Villa Termal das Caldas de Monchique Spa Resort

“Magical!”

Villa Termal das Caldas de Monchique Spa Resort....in the Serra de Monchique park, with its healing alkaline thermal springs used in olden times by the Romans. I learned that it would open after winter holidays while I was in Portugal, so I booked two nights. When I arrived there was a lot of co... more

Villa Termal das Caldas de Monchique Spa Resort....in the Serra de Monchique park, with its healing alkaline thermal springs used in olden times by the Romans. I learned that it would open after winter holidays while I was in Portugal, so I booked two nights. When I arrived there was a lot of construction going on. I was greeted by the manager who said the resort had just been sold, purchased by a boutique hotel group, and I was the first guest since the sale. He showed me around, explaining that they were bringing the resort back to its original condition. Some things weren't ready but they were honouring reservations made prior to the sale. It would have been easier on management and staff to simply close down without exposing themselves to criticism from guests during the transition, particularly during the off season, but if they had done that, first time guests like me would not have seen the beauty and potential of this place. They were renovating and replacing furniture in some of the five small hotels. My single room was in Estalagem de Lourenco, done up nicely in neutral grays, while maintaining a quaint, historic feel with period furniture, wood casement windows, hardwood floors, and a beautiful marble bathroom (bring slippers for the marble floor!). All fresh and spotless. Two casement windows in my corner room opened inward revealing views of the side and main central courtyard where the shops and restaurants are located and gave the room a sort of fairy tale feeling. Cobblestones in the central courtyard were removed to repair root damage from the large trees. Work seemed to go quickly and I didn't find it particularly noisy or dusty. They stopped work in late afternoon anyway, so it was quiet in the evenings and during the night. When finished, this will be a lovely place for guests to enjoy a meal or wedding reception. 1692, the main restaurant, was being renovated, so meals were served in another large bright room with old stained glass doors opening onto the courtyard. The buffet breakfast had a good selection as did the a la carte menu. The waiter and chef both tried very hard to accommodate my diet requests. Muito obrigada! The O Tasco bar, with its interesting stonework, was open for drinks and light lunches with bread baked in the outdoor oven. The spa with thermal pool circuit was open, but thermal water based treatments like Vichy showers weren't ready yet. I used the thermal pool circuit several times, and had a relaxation and a therapeutic treatment, both treatments excellent. Hotel guests get a discount and unlimited use of the thermal pool circuit on the day of any treatment. When all equipment is up and running, I hope they will again offer their 3, 5, or 7 day health and diet packages. Spa staff are friendly and efficient and along with cozy robes and towels, they give you a little bag with a bottle of Monchique water and an apple....a nice touch. I loved it! This resort has an historic, small Portuguese village feel, with meandering cobblestone walkways going up into the Serra de Monchique park and chapel on the hillside, and down into the valley where the gardens, outdoor pools, spa, and Monchique water plant are located. I walked down and up lots of steps on my route to the spa - great exercise - but you can drive. I think I also saw an elevator on the spa upper level. The village, church and courtyard setting felt very romantic, reminiscent of the Mama Mia movie, minus the seaside. To me it was a magical place, and even though all was not as expected, I felt I got a lot more than good value for a reasonable price and thoroughly enjoyed my stay. It was not just me. You could see the same look of wonder at the place on the faces of some of the other guests. If planning a visit soon, maybe give them a call first to see where they are in their renovation. In my view, when finished, this will not be just a hotel and spa. There are lots of those. This will be an experience to remember. I know I will. And I can't wait until it's finished so I can return.

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“What a Find”

Having been unable to find our original booking in the mountains somewhere that GPS didn’t cover, we were recommended this place by a café in the town of Monchique. It is a beautifully quiet and calm area, a little confusing as a village, but we got help with directions and we found the Centra... more

Having been unable to find our original booking in the mountains somewhere that GPS didn’t cover, we were recommended this place by a café in the town of Monchique. It is a beautifully quiet and calm area, a little confusing as a village, but we got help with directions and we found the Central Hotel which comes under the heading of Villa Termal. We were very warmly welcomed by Anna on reception who thankfully had a room available for us for one night…..the room was beautiful, it had a side-view down the garden to the pool. The village has thermal waters as the title suggests. We went to the “spa” which was far from easy to find and certainly the outside needs a huge amount of sprucing up. We paid the nominal fee to get in where there was use of the pool (original spa waters), and Steam Room. In the evening we had dinner which was housed in a different building. It was a little chaotic and the Maitre D didn’t seem to know what he was at and the younger waiters appeared not be allowed to serve at table but only clear away, in view of the fact that there was a large group to dine this seemed counterproductive. The system was the same at breakfast. After dinner we had the remainder of our bottle of wine which we took back to the main hotel building which was beautifully furnished, but no wine glasses to be had. However, the lady on reception got us two glasses and we sat in the beautiful lounge quietly in order to finish our wine. If there was one suggestion I would make to this hotel is to have a nice piece of old furniture with some red/white wine glasses so that residents can finish their drink off in lovely surrounding and not have to take them to their bedrooms….then it would be perfect. If in the area again I would definitely stay again.

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“Where to start ?”

This place is located in a beautiful setting of older buildings. However the service and rooms aren’t good. The food is very average. Even milk, one of the basic things, wasn’t available at breakfast on the last morning of our stay! Breakfast itself is very poor, with one of the hotel employees s... more

This place is located in a beautiful setting of older buildings. However the service and rooms aren’t good. The food is very average. Even milk, one of the basic things, wasn’t available at breakfast on the last morning of our stay! Breakfast itself is very poor, with one of the hotel employees serving a tired and limited selection of food to guests from behind a cordon…no friendliness! We were v disappointed

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