t what you actually get feels like fraud.

A lovely local hotel with modern facilities and excellent service. It sits in the historic mining town of Lousal, fitting in beautifully with the newly created science museum and the quiet natural surroundings of Alentejo.

A lovely hotel out in the countryside. The rooms are comfortable and stay cool, there’s a nice little pool and bar, the food is decent, and the staff are friendly.