Pousada Castelo de Palmela – Historic Hotel

Amazing place. Everything was perfect.

Breathtaking location with magnificent views of the Setubal peninsula. One of the best Pousadas of Portugal. A "must-stay". Very professional service and superb service. Great room at moderate price. Excellent breakfast.

Pousadas are Portuguese state owned but Pestana run hotels that succeed in offering good quality accommodation at affordable prices. But sometime the add-ons don’t quite add up…for instance, they had not yet staffed up for the season and the food offering from the kitchen was not up to the same standard. It wasn’t bad, just I probably wouldn’t recommend eating there. Staff are helpful and the hotel is clean and quiet; recommended to stay.

Awesome historic Pousada, that has obviously undergone some quality renovations. Stunning views. Let down by being understaffed with low customer service. This may be because when we stayed there were only a couple of guests. We spent the evening in the bar without a bar tender who was too busy being receptionist, head waiter in the restaurant and general goffer. Shame because with better management this place could be a winner.

Great facility , mediocre breakfast that did not live up to other Posadas we have stayed in . The castle is spectacular with phenomenal views and interesting history. The staff while friendly did not appear to be “ with in “ - for example , they invited us in for a complimentary welcome drink and then when we checked out , we were charged for the drink ) they removed it )

Staff was super nice and accommodating, room was spacious and comfortable, and food was very good. And visiting the grounds next door was well worth some time. Walking around at night showed great views, which are also great during the day. A great place to relax for a night.

I visited Portugal on a group tour that included stays at three pousadas. A big takeaway from my experience is that pousadas are remarkably variable. Pousada Mosteiro de Guimaraes, was fantastic, while Conimbriga Hotel Do Paço was abysmal. This one, Pousada Castelo Palmela, was somewhere in-between. I recommend you choose your pousada carefully. The positives of Pousada Castelo Palmela are many and significant. It’s a magnificent building with fantastic views. I recommend you save some time to explore the fortress the hotel is part of, and, when weather permits, you go to the west side of the pousada’s grounds to enjoy a lovely sunset. However, the staff of this pousada could improve. I got the impression that the place was understaffed, and not all staff were fully trained. Dining was disappointing; the pousada’s restaurant has limited capacity and books up quickly, and there are few if any local restaurants to use as an alternative. To solve this, you could book half board, or reserve your dinner table well in advance. However, I don’t recommend that because, as well as being small relative to the number of guest rooms, the restaurant isn’t very good. My dinners here were frankly awful – uninspired and badly served, often cold. I recommend you go grocery shopping and bring food with you when you return to the hotel, or use Uber Eats to have your dinner delivered (as I did).

All went as expected. Room, bed and sheets were good. Breakfast was excellent. The hotel is peaceful an quiet. The room was a little cold and the heater/cooler had some extra noise. Did not bother to locate/play with the adjustments late in the night (and the front desk told us that they would have helped us if we had asked) but we went to bed instead and that was warm enough : ) Location is very nice, quiet and have wonderful views. Hotel has parking right in front of the entrance. It was quite full tough when we arrived late (23:00) but manged to get the "last free space". It seemed possible to park further below as well so you'll probably find a spot for your care in reasonable vicinity after dropping you bag at the entrance.

This is a beautiful hotel in a stunning location. The bed was extremely comfortable and we appreciated the heavy blanket on an unusually windy night. The high ceilings and traditional furniture are striking. We would have appreciated being able to make tea and coffee in the room, especially as breakfast was not served until 7:30am.