Casa Lidador

The location is perfect, and cooling off in the pool after walking around town was lovely. It’s a cute little hotel right in the middle of Obidos. The AC is a bit noisy, and there’s also a fan from a nearby restaurant. Getting there with big bags can be awkward since check-in is somewhere else, with a steep, slippery walk. We managed, but it may not work well for strollers or older people.

The room we ended up in had historic charm and a lovely countryside view, after the staff helped sort out a problem and moved us. The room we were first given looked nothing like the one we’d chosen, and the pool was closed. We had a fantastic breakfast at the castle and met some young, friendly staff. Casa Lidador has three locations in town, but everyone checks in at one central spot by the castle. Getting there means a long trek through tourist crowds over cobblestones, and the directions we got weren’t very clear. It’s probably best to leave suitcases in the car at first. Be ready to carry your luggage several hundred meters over cobblestones and stairs. If you’re into history, this could be the place for you.

This was disappointing, and we won’t book here or at any other Pestana hotel in Óbidos again. The room had dust, odd smells, and tea served in rusty cups. The hot and cold water didn’t work properly, and some lights were out. We’d asked by email to make sure we’d get a double bed because we were travelling with a baby. They assured us it wouldn’t be two singles, but it turned out to be two single beds pushed together. On arrival, they said there were no double beds at that location. They claimed they’d called to tell us, but I don’t believe that, since there was no call on that number on one of the days they said they’d tried. The only option offered was to cancel and go home. We were told we’d be compensated with a free night, but when we went to reception, that turned out to be a lie too. Just sad this happened.

Once we found the check-in point, everything was good. The hotel itself is really nice, inside the castle walls, and the room was small but otherwise very good. Finding check-in was a real problem, though. You have to park outside the walls and haul your bags uphill, and we wandered around for quite a while. The managers should send instructions and a map ahead of time.