Accommodations in Lisbon and the Algarve

We can heartily recommend all of the places we stayed. Some were more modern and upscale (Vicentina Hotel in Aljezur, Bowen Luxury Suites in Lagos, Loulé Jardim in Loulé), some on the funky side (Selina Milfontes in Vila Nova de Milfontes, Ponte Romana in Silves), and some exuded old-world charm (Ondazul in Zambujeira, Residencial Marés in Tavira). All were clean, comfortable, and, most importantly, centrally located. I’ve learned from past travel that location matters more than anything else. I like to be in the middle of things, to step out into a lively neighbourhood, and to have at least one eatery just around the corner.

I may have already said this — we were not interested in 5-star hotels. I find big-box, brand-name places distasteful and impersonal. I don’t need a huge room and fancy furnishings. I like a hotel to be a reflection of the culture that surrounds it. I like small (“boutique,” if you must), family-run places, when possible, where you get a sense they’re genuinely happy to host you. Most of our places were like this.

We booked all of our accoms through Booking.com except the Ponte Romana, which was through Expedia. While I prefer to book directly with a hotel (they don’t pay fees that way), the advantage of the booking site is that you can pay a little extra for being able to cancel on short notice. This was important to us, considering Covid and our age. For cancel-ability, the cost was a little higher than if the booking had been nonrefundable. The prices I list are for fully-refundable reservations. Rates change with the season, and, of course, over time. "Total price" means the total for the number of days spent at a hotel, not the price for one night. Note that prices were noticeably lower in Silves and Loulé, which are inland and off the well-beaten tourist track.

In Lisbon and in Lagos, the two places where breakfast was not included, we found fabulous breakfast places very close by — right next door to our Lisbon hotel was the Copenhagen Coffee Lab, and around the corner from our Lagos hotel was the Black & White Café. We spent about €8-12 for breakfast when we had to buy it. When breakfast is included, the value of an accommodation becomes exceptional. Breakfast was similar at all of our hotels, usually a buffet that included several kinds of cooked eggs, a variety of breads and croissants, cheeses, cured meats, fruit, juices (often freshly squeezed orange juice from local oranges), yoghurt, granola, cereals, baked sweets, and a coffee machine that served a variety of espresso drinks. A tray of teas was always available, and I was pretty happy with the black tea that is my mainstay in the morning. Elly found the coffee good.

A note of some importance: every one of our places had AC, all but one in the form of a heat pump with remote control, just like the one I have at home. We definitely needed the AC!

(I didn't always remember to take photos of the rooms, but there are a bunch at the bottom, probably more than anyone wants to see.)


Lisbon — Oct 2, 3, 4
Alfama-Lisbon Lounge Suites
Check-in: 3 pm; check-out: noon
Total Price: €327.51     + charge to be collected at property: €12 city tax    breakfast extra
Escolas Gerais 38, Alfama, Santa Maria Maior, Lisbon, 1100-213, Portugal
Phone  +351 913 742 935
Recommended breakfast, right next door: The Copenhagen Coffee Lab


Vila Nova de Milfontes — Oct 5
Selina Milfontes (hostel)
Check-in: 3-11 pm; check-out: 8-11 am
Total Price: €78.21    includes breakfast    
Rua dos Carris 9, 7645-242 Vila Nova de Milfontes, 7645-242, Portugal
Phone  +351927514681


Zambujeira do Mar — Fri Oct 6
Ondazul
Check-in: 4-7 pm; check-out: 8:30-11 am
Total Price: €80    includes breakfast    
Rua da Palmeira lote nº1, Zambujeira do Mar, 7630-794, Portugal
Phone  +351283961450


Aljezur — Sat Oct 7
Vicentina Hotel
Check-in: 5-10 pm; check-out: 8-11 am
Total Price: €81    includes breakfast    
Av General Humberto Delgado S/N Junto Aos Bombeiros Voluntarios, Aljezur, 8670 -001, Portugal
Phone  +351282990030


Salema — Sun/Mon Oct 8, 9
Hotel Residencial Salema
Check-in: 2 pm; check-out; 11 am    
Total Price: €180    includes breakfast    
Rua 28 de Janeiro, Salema, 8650-200, Portugal
Phone  +351282695328


Lagos — Tues/Wed Oct 10, 11
Bowen Luxury Suites
Check-in: 4-8 pm; check-out: 11 am
Total Price: €198    breakfast not included    
Rua da Amendoeira nº 47, Lagos, 8600-685, Portugal
Phone  +351 917 427 387

