Descobertas Boutique Hotel Porto by Aspasios

A great find. The hotel is just steps from the river on a quiet street, while many Porto hotels sit on steep roads or far from the main sights. It's easy to head out for a walk and find wine bars and restaurants. The buffet breakfast was nice too.

We left happy and full, and the staff kindly watched our bags while we went sightseeing after checkout. Breakfast was plentiful, with lovely breads, yogurt, fruit, eggs, cold cuts, beans, and pastries. It was 15€ each at the time, and we recommend it. Filipa booked us a six-bridges boat tour that we enjoyed, while Carla gave us great lunch suggestions that we loved. Carla was so helpful and we really connected with her. The lovely women on staff made us feel welcome. Carla is the best manager! The location is fabulous, just steps from the river and lively restaurants. We walked downhill from São Bento station in about 15 minutes. As is common in this part of town, taxis can't pull up to the front door. It's one row back from the waterfront on an alley street. Some rooms have a small view of the Douro River; others look onto the courtyard or alley. My father-in-law had Familiar room 304, which faced a quiet courtyard, and I had Superior room 201 with a tiny river view. The room was well equipped, and the hotel was clean and well maintained. I slept very well. We stayed on a Monday and closed the heavy, beautiful windows, so it was quiet. Weekends might be louder, so light sleepers may want earplugs. The curtain cord above the TV was hard for me to reach on one side. The honor bar fridge was quite full, but I managed to fit my water bottle in to chill it. Foam mattresses and neck roll or foam pillows might be a nice upgrade. We had a lovely one-night stay to show my family Porto. It was my third visit to the city and by far our best hotel there. I'd stay again. Porto is an old city and gets a lot of winter rain, so it may feel musty if you're not used to that. That's Porto. I left my window open while I was out on a beautiful sunny day. Thank you, Descobertas.

The room itself, 105, was modern and comfortable, but noise from the restaurant next door was unbearable. It felt as though the staff were working in our room. As first-time visitors to Porto, we'd also suggest staying farther uphill from the river, since the good restaurants, landmarks, and tours are all up there. The reservation and payment mess overshadowed our whole trip. We arrived expecting to pay for our three-night stay, but found we'd also been charged for a separate three-night booking that began the day before and that I had canceled on the website. I never got cancellation confirmation, so I emailed the same day and got no reply. A few days later I wrote again to confirm both the new reservation and the cancellation, with no answer again, though an automated email confirmed the new booking. About a week before traveling to Portugal, I copied the address from the website and emailed to confirm our Porto stay. Still no reply. Maybe that should have been a warning. Staff asked us to forward the emails, which we did. We were now charged for two bookings, over 1400 euro. They said they'd sort it out that first night, but nothing happened. The next day they said they'd handle it later that morning. When we came back in the evening, they said there was no answer yet and they'd need to speak with the Spanish group to investigate whether we had really canceled. We'd already sent emails showing the cancellation several times. It was ridiculous and ruined our stay. The stress of possibly being charged another $700 was nerve-wracking. They kept saying they were investigating whether we were liable, instead of saying they'd credit it. On our third and final day, they emailed to say the investigation was complete and the website had made a technical error. My husband and I have traveled all over the world and never had anything like this happen. We felt blamed for something that wasn't our fault. I'd be cautious about staying here or with Aspasios hotel group. Their handling of this and customer service were deeply disappointing, and I won't stay with the group again.

For our first trip to Porto, choosing Aspasios Hotel Group was a major mistake. The lack of communication when making and confirming our reservation should have been a warning, and it made the stay unbearable. We know problems can happen, but the hotel and group handled this absurdly. We were treated badly and made to feel like we were at fault. Staff said they'd look into it and resolve it by morning, but it took three days. During that time, they seemed to avoid us and grew unfriendly until checkout. Very unprofessional. I wouldn't recommend this hotel or any in the group.