Hotel in zona Badoca Safari Park, Santo André

Let’s start with the people: wonderful service, and staff that really cared about our stay. The room was excellent with a lovely ocean view, looking down upon the grounds as well. The food was excellent to boot. It’s a new hotel, but it looks like they got pretty much everything right.

This is an unusual hotel pretty much in the middle of nowhere which is part of it’s attraction. The very rough access road leads to a large unsurfaced car park outside the attractive single story buildings of the hotel itself. It needs paved pathways from the car park so cases can be rolled. The atmosphere is calm and quiet. The design is modern and attractive. There is a pleasant pool area and there are tables for eating inside and out. The outlook reminded me of South Africa. Rooms are generally well designed and generous with an outside veranda overlooking the grounds. They are let down by having no door to close off the high speck bathroom and toilet which had a poor quality cheap plastic seat. Breakfast was very good. Lunch less so. Dinner was simple but good. Throughout or stay service was very good.

Abbiamo avuto un ottimo soggiorno a Independente Conporta. Mi piace il livello di dettaglio dall'architettura fino alla decorazione. Sembra molto autentico dalla regione. Il cibo era fantasticamente buono. Io e il mio partner siamo vegetariani e durante il nostro viaggio attraverso il Portogallo abbiamo spesso avuto un tempo difficile da trovare deliziosi cibi vegetariani, dove abbiamo avuto una vasta selezione di cibi locali che nessuno di noi aveva mai mangiato. I piatti locali di carne sembravano anche molto deliziosi. Il massaggio e il relax nel bagno era davvero una bella esperienza e valeva il denaro. Raccomando un po' di guida con le biciclette elettriche. Era super divertente. Il personale dell'hotel era molto amichevole e utile. In generale, un soggiorno sorprendente, tornerà presto.

This is our 3rd (or 4th?) stay at Herdade da Matinha over the years. It has grown and changed, but kept the wonderful simplicity and farm-stay (not your usual, ‘comercial’ resort!) feeling that make it such a special place. Don’t be put-off by the dirt road - it’s a rural setting, the road is well kept and good enough, and you wouldn’t want to spoil the area with yet another tar road in such an important ecological spot. The road to Praia do Malhao is much worse but you shouldn’t miss it either, by the way! Besides the 3 sweet dogs Gina, Paz and Dino (who will disappear at night ), there are at least two cats, horses, sheep roaming in a nearby fence and some wild animals if you are so lucky to spot them. This was a bonus point with my kids. Also, it’s very safe for kids - my boys loved wondering about with a map to explore every corner. The 3 pools (one for adults only) have comfortable decks with shaded areas. Our bedroom was a ‘family farmhouse deluxe’ - simple, no TV, but spacious enough for a mother with two young kids. Breakfast is good - many options available also upon request. Dinner was very good most days - great improvements here since our last stay. Even the kids’ meal is now proper food; tasty, healthier and better balanced! My only suggestion would be to offer a choice of salad to replace the soup (even for children) and a choice of fruit to replace the desert (to help reduce the sugar intake for people staying for longer periods). It’s a set menu (with a vegetarian option), but it worked fine for us. I find laundry too expensive. No ironing is available… There’s a new art gallery in the Herdade as well - be sure to check what’s going on there. Finally, everyone is super nice, cheerful and professional. Thank you all for your commitment. We’ll be back, hopefully!