Hotels near Zoo Santo Inacio in Vila Nova de Gaia

A quirky former paint factory (so they told us) set about 15 minutes walk downhill to the riverside of the beautiful River Douro, with all the cafes, restaurants and port museums. Hotel fairly grand looking and hotel staff all smartly attired. We were upgraded to a lovely suite with window overlooking the Douro. Negative for everyone else that all other rooms had windows facing into the courtyard which seemed a poor design. Buffet breakfast adequate, evening meal adequate.

Located in Vila Nova de Gaia (Oliveira do Douro), Vinha Boutique Hotel - The Leading Hotels of the World is within a 10-minute drive of Porto Cathedral and Bolhao Market. This luxury hotel is 3.6 mi (5.8 km) from Ribeira Square and 3.7 mi (6 km) from Porto Historic Center.Relax at the full-service spa, where you can enjoy massages, body treatments, and facials. If you're looking for recreational opportunities, you'll find a steam room, a fitness center, and a seasonal outdoor pool. This hotel also features complimentary wireless internet access, concierge services, and wedding services.Satisfy your appetite at one of the hotel's 2 restaurants. Wrap up your day with a drink at the bar/lounge. A complimentary full breakfast is served daily from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM.Featured amenities include dry cleaning/laundry services, a 24-hour front desk, and multilingual staff. This hotel has 2 meeting rooms available for events. A cruise ship terminal shuttle is provided at no charge (available 24 hours), and free valet parking is available onsite.Make yourself at home in one of the 38 individually decorated guestrooms, featuring minibars and LED televisions. Your bed comes with down comforters and Egyptian cotton sheets. Complimentary wireless internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with shower/tub combinations feature complimentary toiletries and bidets.

If possible, I would suggest avoiding this hotel. There were many issues with this stay. Let me attempt to break this down in a structured way: Hotel: This hotel has no Porter, no trolley cart. So if you’re traveling with a family and have bags / need baggage assistance you’re on your own. There are A LOT of mechanical issues at this property. When I went to use the urinal in the lobby the pee quite literally just poured out the bottom of the urinal and straight onto the floor as though the plumbing were not even connected. Yikes! And they admitted that they were aware when I told them they NEED to close that bathroom. The entry way automatic doors were misfiring. Randomly opening and closing. Kind of like an obstacle course. The elevator sensors didn’t work and on 3 occasions tried to eat me or my kids. At one point the elevator door closed so violently that it knocked me backwards and my 2 and 5 year old were left in the elevator by themselves. Thankfully they pressed the correct floor number. Service: As a Lifetime Titanium Elite we’ve grown to appreciate the little things that a property can do to make your stay special. That’s not really in the vocabulary for this place. For starters, we booked 2 rooms because we knew that with 2 kids and 3 adults we needed to have space. Despite reaching out to the hotel and letting them know that we’re a family traveling together they tried to put us on 2 separate floors. Cmon. Also we submitted our Suite Night Rewards which is a voucher that you earn and it entitles you to a suite upgrade if one is available. Not to be confused with just “expecting” an upgrade. Oddly (and against company policy) they redeemed our Reward but then didn’t give us a suite because they claimed that only the room that the person with the status was staying was eligible. Sorry, but that’s not even remotely true. It’s like saying that you can only redeem your points for the room you’re saying in. 🤣 And let’s talk about the little things. Water. Guests with status are entitled to 2 bottles of water per night. I’ve stayed at over 100 properties. Congratulations AC Porto on being 1 in 100 in the worst possible way. They refused to give us water and advised that we could buy it from the mini bar. We were given 1 bottle per room. So 2 total bottles of water for 5 guests. For 1 night. If you have status and you’re reading this, I apologize for making you spit out your coffee. But seriously. It’s bizarre. You have to stay 75 nights per year to earn Titanium status so there’s a lot of revenue being fed to the chain. It’s a bottle of water for fffffs sake. Oh and again, for folks with status, you’ll know that you receive a welcome gift. It’s either points or breakfast. Here at the lovely AC Porto their breakfast is €15 per person, and the Welcome Gift is €10 credit. So in essence they’re giving you 1/3 of breakfast. And that’s only for ONE room. They do not extend that amenity to the second room that we paid for. Room: S

