Hotel Costa Linda

Nice location, right by the beach, with good views. but busy windy! and poor service.the menu has very limited Vegetarian options. A typical tourist venue. The prices are middle of the road. It attracts large bus and tour groups. It's not good for a quiet meal for 2

Fabulous location. We loved the balcony being so near to the sea. Inside, they have purposely arranged the furniture so that you can see the view from the bed in this hotel, not something to be taken for granted. And it’s an Astonishing View. Superb communication from the receptionist prior to arrival meant we could go straight into the room. The room itself was a bit tight, but it had both a small double bed and a single bed. The corner shower curtain situation could use improvement—there really isn’t a way of not flooding the floor. There was also a slight leak from the clean tap end of the bidet. Minor issues, but I feel that the staff must be aware of them already. More towels may have helped. Breakfast was table service in the upper back room of the restaurant. (If you want buffet style and the ability to have a sea view, go to Villa Bella). Breakfast was simultaneously generous and... not. We had 4 huge crusty rolls between the two of us and a selection of butter and jam, which was great, as were the 2 bananas and enormous orange to share. But compared to every other breakfast, it was a rather small plate of literally just scrambled eggs, which were not hot. Perhaps other choices (we could have ordered eggs with ham, a cold plate, a fish sandwich, a boiled egg) were better. It’s not their fault that I would have served the scrambled eggs with a bit of tomato or cheese on the side. The menu said “scrambled eggs”. The coffee was rather unfortunate because it was a real Espresso machine. We were looking forward to the only proper coffee at breakfast during our trip. Everywhere else only had instant machines. Our coffees must have been made with good intentions. Some people like watered down coffee. We should have been more clear when we ordered that we wanted strong coffee. Despite the criticisms, the overall quality of the breakfast was in keeping for this type of hotel. So this wasn’t the best breakfast in the world, but it had one MASSIVE positive attribute: The honest staff member looked after my camera when I accidentally left it behind. I am so grateful. Should guests decide to have dinner here, this is truly fabulous and romantic scenery, dining right on the seafront to the sound of the waves. There were other 4 Vegetarian options. The Stroganoff was an interesting mustard sauce. I did eat it but can’t recommend it to others. My husband had a mixed platter of 5 different fish which included Bream and Parrotfish, both of which I had seen scuba diving. Definitely fresh and locally caught!

We had a superior sea view room (room 103) – these are on the top floor. And the view is definitely superior – we enjoyed watching the waves come crashing in; some might find it noisy! There was a storm when we were there and the balcony door could not quite cope with it – we had some water coming in on the floor. But a towel soon sorted that out. Costa Linda is nice for a 2-star hotel. The bathroom is spacious. Nice big balcony with a fantastic view. It was cold in the room when we arrived so we used the electric radiator. It took a bit of time for it to heat up the room but when it did it was fine. It also took quite a long time for the hot water in the shower to arrive but you just had to run it for some time – and then it was good. There was an electric kettle and cups so you can make your own coffee. The restaurant was cold too, so we had to wear a couple of extra layers of clothing. But the restaurant was nice otherwise and the staff friendly. There is not much to do in Porto da Cruz except enjoy the views and experience the rough northern coast. But we enjoyed our two first nights of our hiking trip here.