Quinta de São Thiago

Teresa snd Peter and the crew made our stay perfect, and we’ll be back. The place is full of history, charm, and character, set in the most gorgeous green surroundings. It’s magical. Don’t miss it!

We filmed and photographed a wedding at Quinta de São Thiago, and the whole day felt like a movie. The gardens seem to go on forever, the light was warm, and the intimate house made everything feel personal and poetic. As wedding photographers and filmmakers, we’re drawn to places with a real soul. This old house in the hills of Sintra has a quiet atmosphere, lots of character, and greenery and history all around. It has that feeling of stepping into another time, where everything slows down and the day finds its own rhythm. For a romantic, authentic wedding in Portugal with a little bit of magic, Quinta de São Thiago is a rare find.

After six months of trying in good faith to work with them, we ended up without a wedding venue, and both we and our guests suffered significant losses. Legal intervention eventually got at least our down payment back, but it couldn’t undo the stress and frustration caused by the companies’ lack of cooperation and customer care. This review is about the arrangement between Quinta de São Thiago and its exclusive vendor, Fashion Moments. Fashion Moments gave us an extremely miserable, unprofessional service while we planned our wedding. When we raised concerns, Quinta de São Thiago was largely passive, used the exclusivity clause abusively, and showed no responsibility or interest in resolving things. We tried several times to communicate openly and were mostly ignored. Our concerns about a bed bug issue at the venue mentioned in recent reviews also never got a response.

The gardens, pool, and views were the best part of our few days there. They’re absolutely stunning. Breakfast was lovely too, with meats, cheeses, bread, pastries, bacon, scrambled egg, and apple tart, served around a huge banquet table where it was nice to meet other guests. We had two adults and two children in the four bed suite for two nights. It had two rooms, four beds, and a ground floor bathroom. The hostess was lovely, and the place felt more like a family home and B&B than a regular hotel. We liked its history, antiques, quirky interior, and beautiful Portuguese and English influences. Some areas look dated and need attention, but the history and character make them easy to look past. There’s even an old tennis court, though it’s not in use. It’s outside Sintra, and the steep, bumpy, hairpin road down to it can be daunting. One note: police usually close the road when you first go to the hotel. Show or print your booking and they WILL let you through. That’s about a 10 minute fairly easy drive. If you don’t, it becomes a 25 minute nightmare drive. Getting back and forth to Sintra is difficult, so we used Bolt/Uber, which worked well since parking there is a nightmare. We also ordered Uber Eats. The hostess let us use wine glasses and cutlery, and we ate outside. They don’t cook outside breakfast hours, so keep that in mind, though they do sell cold beer. We loved our stay. It’s a unique home with wonderful gardens, a pool, and views, not a normal hotel. Some people will love that, others may not. I took hundreds of photos of the inside, grounds, pool, and view, though I can only post four.