Recommended for breakfast, 2 short blocks away: Black & White


Silves — Thur Oct 12
Ponte Romana
Check-in: 2 - 9 pm; check-out: 11 am
Total Price: €55.29 (may be surcharges)    breakfast included
    note: MUST call hotel at least 24 hours in advance to confirm arrival
Horta da Cruz Ladeira de S. Pedro, 8300-033 Silves
Phone  +351 965 441 476


Loulé — Fri Oct 13
Loulé Jardim
Check-in: 3 pm; check-out: noon
Total Price: €69    breakfast included    
Largo Manuel de Arriaga 25, Loulé, 8100-665, Portugal
Phone  +351289413094

Tavira — Sat Oct 14, 15
Residencial Marés
Check-in: 3 pm; check-out: 7am-noon
Total Price €146.38    breakfast included    
Rua José Pires Padinha, 140, Tavira, 8800-354, Portugal
Phone  +351 281 325 815


Lisbon (part 2) — Oct 16, 17
Alfama-Lisbon Lounge Suites
Check-in 3 pm; check-out noon
Total Price: €232.20    + charge to be collected at property: €8 city tax     breakfast extra
Escolas Gerais 38, Alfama, Santa Maria Maior, Lisbon, 1100-213, Portugal
Phone  +351 913 742 935

 

 

Lisbon: Alfama-Lisbon Lounge Suites:

The only sign for our Lisbon hotel

To the hotel door -- watch for trams!

Our second room, much like the first, in the Lisbon-Alfama Lounge Suites. We're at roof level, hence the beam. The rooms are all on the street side; the suites are on the garden side. The rooms are huge by European standards.

Lisbon bathroom, probably the least modern of all of our bathrooms. Note bidet (toilet not pictured)

 

Vila Nova de Milfontes, Selina Milfontes:

Selina Milfontes hostel room

Selina Milfontes bathroom

Lounge space just outside our door

Beautiful included breakfast served to us (not a buffet). Orange juice, freshly squeezed

I don't have photos of the room in Zambujeira.

Aljezur, Hotel Vicentina:

We didn't know we would get a whole suite! There's a swimming pool here, as well.

Kitchen, with charging bike batteries.

Who needs a kitchen when you're served a breakfast like this??

 

Salema: Hotel Salema Residencial

It's pretty ugly on the outside, but we liked the balcony...and the elevator.

The room was pretty nice, tile floors, art on the wall, a whole lot of light switches.

 

Lagos, Bowen Luxury Suites:

Not a typical facade for a hotel. You need to know what you're looking for, including the tiny sign by the door

Wrought iron railings, stairs from lobby below.

Rooftop terrace.

Nice room!

Nice bathroom!

The best bathroom goodies we found, including a shoe shine sponge, if you want to shine your sneakers.

Silves: Hotel Ponte Romana

Hotel Ponte Romana, made up of several buildings. Our room was small and basic, but there was a pool.

Loulé: Loulé Jardim Hotel

Outside and inside. The breakfast room was beautiful, if steamy, in an atrium.

Loulé Jardim by night...

...and by day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The room was typical of European hotels, which is to say, small.

Not enough room to push our beds apart as much we would like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Tavira: Residencial Marés

Entrance squeezed between two restaurants

Seating area outside our room, including bookshelf with books for the taking.

Stairways to everywhere, hotel interior

Charming, old world room. Importantly, a balcony for drying clothes.

Hand painted tiles around the mirror

Finally, Elly's apple. Some people bring a gnome or a stuffy on their travels. Elly brought an apple.

From Ottawa to Tavira, a good companion, now to be abandoned.

Salema, a Rest Day

 Oct 9 2023



Today we took a break from biking. We hiked a short while this morning, discovering a piece of the Eurovelo, the Europe-wide network of cycling paths, and a piece of the Rota Vicentina, the Fisherman’s Way. The latter is a 750 kilometre trail along Portugal's west and south coasts. We saw a number of cyclists braving the gravel of the EV, which we are actually considering for tomorrow. While we didn’t encounter hikers today, we have seen many on the Rota along our way. It’s hard to imagine walking all day carrying backpacks in this heat, but the walkers we’ve met seemed in good spirits. We probably seemed in good spirits, too, to them. Maybe we’re all a special kind of crazy.

Anyhow, this area is breathtaking, the cliffs, the beaches. Salema is, in a way, tiny. It has a couple of minimarts and a few narrow cobbled streets. It is a fishing village taken over by tourism, however, bustling with hotels, restaurants, and bars. The condos of North American, British, and European expats prickle the slopes above the town. This, apparently, is typical of the South Coast Algarve: condos and golf courses.

