My review of InterContinental Porto, Palacio Das Cardosas

When Six Senses Douro Valley had an intern rate, I splashed 180,000 points on their Vineyard Garden Suite for two nights. It ended up fitting nicely into my two-week break before starting the new job, so I planned a one-week trip to Porto and Douro Valley.

There isn’t a great deal of hotels to choose from in Porto’s city centre from the major hotel chains. The InterContinental happened to be running a 3-for-2 sale via their Luxury & Lifestyle program which I happily went on board. The rate comes with free breakfast, room upgrade and $100 dining credit etc.

The location can’t be any better, banging in the centre with the Sao Bento station just next door. Basically all the tourist attractions are within easy reach.

The hotel was once a palace, as you can probably tell from its name.

Spire Ambassadors are usually upgrade two-level to their Junior Suite. The hotel is very busy at the moment though, and the entire 4-th floor is under renovation. I’m upgraded just one level to an Executive Room.

It’s pretty much what you can usually expect from an old-fashioned luxury hotel in Europe. It’s a corner room with two aspects.

The room also features a mini-balcony on which you an go out and enjoy some view.

As I said, it’s location is super central, meanwhile the soundproofing isn’t great given the hotel’s age. This is very problematic during the night, especially an ambulance or police car passes through.

As a consequence I voluntarily asked for a downgrade to a Deluxe room with courtyard view instead. It’s more or less of the same size, with the same furnishings but much quieter.

Some desserts, including a couple of pasteis de natas are offered as the welcome gift.

Breakfast buffet’s quality is pretty good. Many hotels just totally mess up with scrambled eggs by presenting them overly dry or soggy, but they do a good job here.

There are also some items for you to order, including pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict and omelettes etc.

There’s a pretty good spread of desserts and pastries too. Even champagne is available!

On the other hand I wasn’t very impressed by the dinner menu. The octopus I got for €38 was a tiny portion:

The $100 credit cannot be applied on drinks, but can be used in conjunction with the €15 Ambassador credit. I don’t recommend eating at the restaurant unless you have the credit, as Porto has a lot of good and cheap food to offer.

The hotel features a gym and sauna room, but no spa facilities.

The hotel’s location is unbeatable, but other than that it was slightly below my expectations. If the price is right however, it’s not a bad idea to stay here.

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