Villa d'Arcos

- just say “no” to everything when you come and it will be fine. - there is a cafe 3 min walk where you can have a lunch or dinner - washing and drying is 15 euros, we had to go look for missing clothes after that. Found it though. - you pay for suit but you can’t take a bath there. - in October, pool is so cold you can’t swim - breakfast was good, but if you like warm food at the morning it won’t work for you.

This was a quaint hotel on my pilgrimage on the Camino de Portuguese. It was chosen and set up by my tour company, Camino Ways. It was very clean. The room set up was a bit weird. There was a WC stall and the shower was in the corner of the room. It had a very large window facing the front of the building and street. There was only a sheer on the window. I could see all the way to the street while taking a shower. My dinner and breakfast were supposed to be included. I asked for tap water for dinner and was given bottled water, assuming it was included in my pre-paid meal. Nope, charged me for the water and something else after dinner. The next morning, I had a roll with my breakfast, but could not eat it. Instead of wasting it, I took it with me. The hostess tracked me down as I was checking out and charged me ANOTHER 2,50 euros. She then told me the charge the night before was for the dinner. I told her my dinner was pre-paid and showed her the voucher. She did not refund me for any of it. I cannot give this any more than 3 stars and that’s only because it was clean and had a nice pool

After a 30k walk from Porto I was exhausted and couldn’t reach the next hostel. I was warmly welcomed by the owner into a spotless, bright room and later enjoyed a wonderful home-cooked dinner. I’d read some negative reviews (not for the budget minded), but honestly, I don’t understand them—my experience was nothing but lovely.