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4.5
#2 of 5 hotels in Santiago do Cacem
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
The hotel comprises ten highly comfortable rooms, made up of five double rooms and five twin rooms, one of which is adapted to people with limited mobility, as well as a spacious, fully-equipped, two-bedroom country house accommodating up to 4 people. All the accommodation units are individually and tastefully decorated, with a private terrace. They are equipped with air conditioning, minibar, soft background music, cable TV, internet, hairdryer, bathrobe and slippers, quality amenities, and courtesy mineral water on arrival.We have a heated swimming pool for children and for adults, an outdoor fitness circuit, a Paddle-tennis court, Kart-cross vehicles for guided tours, and bicycles. The wide variety of services offered, the excellent location in the middle of the Alentejo country-side but with easy access to the finest beaches of the Alentejo coast and sites of historic interest such as the Roman ruins of Miróbriga, as welwellas the fact that we are next to the newly-created Vicentina route, a hiking route between Santiago do Cacém and Sagres connected to international walking routes and to the pilgrim way to Santiago de Compostela, all make Monte Xisto Rural Hotel a unique and unforgettable experience.
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
Quaint
Great View
Languages Spoken
Portuguese
Location
Herdade do Juncalinho - Vale das Eguas Vale de Água, Santiago do Cacem 7540-610 Portugal
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Marvelous place. Decorated with taste. We are a family of four and stayed overnight. We enjoyed the delicious "table d'hôte'. Friendly and efficient staff. We'll definitely come back next time we are in the area or for a romantic couple escapade.
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip 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.
An outstanding hotel set in the peaceful Alentejan country side. Surrounded by cork oak forests and close to the Atlantic coast with its many outstanding surfing beaches. This is great destination for those who enjoy the natural world. We watched golden eagles in a valley with stunning wildflowers and swarms of clouded yellow butterflies. We enjoyed a taster menu of 10 local dishes follow by a delicious steak on Valentine's Day. Spotless accommodation in bungalows near a wonderful infinity pool. Staff were very attentive and helpful.A wonderful spot to enjoy real Portugal. Muito obrigado Monte Xisto
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Date of stay: February 2017Trip 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.
Perfect staff and service, relaxing location in a quiet rural environment. A short trip to silence and only 20 minutes drive to the coast or 90 minutes to Lisbon. Breakfast and Dinner are a surprise and celebrated with a lots of love. More than we could have wished for! Thanks for the great hospitality.
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Date of stay: April 2019Trip 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.
We booked the last two rooms on the day we were travelling north from the Algarve. One of the main attractions was the restaurant, and there was no mention of a problem at the time of booking. Shortly before arriving we rang to explain we would be arriving later than the planned 6pm and were told, without any apology, that the restaurant was closed because of a staff shortage. We asked the man on reception to recommend a good local restaurant. He said he would ask the owner, and they would advise us when we arrived. It turned out that he had booked us into a restaurant, the Trinca Espinhas, half an hour's drive away. The food was not bad, and the beachside location would have been superb, except for the enormous power station overlooking the restaurant and the petro-chemical complex a mile or so away along the beach, burning waste gas into the atmosphere. The canvas chairs were soaking wet and the staff were unfriendly. The hotel itself is pleasant, if rather quirky, but the smell of oil from the water in the shower was not welcome.
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Date of stay: September 2016
Location
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.
We stayed mid week for two nights and were the only guests. The location is very peaceful. Our room was clean and the bed comfortable. Breakfast was very good but the dinner was superb! João is an excellent chef and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening meal. We would like to return.
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Date of stay: June 2018Trip 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.
The Hotel Monte Xisto is only 15 Minutes from Santiago de Cacém and just outside the small town of Vale das Éguas but this town was not on our Michelin map nor was it recognized by our GPS. However, the Hotel web site does give the GPS coordinates of Latitude: +37° 54' 18.73 and Longitude: -8° 38' 34.30. As a final resort, even if you don’t speak Portugese, as long as you pronounce Xisto (pro: Shisto) correctly, the kind people in the village can direct you and it is definitely worth the adventure. The hotel is situated behind an immense gate in a white wall. The main building is surrounded by gardens with the reception on the main floor, roof terrace above and dining room and pools below. A bridge crosses a small stream, linking the guest rooms to the main building. However, there is no need to take your luggage this route as the driveway, on slightly higher ground runs right over to the guest units. The room was large with a lovely modern bathroom and for once I didn’t have to worry about getting water all over the floor when using a Shower in Europe. The terrace that comes with each room is a very nice feature and the work area was very good although I did have to slide the TV to the side and move a vase to be able to use it. The hotel is in an area of large farms with cattle, horses and sheep but we heard nothing in our room. The bathrobe and slippers provided by the hotel were very welcome as the tile floors do get cool at night. We had arrived at the hotel traveling from Spain and didn’t realized there was a one hour time change so we arrived for dinner at 8:30 p.m. by our watches, one hour early. However, the staff at reception made us very comfortable in the sitting area and even took us down for dinner 15 minutes early. We thoroughly enjoyed the hotel restaurant, Salpicos but be warned, dinner when we were there consisted of 7 courses plus dessert and only two of them could be considered tasting sized portions. So if you don’t think you can eat his much, be sure to warn the chef-owner João, in advance. The restaurant is definitely worth a visit. The seafood is wonderfully fresh and the meat just melts in your mouth. All dishes are well prepared and beautifully presented. Our server that night was a little inexperienced but charming and attentive.
