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The Casa Melo Alvim hotel, a boutique hotel member of Unlock Boutique Hotels and Condé Nast Johansens, is located in the heart of the historic centre of Viana do Castelo.
It is the oldest urban manor house in the town, having been built in 1509 in the Manueline style. This manor house was restored with dignity and transformed into a comfortable and welcoming hotel.
The respected recuperation of the manor and its past, did not affect the personalised and careful service. The reception of the guests is done in the “Francisco Melo Alvim” Atrium which is a comforting start for the guest’s arrival at the manor. The access to the bedrooms and also the library is made up the Baroque balustrade stairwell.
The Hotel has an active environmental and sustainable tourism policy, certified by the European Eco-label and the sustainable certification Biosphere.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Boutique
Quaint
Languages Spoken
English, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Location
Avenida Conde da Carreira, 28, Viana do Castelo 4900-343 Portugal
Name/address in local language
Casa Melo Alvim Hotel - By Unlock Hotels
4.3 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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This hotel is so beautifully restored and it’s in an ideal location, right next to the train station and the funicular to the hilltop Santa Luzia, in the heart of Viana do Castelo, yet quiet and peaceful. There are many lovely spaces to sit, chat, work, play games, in the common areas. There’s a pool and patio adjacent to the bar, which also serves as the breakfast room. Important for me, due to some mobility limitations: there’s an elevator.
I stayed for five nights while my husband was walking the Portuguese Camino, and he took a rest day here and stayed two nights. Our room (202) was, I believe, a standard double room, but it was spacious and very comfortable. It was serviced daily and spotlessly clean, the bed was very comfortable, there was space to unpack and a desk to organize my things (one small drawback being the limited number of outlets, leading me to have to charge my phone next to the sink, risking it getting wet), there was a soaking tub!, and a seating area looked out the window with a view of Santa Luzia (as well as some construction and renovation or maintenance on the railroad station 😊).
Some earlier reviewers disparaged the breakfast provided. Something must have changed if their reviews were accurate (maybe their feedback inspired improvement), because the amount and variety offered was considerable: a variety of breads and cereals, spreads, cheeses, deli meats, yogurt, fruit, hard boiled eggs, hot scrambled eggs, bacon, plus juice, coffee, and tea. Quite an appetizing colorful display!
The best feature of this hotel though is the incredible staff! Everyone was gracious and always willing to help, with a smile. Daniela and Alberta were especially attentive and helpful to me, and Rui went way “above and beyond” in helping me get train tickets, arranging a massage for my pilgrim husband when he arrived, attending to special requests, giving excellent restaurant recommendations, etc. My heartfelt thanks for all the help so readily and graciously given.
I would definitely stay here again and highly recommend it.
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Date of stay: April 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our experience at this hotel was outstanding. After a long day's walk with backpacks on the Camino Portuguese, it was wonderful to be greeted by the hotel's reception staff with an invitation to take a bath and relax and then come back to the front desk with our passports to complete the check in. We were also invited to feel free to bring any hand washed laundry that we did to the front reception to be dried in the hotel's dryer and returned! The room was very attractive, roomy and comfortable. The breakfast had everything that we could possibly want and was available early, which was appreciated. I highly recommend this hotel.
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Date of stay: October 2024
Value
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Location
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Service
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Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Casa Melo Alvim, a lovely boutique hotel located in the historic centre of Viana do Castelo, Portugal, provides exceptional service and well appointed rooms. The staff are always smiling and attentive. Specifically, We need to acknowledge Rui, who checked us in, helped us move our car to the correct parking location, and speaks English fluently. We had an enjoyable conversation about dogs and cats. He’s a serious animal lover (as are we)! Our conversation with Rui was the perfect start to our vacation in Viana do Castelo! We hope to return to this wonderful hotel.
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Date of stay: July 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
These reviews are machine translated from their original language. Show machine translations?
The hotel is in a building with history as it is one of the oldest in Viana When you enter the reception area is spectacular with an impressive stone staircase. Everything was very careful to preserve that charm of the years, but well, in our case the room was a normal room, it seemed a little dark and unwelcoming, the bed a little uncomfortable and the furniture well...there were no two armchairs that could use a vacuum cleaner from time to time. I understand that they want to preserve the charm, but it is not a museum, it is a hotel and it could be a little more comfortable. I always think of the standard room, I imagine that the suites and apartments that also exist will be better, I don't know. The hotel is undoubtedly a charming hotel, different, the reception staff very pleasant. Parking issue, I think they have an agreement with a nearby parking lot regarding price. The hotel restaurant is called Letraria, you can have hamburgers, snacks, tapas and they have a wide variety of craft beers. What I didn't like very much was the breakfast area, it is a large dining room but to access the buffet you have to go up some stairs where there are also 4 low tables with sofas, which are somewhat uncomfortable when having breakfast. For what you pay and the hotel it is, it seems like a pretty average breakfast. Also comment that I saw two details that I didn't like at all and they didn't seem very professional to me, breakfast is until 10:30 and a lady asked a waitress for bacon because there was no more left and she replied that she was sorry but that the restaurant It closed at half past ten, the lady was surprised because it was a quarter past ten. If the hours are until 10:30, you can't leave your clients with shortages at the buffet a quarter of an hour before, well, at that moment the waitress came out and told him that yes, they were going to make more bacon, well, I was surprised that I brought a small plate just for that lady, when there were still more people in the dining room and before half past even more people came in (I don't justify waiting until the last minute to go in for breakfast either,) but hey, everywhere it's still getting close to the time At closing they replenish things for everyone and here I didn't think it was a good detail to be honest
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Date of stay: December 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This Hotel exceeded all our expectations. It had a excellent staff who helped us with everything we requested from Taxi help to advise on great restaurants to sites to visit. The rooms were very clean and comfortable. The breakfast was always well kept with fresh fruit and juice as well as a taste of European cuisine. Thank you so much for the great service and comfortable stay.