Our hotel is pretty ugly from the outside. Our room is the 3rd from the left on the top floor. That red booth is a book-exchange library with dozens of books in English and other languages.

The view is quite acceptable, as is the functionality.

Laundry (how to class up the joint, right?)

Blogging

Laundry and fishing poles

Old Town Salema

Looking west towards Salema, condos on the cliffs

Same spot, looking east

The Eurovelo, with cyclists. That red path heading up to the left is the Rota Vicentina.

Salema from the Rota, town by the beach, condos above.

The blue and green lines represent the Rota

We saw 3 of these cairns on our short walk.

The business end of the beach. Not many fishing boats left.

The main catch is octopus, which they trap in clay pots.

For evening, we the had made a reservation at a highly recommended restaurant where the fish is caught by the husband, cooked by the wife, and served by the son. That was the story, and that may have been the case at one time, but now it's upscale, with more waiters than you can apparently summon. We sat in a leafy street-level terrace, and were shown a platter from which the catches of the day stared at us. The specialty was a platter for two, with fish chosen from the glassy-eyed ones, one kg of fish for two people. That's a massive amount of fish. We chose something different, but we watched the platters-for-two delivered to other tables. In fact, we watched for an hour, until Elly decided they'd forgotten us, that our meal wasn't valuable enough to bother with. Given a nudge, the waiter brought our food almost instantly. My seafood spaghetti was tasty, but over salted, and Elly's piri-piri shrimp were delicious, she said. You know how you read those many 5-star reviews on travel sites, and then come across the one that claims the service was the worst in the world? Ours would have been that one rogue review for this restaurant. It's a shame, because the dishes we saw go by looked spectacular. And the fish, obviously, was fresh.

City Ride

 Fri Sept 29

Happy Birthday to Me! In the summer I was in a sports clothing in Vancouver looking for a cycling vest. They didn’t have any, but the guy serving me seemed to be amazed that I was planning a cycling trip to Portugal. I was a little surprised at his reaction, because it seems people must be doing stuff like that all the time, coming into a shop like this one. I realized only later that he was probably seeing the proverbial little old lady, and marvelling that she could even walk, much less do a cycle tour. I do not like the thought of being old, but actually being old is pretty good, in my case. I recognise that I am very fortunate in that none of my health concerns (and there are some) have slowed me down much, and I thank my lucky stars for that! The huge upside to being old is having all the leisure time I could want, all that I craved in my younger years.

I never forget that my life is privileged, and that health is something easily lost through no fault of one’s own. I don’t take this life for granted, but live in gratitude every day.

I had a great birthday, one of the best ever! Ezra and Katharina were both off work, so we rode to the Kreutzberg area and had a beautiful lunch. Later in the afternoon, Katharina’s brother and his girlfriend came over for cake, two cakes in fact, and then spent the evening. The kids are absolutely nuts about Markus and Ivy, so everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly. 

Katharina's famous marzipan cake, and Markus ready to eat it!

The Ride

For anyone interested, there are many phone apps to choose from that allow you to plan biking or hiking routes, and then to record them. Following the lead of some long-term cycle tourers on CycleBlaze, I use Ride with GPS to record my rides, and Relive to make them into little videos with photos inserted. It’s all pretty much automatic, once you’re set up, and super easy to use.

A few clever readers will get the wordplay in the title.

Photos on this Relive video:
- a beer garden along the bike/walk path, and the S-Bahn, a yellow train, going overhead
- pumping up tires. There are many, many bike shops in Berlin, and each has air or a pump available for passing cyclists
- Bergmannstraße, a chi-chi street in Kreutzberg, where we stopped to wander and to have lunch
- where gurus shop
- lunch at a Vietnamese place (3 shots)
- a record store sign showing the cheeky use of English I’ve encountered here and elsewhere
- a mosque along the way

Food Photos

French Markets (Nîmes and Avignon)
(some of these pics may not be suitable for the sensitive viewer; I am of the mind that if you're going to eat it, face what it is)

This meat looks mouldy. It is mouldy! Nom nom, say the French.

Raised in liberty, feet and all. I wonder if any chickens are also raised in fraternity and equality.

Yes, I'm a fish.

Wagyu beef. That says €250 per kilo. €1 is about $1.50 Canadian.

 Asparagus Season -- I'm making the most of it!

This white & green asparagus was the very best.

With a scallop risotto

Berlin Street Food

Not-quite-classic currywurst: vegan!

A stall at the weekly "Thai Park" food festival

And another. Dozens of these stalls sell food to hundreds of people.