Guest User
June 1, 2024
I recently returned from a three-night stay at the Penha Longa resort and was very impressed with the overall strength of the resort--the bottom line is that it's a great place. Yes, it's a bit outside Lisbon so you'll spend a bit getting back and forth to the city if that's what you're trying to do but getting an Uber was never a problem for us--and we used them frequently. The prices weren't astronomical either so that really wasn't a deterrent. As a Bonvoy Platinum member I felt that this hotel probably did the best job of any Marriott-affiliated hotel I have ever stayed at in terms of recognizing the Platinum status which was very appreciated. We received an upgrade using a Suite Night Award from the base category room to a "Garden Suite" which was drop dead gorgeous--the views, the spaciousness, the private patio outside the room--everything was simply divine. Cleanliness was perfect, toiletries by Diptyque (the Ritz Carlton standard) were lovely, air conditioning worked perfectly, and nightly turn down service was provided--which I consider the mark of a true "five star hotel." Staff at the hotel were uniformly excellent--special shout out to David Barata at the front desk who really went above and beyond to let my mother and I know all of the details about the hotel, its restaurants, nearby attractions, etc. What a wonderful asset to the hotel--I see great things in this young man's future based on how professional and customer-oriented he is! Restaurants served very good food--we enjoyed the lounge/bar as well as the Italian restaurant. Only issue is that the Italian restaurant was unexpectedly closed for dinner one night without any type of communication beforehand due to a "private event" for some conference/business group leaving little other options available besides the lounge and the ultra expensive tasting menu restaurants. Breakfast was also a very decent buffet so no complaints there. The only issue we did encounter was the fact that this hotel regularly hosts very large conferences/conventions and that was occurring beginning the second night we stayed. This led to a huge crowd gathered in the reception area, the closing of the Italian restaurant (again, with no communication to the guests or even a sign that it was closed--we found out when we walked in, were offered wine (which was for the special guests of the "private event" and then basically told to leave.) The following night when we attempted to go to the Italian restaurant (after confirming with staff that it was open) we were told we couldn't be accommodated because we didn't have a reservation and that the kitchen couldn't handle more guests at that time (despite the restaurant being nearly empty) because they were cooking for a large group's event. This need to make reservations had not been communicated to us beforehand (other than at the tasting menu/Michellin star restaurants) so we did share our concern with the manager on duty who compted us a free dinne