Palacio Estoril Hotel & Golf

It’s amazing to stay at the historical hotel with an old story of elegance and staff members play their role perfectly. We had a late flight back home and we could keep our room as long as we needed and use the great spa which was very lovely. The staff members are all very helpful and made our stay fabulous.

We stayed for 4 nights Half Board, we used the private car both from and to the airport which was excellent. The good points: -Evening meal in Bougainvillea was excellent on half board. -Rooms were clean and well appointed, with nice welcome tray of items. -Grand setting and interesting history -Access to Banyan Tree Spa and was excellent. -Ammar (I think) in the evening dinner restaurant was by far the most engaging member of staff I came across. The bad points: -I didn’t find reception, concierge very engaging and no one ever called you by your name (other high quality hotels manage this) -Doorman appeared and disappeared seemed very as and when. -Service staff seemed a bit indifferent, it felt service was directed at known repeat customers. -Breakfast buffet (no better than I’ve had in other lower end hotels and nothing beyond a coffee was served to you). -Breakfast staff slow with cleaning plates and coffee refills. -Lack of attention to detail, I booked a gift to my parents room for their special 50th wedding anniversary. It was delivered to the wrong room despite my instructions. I would have also expected the staff to acknowledge their anniversary to them seen as they were aware from my gift order. Not one person did. Overall I enjoyed the stay, it is a fabulous building with considerable history. I think this hotel has further to go to sustain a quality product and attention to detail worthy of it being a high end hotel. The dinners were excellent and with the spa was the most redeeming features of my stay. I would suggest manging your expectations when staying at this hotel, particularly if you’re not a regular or high roller.

Initially had booked the Intercontinental but changed our minds and decided to go for something more old skool. So glad we did. From the moment of our late arrival (they ushered us through to the restaurant so we could still eat something) to our departure we had a fantastic time. Had an executive suite which was classically decorated and super comfy. Beds were amazing though sofa bed for my son was a bit hard. Free bottle of port in the room. Breakfast had a nice little buffet selection and an egg chef. A nice start to the day. My favourite bits of the hotel - the history, which you see everywhere. The amazing spa complex which had the nicest indoor pool I’ve ever encountered. And the cosy bar where we’d have a nightcap. Exceptional service from the charming barmen. Location is great, value was top notch especially in February. A real treat. We went to the Intercontinental to have a look and it was no match for the Palacio.

Perfect welcome (like always). Don't come to HP if you like "modern cool design"! Decoration of the room is classic, best with a nice pool view. Traditional bar, great for apéritivo or afterdinner drink 🍸🍹 Renovation work is going on ("Atlantic Room" and "Four Seasons Grill" are closed). We had excellent BF 🥂 at the pool restaurant "Bougainvillea", where we also enjoyed a delicious "à la carte" dinner on arrival day: tasty "Césars salad" with prawns, "Filet Mignon", perfect! Served rare/mal passado as ordered. A bottle of red wine/3 Bagos was a great match.To finish home made ice cream 😋 As usual, the whole staff is extremly empathic and caring! The doorman, the concierge, the bellboy, the roommaids, the waiters, the managers ... are really a great team ready to take care of you 🌞 Turn down service with chocolate and weather forecast is a nice touch. Looking fwd to be back soon again⛳️

I had great expectations of staying at Palácio Estoril Hotel, Golf & Wellness in Estoril, Portugal, but sadly the reality was rather two or three star at best. The hotel itself is beautiful and the staff we came into contact with were fabulous. Breakfast: Fabulous and every possible food offering you could think of 10/10. Lunch: I didnt eat lunch and cannot comment. Dinner: We were half board and the offering was well below what one would expect in a five star hotel. Food was buffet style. We are pescatarian and love all types of fish. The meat and fish dishes were served in the same heater. Utensils placed on the same plate. Lots of cross contamination. Severe lack of vegetables. Some dishes placed on plates at the side of the heaters (food that should be served hot just left out to go stone cold). We barely managed to put a full plate together and we are not fussy eaters, we just do not eat meat. Monkfish one evening sliced so thin that it was super dry. Clam pasta served two nights out of three. The fish (other than the Monkfish) was very tasty and well cooked. Dessert: A good range of options. We don't particularly have a sweet tooth but did have dessert each evening. On the final evening we collected a dessert each and there were ants walking around the bowl. I honestly felt physically sick and was ill (depite not consuming the ants) just at the thought of what I could have eaten. The staff took away our bowls and spent time looking on the floor to work out where the ants had come from. Seriously not a five star experience. Not even a one star experience. Drinks: Good selection on the drinks menu and at the bar. On our last night we had two glasses of red wine. I asked the sommelier for a full bodied fruity red. I trusted his choice and the wine was good. Because of the ant issue we quickly signed the bill for the wine and noticed two glasses were 110 Euros. We were disappointed that we were not advised that the sommelier had picked what must have been over a 300 Euro bottle of wine but we signed the bill as I needed to get back to the room, feeling nauseous. When back at the room I was physically sick. Later we looked at the wine menu and couldnt see a bottle of this value but there was a bottle for 55 Euros which was the wine the sommelier served us. We phoned reception and it was established they had charged us for two bottles not two glasses. The bill was destroyed and we were told we would not be charged for the two glasses of red wine, partly due to the fact that we had the ant issue. Rooms: Very spacious and clean. I felt cold every evening and had to wear a fleece jacket. I did phone reception the first two nights to ask for some heating but the room temperature did not change. This made our stay quite uncomfortable. The complimentary large bottle of water was welcome on arrival but the glasses were taken away the next day so we couldn't drink it! The bed was very comfortable and the shower was very powerful. The road outside the hotel is like a racetrack at night. Very loud exhausts from racing vehicles drivint up to the Casino. This went on until after midnight. LIt sounded like a Formula One racetrack. Restaurant: Rattan Garden Furniture - very dated and in need of replacing. Bar: Lovely cocktails but cushions on furniture in here and the main reception have lost their stuffing and in need of replacing. The final straw was after returning two weeks ago I had a notification on my mobile phone of a 51 Euro debit from the hotel. I had no idea what was going on until I saw my email. They apologised that they didnt charge us for a bottle of wine on our room service bill, so they had taken the money. We never had room service in the three days. The bill included food and wine and was delivered at the same time we were in the restaurant! The food also included meat dishes and we do not eat meat. Clearly the bill belonged to anothter customer as they had paid for the food but the hotel missed off the wine charge. Not our bill and not our room service. This is not the actions of a five star hotel. The hotel therefore made two mistakes on our bill, despite being virtually empty in terms of customers, and us only being in residence for three nights. To authorise money from our credit card in this way is morally wrong. In all honesty even if it was our bill it was the hotels mistake so they should accept this and clear the charge. But it was not our bill and now we are left having to sort the issue out. I am still waiting for the hotel to respond. Overall this hotel has huge potential, it is beautiful, but perhaps they should close in low season if they cannot cope. I will be returning to Lisbon as it is a fabulous destination, but very sadly I will not return to this hotel.