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Date of stay: September 2023
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Book a week here and enjoy this part of Portugal.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our apartment does not correspond to the description at all. It was a room in which they have removed a hole in the bathroom to be built in at 80 cm. wide, the thermos, the stove and the extractor (not even 80 cm separates them) and a cabinet that stores a frying pan and a minibar. You can see it in the photos. Hence the title of this message. The price and expectations given by the information about the accommodation do not correspond to what you received. I have copied the screenshot with the description that appears on the reservation page. For those who come behind, keep in mind that the bedroom and living room are not separated, that there is no way to cook because there are no utensils for it and do not think that they are going to clean the dishes you use, the sink (see photo ) is so tiny that it does not allow it to be done. Not to mention that there is nothing to scrub with. I assume there are apartments in the building that meet the description. We have paid for that description and we have not received it. Don't expect to have a phone to talk to reception or a safe in case you need it. They are in the description but not in the room. There are also no more amenities than a bottle of hand gel. Discussed with the hotel, their response was to put in a microwave that wasn't there when we arrived and a kettle but nothing more. Regarding the price, we requested either a reduction or a relocation to the apartment with the contracted features but there was no response except to give us an open-air parking lot at the back of the hotel, which we did not want because the car was in a covered parking lot. Lastly, they call themselves a boutique and putting it in a title is not enough, you have to work to earn it. Regrettable. For the first time I leave with very negative feelings and thinking that we have been scammed. To forget.
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Cerciorarnos por escrito de la descripción del apartamento
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was our second visit to Viana do Castelo, which is one of the highlights of walking the Camino Portugues. This time we stayed in 15 mostly super hotels chosen by the tour operator. The Casa Melo Alvim was the only negative one. Starting with the positives, it is a historic property and the ground floor reception area is particularly beautiful. For people arriving by train it is only one block away from the train station, which the window in our room overlooked. There is a small outdoor swimming pool which the reception staff advised was too cold to use. Upstairs the picture is different. On opening the minibar fridge it had in it two small bottles of water (fine) and a plastic box containing raw meat. I asked the reception staff to remove this and her explanation was as we had assumed, that the housekeeping staff had checked the fridge quickly to see what had been consumed by a previous occupant and had not noticed the raw meat. Clearly the fridge had not been cleaned between occupants, which was striking when other hotels were making very visible efforts to restore tourism confidence. This fact, together with the age of the mattress, made for an uncomfortable stay, which fortunately was for only one night. We weren't asked about the stay when we checked out, which perhaps was just as well.
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Date of stay: September 2022
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lack of information during Check-in. The guests before us got a long and detailed conversation, we got the most basic talk.
Old-fashioned utilities (some understandably, given the nature of the building, others like the bathtub, not so much.)
Impossible to take a bath due to a malfunction in the bathtub. Also, no slip resistant mat, and a dirty shower curtain.
Air conditioning duct full of dust. Minibar wasn't even on. Thick layer of dirt behind furniture.
Rich fauna of spiders and insects.
Dirty windows in the bedroom and at the restaurant.
Expensive microwaved food at the restaurant (Confirmed by staff)
Icing on top of the cake was, knowing my wife is pregnant, the bedroom phone wasn't even connected and there were no instructions to call the reception.
The only person who was really attentive and helpful was Fabiana, that works at the restaurant.
I complained about all of this at check-out and didn't even get a discount. The person simply tried to justify everything with the most idiotic excuses.
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Date of stay: June 2022
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Go to other place
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nice charm hotel, yet with necessary improvements. The room that was not assigned did not have the heating to work, and in terms of lighting has much to improve. The second room had air conditioning, working, and the facilities were much more pleasant As for the revival gala dinner, although the food was pleasant, it left much to be desired. There was no glamour, service very slow though the staff were very nice. Very complete breakfast. Cleaning without repairs.
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Automatically translated
Date of stay: December 2024
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place is just a block off the Camino trail. We were in room 109 which was relatively large, had two twin beds and old hardwood floors. A drawback was there just a wood door between our room and the room next door and we could hear their conversations. The guy at the front desk desk was extremely helpful. The breakfast was good.
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Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
New York City, New York13 contributions19 helpful votes
IN ENGLISH: I'm sorry for the delay, I was on vacation. There is parking for a few cars. Plenty of parking on the street. They are very nice, & they will help you. No problem.
IN SPANISH: Disculpa por la tardanza. Estaba de vacaciones. Hay parqueo para pocos autos. Muchos en la calle. Son muy Buenos & te ayudaran . No problema.
There are more places to choose from in the Viana do Castelo area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$116 - AU$193 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Estalagem Casa Melo Alvim
LOCATION
PortugalNorthern PortugalViana do Castelo DistrictViana do Castelo
NUMBER OF ROOMS
27
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