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Date of stay: March 2014
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
Wonderful place in the middle of nowhere. Peaceful, charming and refined. I assume it must be top of the range among these popular Portuguese villas, consisting on a main building intended for general services (restaurant, reception, chill-out,...) and several "cabin-rooms" at some walking distance. Personnel were friendly, smiling and helpful. Very good quality breakfast. This is a four stars rural hotel and you first notice it in the rooms, stylish and modern. You clearly see that this is a brand new place. Maybe the mini-fridge is a little bit noisy at night... But in my opinion the most important thing is how well tranquility is preserved. Surrounded by nature and covered by a sheer sky is easy to find some time for dozing by the pool in the morning sun or just stargazing at night on a cool breeze. You absolutely need a car to discover the beautiful unspoiled beaches of the surroundings (25 kms. to Porto Covo) and a good map (or GPS) to find your way back :-). Just one small punctilious suggestion: the paddle court and the fitness track don´t fit very well in the relaxing and quiet environment described above... I would plant some more trees instead.
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Date of stay: August 2012
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Room number 10 seems bigger. And it´s also the furthest from the parking lot.
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 is a rural hotel and when we booked it hadn’t had any recent reviews. I took the plunge and came to regret it.
The owner seemed to be triggered by my family from the beginning, making weird comments, which I overlooked as a quirky sense of humour. At one point, he told my eldest child he was likely a better person than my youngest (6 years old boy) ‘who was properly annoying’. He had just asked him a question. Like any 6 year old he takes things literally, so he was really offended.
We had booked 5 nights but eventually decided to checkout two nights earlier because of an incident with the owner during breakfast. The owner approached our table asking my kids how living in Taiwan was like. We said fine to which he replied (note that my kids are 11 and 6) by asking if we weren’t afraid it might be taken back by China since it’s a non existent country which is in fact part of China, and so on and so forth… I tried sharing a different perspective having lived in the region for more than 10 years, but he was overwhelmingly against my ‘opinion’ (asked my kids if I was always this opinionated and stubborn…) so I told him I was really not up for an argument like this during breakfast, and we should just stop the conversation. He was completely infuriated, told me I was rude for dismissing him like that, asked me if I knew who he was, eventually that he would be charging the espressos I had asked for during breakfast (wow!), and proceeded to diminish me to the other guests sitting outside the dining area.
It was an appalling behaviour, totally uncalled for. I have no explanation for it. My kids were super nervous. I checked out as soon as I could pack my stuff. He obviously retained the payment I had made in advance for the 5 nights (he forgave my coffee debt…) - so I lost 520€. But I couldn’t stay there any longer after that. Some attitudes are just unacceptable and I didn’t know what else to expect.
A few comments on the hotel itself:
It’s located in an isolated area, about 20-25 minutes from Porto Covo.
Rooms are spacious enough. I had booked one bedroom with an extra bed (since I’m travelling with two young boys) but was asked if I would take two bedrooms instead, paying 30€ still for the extra bed and another 10€ to make it worthwhile for them… I didn’t really value this offer that much (maybe this offended the owner…?) but wondered if it was a small bedroom thus justifying the ‘offer’… They hadn’t even added the required extra bed assuming I would accept the suggestion… which I felt compelled to do…
We were given two interconnected bedrooms (twin and double) with balconies/terraces facing the back (garden/pool area). Decoration is a bit ‘oppressive’ (too much going on) and ‘tacky’ for my taste. Bathrooms are fully equipped and have many hangers of all sorts, which is great. The shower cabin is a bit on the small side.
Laundry is appallingly expensive! This is actually a trait within Portugal’s hospitality sector. Hotel units really need to address this issue - if you want people to travel the country and stay for longer periods, offer proper laundry services!
Breakfast is ok and it’s served from 9 to 10:30. Fruit was sliced. They also serve scrambled eggs, bread, cake, cereals milk and soy drink, coffee, juices, etc.…
We didn’t have dinner there - it’s a bit of a bother having to book in advance not even knowing what will be served (or the price to pay, for that matter - that info wasn’t shared with us).
Gym is a small, hot wooden cabin stacked with old treadmills and a couple of weight machines… not inviting.
Staff is nice and available. My only comment is that the cleaning team insisted on cleaning the bedrooms while we were having breakfast (ignoring the ‘do not disturb’ tag hanging on the door knob) and would insist on finishing even when we explained we really needed to get ready and leave because we had something booked (or because we were leaving on the last day there).
Overall, the whole experience was unbelievably awkward and unpleasant. I won’t go close to Vale das Éguas for as long as I remember this event.
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip 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.
A really good hotel. Nice room, beautiful garden and pool. Very good food. The staff are very kind and incredibly helpful. We were a group of seven people who cycled Rote Vicentina. Perfect for us. We vill go back!
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Date of stay: October 2019
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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.
On my way to the North on Rota Vicentina, I spent one night in this hotel and was delighted with the quality and friendliness of the service. The hosts were so kind as to prepare dinner for me alone. Breakfast was simply gorgeous. Highly recommended.
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Date of stay: May 2019Trip type: Travelled solo
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.
There are more places to choose from in the Santiago do Cacem area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$247 - AU$353 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
PortugalAlentejoSetubal DistrictSantiago do Cacem
NUMBER OF ROOMS
10
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Are there any historical sites close to Monte Xisto Hotel Rural?
Many travellers enjoy visiting Historic Center of Porto Covo (14.3 km), Sítio arqueológico da Palmeirinha (13.7 km), and Cemiterio dos Mouros (15.0 km).