Me and my family are planning a holiday to Algarve, but as direct flights don’t run everyday to Faro, we decided to make a 3-day short trip at Porto before heading to Algarve. We saw Almada Domus on Expedia and decided to stay there as the photos look pretty and it describes its location as very central to all tourists attractions in Porto. Unfortunately, after we made the booking we realised that the hotel is actually located some blocks away from the main streets and requires a short climb uphill to get to, which will be a challenge for my husband who suffers from recurring Achilles tendinitis that makes walking difficult and would require walking aides. On the same day, within 2 hours after making our booking, I emailed the hotel to enquire about cancellation. I explained to Fabio (which I assume is the manager/ owner of the hotel) about my situation and at that time he seemed to be willing to accommodate my request but advised me to contact Expedia directly. I then spoke with Expedia and was told that they can do a free cancellation upon confirming with the hotel that they’re ok with it. Over 20 emails back and forth with the hotel since last evening, and this morning Fabio abruptly changed his tone and said he will not allow a free cancellation and we will have to pay a 50% penalty, as the booking is now “outside the 2-hour cancellation window”, and it would be “unfair to other guests” (even though I did contact the hotel about cancelling within 2 hours after making my booking, hoping to minimise the impact on their business). I was also told by Fabio that “Porto is a hilly city like Lisbon, which are not friendly for people with walking difficulties” and said but we can Uber everywhere…. I was very shocked with his last comments and obviously disappointed that he was unwilling to help even though he said he would at the beginning when I first contacted.

We stayed at this hotel in October 2022. We had room #303. The good : Check-in was fast. The staff at the lobby is great. Friendly and helpful. The room was very clean, there is a mini-fridge and a safe in the room. No carpet. Nice bathroom with good water pressure in the shower, but water temperature varies a lot. The room has a small balcony and big windows that let the light in the room. The bad : Not a real king bed, just two single beds next to each other so it was not a very comfortable arrangement. There are no USB ports available in the room. Wi-Fi was not reliable at all in the room. The TV volume was blocked at 10 (out of 60) so we could not really watch TV because volume was so low. We call the front desk and they sent somebody to check and since there was really a problem he told us that they would have to replace the TV, which could take some time. Since it was already late we simply declined and went to bed! The location of this hotel is not the best. Nothing much around, the neighborhood seems a little sketchy and the view from the room is simply depressing.

Great concept, excellent transport links. Really liked the vibe and local neighbourhood had good places to eat

A five-star hotel, with lots of swimming pools and a beautiful scenery! The Atlantic Ocean is behind this hotel! It's 10 minutes' walk away. It was a pity that I was busy with work and had no chance to swim!

I may as well start my review with the only negative I could find. This was the smoking area directly outside the hotel entrance. So as soon as you open the door to go in cigarette smoke also went in. And now the good parts without a doubt, the hotels, biggest attribute are the staff. Our week started with a very warm welcome reception from a young man who was very polite and very helpful. Unfortunately, I have forgotten his name. But I guess that doesn’t really matter as it is a recurring theme during our entire stay . One young man who needs a special mention who works behind the bar, told me he was only 20 years of age, which I didn’t believe as he is one of the most honest, trustworthy and sincerest of persons I have the fortune to meet. It just goes to show that not all young people have attitude . Now I have to say that everybody who works behind the bar was fantastic and polite. so on behalf of my wife and I would like to thank you all. But Andre Martins you are a superstar from my heart you deserve a pat on the back and a promotion. One day my friend I’m sure you will be manager. Absolutely nothing was too much trouble. The management should be very proud. The room was fantastic overlooking the river was clean and tidy with plenty of room. On occasions we ate at the hotel and every time wife was running out of wine someone came to pour some from her bottle. Her exact words were she felt like a princess it was nice that staff mad us both feel very special. The food was very nice and we both would recommend. In due course we shall return to the hotel as it was well situated. Thank you to all an absolutely fantastic start to our tour of Portugal.

Location was about 5 mins drive from Vila Da Nova Devasas train station and 10 mins walk to Camara Gaia subway station. It’s not that close to Porto city centre. You got to Uber or walk everywhere. No free water in room unless you’re a Hilton Honors Silver member and above, and that’s only for the 1st bottle. Items like cotton pads and vanity kits were not restocked unless requested. Hand towels were also provided on the first day only. Dental kits have to be requested as well. Kinda disappointed based on the fact that it was a stay for our honeymoon but even so water was chargeable at 6 Euros per bottle because I was only a Blue HH member. Towel racks were not available, only hooks. Otherwise great service from the ground staff who could speak English except for a waitress who couldn’t understand “no ham no bacon” for our omelettes! Simple breakfast served daily. We were also given a small cake to celebrate. Thanks for the stay.

I would like to make a comment on the Novotel because I was really surprised by the positive, I was going without great expectations, I saw some comments that mentioned the old and lack of modernity, and that is not the reality. The hotel is wonderful. The entrance is huge, staff are super friendly and make it easy to stay. We stay in a room with sea view. With a good bathroom, with a large bathroom. The room's closet is huge! The room was very nice, with a decoration, and cozy. The room was air conditioned and a mini bar included in the price of all the drinks of the room. The restaurant was very beautiful. The pool was very good. The water was always brown. I assessed the Novotel with a 9 and I don't give a 10 for the size of the pool. It is a very good hotel and looked for families with children, which makes the pool always full. As for breakfast, I also want to give a praise, because it is quite varied and they never let things end. I liked it very much