Convento do Seixo Boutique Hotel & Spa

Very nice hotel in an wonderfully and perfectly refurbished ancient monastery (convento) just slightly above Fundao, central Portugal, with a very nice view to the city. Gorgeous area and facilities, very quiet and extremely clean. Everything is perfectly well maintained. Large convenient and nice rooms which are well equipped. The wonderful Spa with the two large indoor and outdoor pools are especially worth mentioning. Dinner was delicious with a nice menu, carefully cooked, nice and friendly service, a decorated cuisine, well deserved. Nice, competent and very friendly local personnel which we appreciated a lot. The one page disclaimer we had to explicitly sign upon checking in is legally appropriate, but unusual in this form for this industry, could be integrated in the booking process, and for sure did not create a very welcoming atmosphere. Pre-payment via bank wire transfer before sending to the hotel a proof of transaction is absolutely adequate from a hotel’s cash management perspective, especially in these more challenging times, but not especially charming, especially as this could be done more discretely via credit card guarantee or advance payment within the standard booking process. Breakfast was disappointing. In a luxury hotel which Convento do Seixo claims to be, a buffet breakfast is kind of a global standard. Instead, we had to book our breakfast in advance and commit to a booked time (without flexibility), not really what you want during a relaxing holiday in such a class of hotel. Corona was pretended to be the reason for such an inflexible and not greatly appealing procedure (other hotels do offer buffet breakfast with appropriate measures), but we think this was rather an excuse for cost cutting. Indeed, with an occupancy of regrettably way below estimated 40% percent, pre-ordered breakfast is significantly cheaper as it can be pre-prepared with less personnel and less food waste. Understandable for a normal hotel, I would probably do the same with an occupancy below a certain threshold, but probably not best practice for such a hotel. While it is certainly a business decision to interpret the Corona recommendations more conservatively than other competitors, or using those as an excuse for expense management, management has also to accept corresponding guest feedback. Incredibly, because we forgot to submit our order the night before on time, reception called us shortly before midnight to remind us of our duty, and shortly after midnight to ask us to take breakfast at another time than requested.

Wish we had more time to stay here and visit the surrounding area. Would have loved to have time to try the spa. The dining room has glass where you can see original building underneath. Our dinner was very good and breakfast was delicious.

The hotel is an old monastery and when you arrive at the reception you discover right away the entrance of the old church which now is a lounge and restaurant The rooms are perfect Very nice inside swimmingpool and outside pool The massage is wonderful Restaurant is limited in options how the breakfast is huge and fantastic Highly recommandable

Arriving in the picturesque little village of Fundão, climbing up to the wonderful location overlooking the town, we entered the beautiful grounds of this hotel. This immaculately restored convent is elegant and peaceful. The grounds and pool are impressive as are the spa facilities; we particularly loved the heated indoor pool with massaging jets, and the sauna. The bar in the chapel was excellent and the 3D ceiling projections were amazing. The staff could not be more helpful and engaging. We even enjoyed a few games of paddle ball on their private court. The restaurant menu was great, the rooms were beautiful and our experience was excellent!

This is a very relaxing and quite place. An old convent, reconverted into a modern, functional and world class hotel. And the location is fantastic, surrounded by a beautifull mountain park. A nice place to stay for a couple of days.