Casa Dos Varais, Manor House

A truly unique experience—a place rich with history and family stories. Every detail is infused with warmth and affection, making us feel as though we’ve stepped into a fairy tale. The meals are not only elegant but thoughtfully prepared. Breakfast is a symphony of flavors that instantly recalls the comfort of our grandmother’s house. At the table in Casa dos Varais, we savor the local bounty: olive oil, fresh vegetables, Douro wines, homemade jams, and honey. The living rooms, bedrooms, gardens, and balconies overlooking the Douro River all create a sense of belonging, as if we’re leaving only to return again someday.

This place has a very nice location, however everything else about it is rotten, from the shabby fake furniture and fittings to the so called hospitality. We arrived an hour early to be told we were not welcome and made to sit outside and await our prescribed arrival time, no offer of even some water in the 38°C heat, I will explain in more detail shortly. The venue is advertised as hotel, but beware - it is, by their own description upon arrival; a private house and not a hotel at all and you shouldn't expect any sort of proper service that you would expect anywhere else. We were told at reception we could drop our bags and have a drink in their garden, however once we walked around to find the said garden we were greeted by a very aggressive and rude woman (whom we later found out owned the place) that we were not welcome and were quickly marched to the entrance of the property where she proceed to berate us, shout at us and talk over the top of us to make her point simply because we were an hour early. Outrageous behaviour by a deeply unpleasant woman that has no idea how to run a business in hospitality. The general attitude of this place is that you ought be grateful to be allowed to stay in their run down and filthy establishment. I will never return and I urge anyone else thinking of staying to avoid this place at all costs. The breakfast was very poor, the rooms falling to pieces with very worn out furniture of the most basic standard. The towels were old and scratchy and it was very difficult to arrange to even use an iron. Basically, this place is owned by people that think they are some sort of landed gentry; they even have some of their tacky regalia and costumes surrounded by drawings of themselves in the lobby, which I found very distasteful, laughable even. They only rent rooms to subsidise their lack of income it would seem, they do not want people in their "house". Beware! Even with all the aforementioned issues with this property, by far the biggest problem is the awful woman that owns it. I have rarely, if ever, come across such a person with such poor interpersonal skills, let alone hospitality skills. If this is the only place available, I suggest you sleep in your car, it is preferable