Douro Palace Hotel Resort & Spa

My wife and I stayed for three nights. The location was breathtaking, the staff were friendly and accommodating, and the room was very nice and clean, with a balcony offering views of the Douro River, which in my opinion is one of the hotel's best features. We were able to watch the sunrise. The breakfast buffet and the food at the restaurant were great. Thanks to everyone who made our stay extra special. We would definitely come back. 🙏 P.S. Be aware that the price of items like water and drinks tends to be on the higher end, and tipping is also suggested on the restaurant bill, which in my experience is not typical in Portugal.

Amazing views, nice outdoor and indoor pools! Lovely glass balconies. Good sauna and steam rooms. Nice decor, territory to walk around, good WiFi. Spa needs some proper toiletries, not just soap. Bedding needs improvement. Breakfast offers variety and lots of fruit, but the worst Scrambled eggs ever - looks like something cooked and left out for 3 days.

This will be an extensive review! Pros: - General service was really good, everyone was super friendly and the rooms were extremely clean everyday - The view is stunning, the garden as well, 100% book the room with a view - Large room with large bed and great balcony to enjoy the view in private - Breakfast is great, everything you need - Large outside swimming pool, inside pool is too small for the amount of people in the hotel Cons: - The (dinner) food was really really bad, we ordered room service on day one. We had a chicken with carrot rice and a steak with potatoes. The chicken was the worst ever, I honestly don’t know why you would prepare chicken like that. Extremely dry, no flavouring/sauce/spices. The rice that came with it was nothing to write home about as well. It literally was one dry white chicken breast on a plate with some rice on the side 😂. We laughed when we saw the plate. The steak was fine but just because it was good meat. Makes you wonder if they actually use that beautiful garden full of spices and veggies or that it is all for show 😉 - There is a beautiful train station downhill, take the train it is wonderful! But when we tried to call the reception to get us a taxi to go back up, we couldn’t get someone on the line for 45 (!) minutes. We called 5 times. - You need to wear swimming caps for the pool, really? 🙃 These are subjective points: - Room styling is a bit on the classic American business side, not very romantic but it is what you prefer - Restaurant and bar also feel very “cold”, not romantic. That’s why we ordered room service.