Evora Hotels with Gym

We spent 2 nights here arriving by train and a short taxi ride from the train station. The Taxi only accepted cash which I did not have. I expected the driver would receive payment by credit card. So, my first encounter with the receptionist was to charge the fare to our room and provide currency for the driver. The receptionist telephoned the manager whom did not accept this arrangement. However, Antonio the receptionist went above and beyond in service by giving me 5 euros for tip and fair of his own money. I was so impressed by the gesture of this staff but not the management. I repaid Antonio with in minutes of finding an ATM machine and gave him double the amount he lended me. Another impressionable staff was Nelson whom treated us with exquisite service at the bar and at dinner. He deserved and received a direct tip that he wouldn’t have received if given through management. Management might want to take note of these performers as quality staff that reflects on the hotel service in a positive way. For breakfast the staff was indifferent and unenthusiastic. The higher end rooms here are large enough with sp**** decor and furniture. The floor is exposed grey concrete with no rug or tile coverings. It looks like it is still unfinished construction when contrasted with the pleasant marble bathroom walls. Good environment control with proper AC, fan, heat function. Bright room with large windows and window coverings that has an option for blocking the strong sun. The facility has both inside and outside small pools with recliners. The restaurant and bar is suitable for wine, cocktails, and reasonably valued food options. The location is walking distance to main tourist attractions in this small town.

We loved this hotel. Stayed here with my 18 year old daughter for one night on our way to the Algarve. It was lovely. The rooms are spacious and beautiful. The pool is perfect and food excellent. The service was excellent as well. Only one small problem- ants in the bathroom. I reported this to the staff and they apologized and thanked me and said they would take care of it. They also recommended an excellent restaurant for dinner nearby.

First the good. Most of the staff are very nice. The bar and restaurant area are pleasant and so is the pool area. Water pressure in the shower is good. However, this is not up to 4 star standards. The rooms are dated. The doors don't fit properly and there are gaps. It is the first time I have seen a shower curtain over a bath in an hotel in many years. The TV is a very small free standing TV. There is a terrace but it only has one chair. On our second day after housekeeping had been we were faced with stained bath towels, we took them back to the housekeeping room but there was noone there so we swapped them with unstained ones. Certainly not acceptable in any class of hotel. The restaurant is nice and the food is good, but only buffet. Breakfast is extremely noisy because the hotel caters to coach parties and conferences. The breakfast food is nothing great but ok. The pool area is nice but although there is a member of staff in the pool bar area you have to get dry and dressed to go into the hotel to get food and drinks, not really great for a supposed 4 star hotel. The pool also was full of flying ants,/mosquitos on the first day, although there were a few less on the second day.

Not a great start but did get better through the 4 days. Our arrival was frosty, especially madame manager who couldn’t crack a smile for her customers. Next it’s a 4 star hotel that wanted payment for the room upfront. Then they didn’t accept Amex and finally, laundry service was suspended but they could give us the details of do it yourself launderettes in the town. Not a good start to our expensive stay. That said we had a very nice bungalow, well maintained and a nice cool retreat from the blistering summer heat. Great shower pressure, comfortable beds. All the important things for a vacation. The weird process of having to book specific times for breakfast and dinner didn’t make much sense, especially since there were never more than 4 tables occupied for the times we were there. Could be a process still in place from the pandemic. The jewel was the roof pool and solarium. A lovely place to chill after tourism. The staff we engaged with were very nice and helpful. It’s a shame our initial experience was tainted by management and some obscure policies you’d not expect for a hotel with 4 stars.

This hotel is amazing! The rooms are spacious and very clean, the restaurant is great, there is an indoor pool, a sauna and a gym and the outside areas are also great. You don’t need to leave the premises. What makes this a five star rating: twice a day the rooms are provided with water. At the end of the day they will bring biscuits by, the restaurant is open all day (great when traveling with kids) - also for room- and pool-service. There are many activities for kids and they provide the cutest little presents for babies by arrival. They just have much attention for detail and really make an effort to make your stay pleasant! Make sure you don’t mind kids, since there are many of them ;)

What I liked: 1. When I first walked in … my impression was ‘Wow’. A sleek and modern lobby and a open concept restaurant really made the place look amazing. 2. While I didn’t use the pools. There were a lot of choices. I think there were 4 pools and they all looked nice. 3. The included dinner at the hotel restaurant with my Globus tour was more the same type of meal I could get in North America. I generally want to try the local cuisine. However, there was a lot of choice with the buffet and a very pleasant experience. The breakfast the next morning also had a lot of variety 4. The rooms were clean and modern What could be improved/didn’t like: 1. The check-in at this hotel needs a lot of work, especially when dealing with bus tours. However, I think a lot of their business are bus tours since I noticed a very large parking lot with several buses next door. We went to our room and discovered it didn’t have two twin beds. This was a communication problem with Globus and spoke to our tour guide after this issue. We phoned reception and told them the situation. We asked for someone to come to the room because it seemed to be a long walk to get back to reception. After about 10 minutes, someone arrived from reception and walked us to the new room. We weren’t too thrilled since it was directly in front of this “wall of heat’ that we passed by when getting off the elevator. The new room also had a lousy view compared to the first one that overlooked the pool. We specifically asked the reception person to make sure that are luggage comes to the new room. She told us not to worry, but sometimes it takes a bit of time. We waited for more than 40 minutes and then thought – maybe they sent our luggage to the old room. I went back and it wasn’t there. We called reception and finally got our luggage more than an hour after checking in. This time there was somewhat of an apology since it was the same reception person who said it would be sent to the new room. She admitted that she forgot, and we respected her honesty. Originally, she seemed annoyed when taking us to the new room and only seemed concerned about whether we used the washroom in the old room. When we met people from the tour and told them about the situation, they said there is a ton of luggage in a small back room that hasn’t been delivered. This lack of organization and efficiency took one hour of out of our vacation time. 2. The front of the hotel is glass and looks very modern. But when you pass by the corridors that are in the front of the hotel facing the street versus the back facing the pool – the temperature is so hot it is noticeable. I think the hotel tried to put some type of additional wall to block the heat. However, it isn’t enough and there needs to be more air conditioning in the corridors to keep the place at a proper temperature.

The hotel is a bit away from the historic center but within walking distance. Parking on side streets was a breeze. It has all the amenities of a 3 stars hotel. Reception was courteous and efficient.. We had a pleasant and uneventful one night stay.

Second visit to this hotel. Stayed in the Room Deluxe Suite in the Convent first time which had a large terrace offering spectacular views of the area. We would have booked it again had it been available. The Deluxe Design room was also very good and comfortable. The staff were all very friendly, helpful & efficient. Dinner in the Divinus restaurant was just as enjoyable as on our first visit as was the breakfast buffet. The lighting and colour scheme created a soft clean atmosphere in what could otherwise have appeared as a cold Cloister area. Would recommend a visit to the church - beautifully restored.

We had spent 3 nights at this Hilton and we got a top rate service, starting from the reception, with Moises, Raquel, Davide, the room services are excellent, as the different restaurants, where I remember just Celso, Diogo, Paolo. The breakfast display is amazing. The rooms large with excellent beds, plus free cover parking for gold members. If in Evora don’t look around this is the place.