Herdade da Matinha Country House & Restaurant

Food could be improved. Staff is very nice and helpful.

Charming farmstay located in Alejentoan hills. It’s great to just relax with a book by the pool and listen to the birds and bumblebees in the blossoming orange trees, with the hotel dogs laying by. The grounds are not kept as spotless as in five star resorts, but for me, this just adds to the feeling of genuinity. The 3 km gravel access road is the same kind that you will find all over rural Europe. We had no problem driving there with a small Fiat 500. Our room was located close to the main building. It was modern, nicely decorated, clean and had a small terrace. Staff were helpful and nice. Breakfast was really good, with freshly pressed orange juice, eggs/omelets by order and a nice selection of cheese and pastries. Dinner in the restaurant was a four course set menu that changed every day. For 38€, it was quite good value with a nice selection of Portuguese dishes, tastier than dinner we had in five star resorts for twice this price (but still not at par with some of the better restaurants in Lisbon). Not everything was perfect, though. The last night of our two night stay, we were playing chess and drinking wine and beer from the bar in the lounge area. Suddenly, at midnight, we were asked to leave and go to our room immediately because they “had to close and lock the main building”. It felt a bit strange to be told, as grown up guests, to go to our room. I would also be nice if such information could be provided a bit in advance. When we got back to our room, there was a strange smell in the direction of mould/sewage. I might have been from AC/ventilation or the plumbing. Reception/main building was closed at this point. Around 5 in the morning, we were awakened by dogs running around on the premises and barking loudly. This went on for more than 1,5 hours without any apparent staff intervention.

The staff is superb, every single employee we have encountered was super professional and always with a smile. However I would like to highlight the following points: - to arrive to the hotel you need to drive for 4km off to a dirt road - dont bring you own car if you care for it - the hotel public areas are not taken care of, full of spiderwebs and dirt. Smells of humidity everywhere - there is no pool service at all, no food, no drinks and you need to go to the reception to get your own towels - food is average and highly overpriced, options are very limited specially in the evening. - we found ourselves with absolutely nothing to fo within the herdade, unless you want to go for a trail - the room was ok, not worth 180€ per night. Smells like it’s been closed for years and housekeeping staff is so loud. I would not go back