Quinta Das Murtas

The hotel is located just outside of Sintra, but within easy walking distance (mind the hills) of the centre of town with some shopping, access to public transit, and restaurants. I am not sure if the hotel has rooms in the main building as we stayed in a cottage-like room located in a lower part of the property. Given the time of year, not everything was open (pool, hot-tube, etc.), but the location had a park-like atmosphere. Our room was quite small, but had everything we required (ensuite, small kitchenette, bed, wifi). Parking was access through an automatic gate with the access code provided upon check in. Breakfast was great with hot / cold choices, but as it was served in the main building you had to walk up a flight of stairs to get there (not the greatest if the weather was rainy or you have mobility issues). Still a very good stay.

The hotel has a very, very small entrance through a small gate. If possible, park outside the gate and check in. Once you've checked in, a pass code is provided to the main parking area (located in a lower part of the property, accessed via a small road just beyond the hotel).

This is a wonderfully quirky hotel/bed and breakfast. The building is a large and impressive old house, built right on the edge of a rocky slope, with impressive gates and front door. You can park briefly in front to unload, but must park lower down the hill in the rather informal parking area reached through iron gates for which a code is needed. The lane to the hotel and on to the car park is narrow between stone walls, one way and steeply down hill with tight corners. We could not turn the car outside the hotel and had to reverse out, nor could we turn in to the car park and had to reverse in and turn inside. To bring the car back to the front door is a significant journey all the way down, round and up to the top, then down again. The interior is nicely and intriguingly decorated with original features, such as the original and ill-fitting shutters in our room, the balcony outside our room (which flooded in the rain, but did not flood the room), the parrots in a cage outside the conservatory used for breakfast and the birds painted on our bedroom ceiling. Breakfast is taken in half-hour shifts and is perfectly adequate, but you may have to wait for the next batch of scrambled egg, then compete for it before it runs out again. Occasionally the lady who organises breakfast will also provide an evening meal, which needs to be ordered and selected in advance and is served by her husband in the conservatory, and paid for in cash directly to her. There is no restaurant in the conventional sense. The managers could not have been more friendly and helpful, speaking good English. The staff also friendly and helpful, but needing to use the translation app on the phone to find out what we wanted. The historical centre is about 7 or 8 minutes downhill on foot (as is the train station in a different direction). We decided to return the hire car and rely on walking locally, tuc tucs and the train for Lisbon.

We liked it overall, but don’t expect it to come up to the photographs online. It is a little shabby, seems a bit disorganised, rather informal and a little amateur, but charming for all that.

1. Staff. Very welcomed staff. 2. Location. A great location in a silent place with beautiful territory. The historic city center is located within 10 walking minutes from the hotel and the bus/train station is located within 20 walking minutes. 3. Cleanness. Our room was very clean. 4. Breakfast. Breakfast didn't include so many varieties of food but it was enough to be not hungry. One negative point about breakfast is the lack of vegetables. 5. It can be cold a little bit during the night but you can turn on the air conditioner with heat mode. Also, a few extra duvets you can find in the wardrobe.

Absolutely stunning accommodation and location! You are exceptionally close to the town centre by walking, but you also feel very secluded when on the premises. Great privacy in the accommodation. The receptionist John was very helpful and kind and gave great information about the area and things to do and see. The rooms were very spacious and clean and bathrooms were lovely and clean. Would definitely recommend staying here!

Would advise being careful if driving a car, the roads around the area are narrow, but great parking in the premises itself. Fans were provided in the room, however, air conditioning would be helpful especially in the warmer weather.

The property is an old mansion built in the 1800’s, beautifully maintained with traditional features. Roughly, just 10 minutes walk from the Historical Centre of Sintra and many of the tourist attractions, quiet location with lovely views. The property is exceptionally clean and John and the team were most welcoming and helpful throughout our stay. Fresh continental breakfast daily, most enjoyable.

We stayed in Room 22 on the first floor, a lovely room with dual aspect windows from the bedroom. Our only issue was with the noise coming from the room above. The guests above us were walking around, and became more active late into the night, often past midnight. Due to the floorboards, you could hear every step, to the point at times it sounded like someone stomping. I’m a fairly light sleeper, so this did disturb me most nights sadly, but the positives outweigh the negative - it wouldn’t put me off staying again. I would say a little more consideration was needed from the hotel guests rather than it being the hotel at fault.

Quinta das Murtas was a lovely, charming chalet. John was very helpful and kind. He actually showed us two rooms and gave us the choice and then carried our bags up to the third floor. Breakfast was very good, a nice selection and in a very nice sun room. I loved the gardens. The only draw back was we had a bit of trouble with our door key, an old skeleton key and there was a bit of damp smell in the room but that seems to be a problem for all of the places in Sintra as it can be very damp there. All in all a charming place to stay with a lovely garden and friendly staff.

The smell of mold, difficukty uostairs with wifi and our door lock didn't work well with the skeleton key.

The receptionist was extremely helpful and accomodated my request for a quiet room, very much appreciated. The bed was very comfortable. The location is a little out of town but only a short and very walkable distance. The Homemade cake at Breakfast was delicious.

I thought the breakfast was a little limited if you dont like cold meats and cheese. I was disappointed with the quality of the breakfast products/coffee etc. The pool area outside needed a bit of a spruce up, the grass needed to be cut and just a general tidy up would have helped the whole area. As there is no bar or cafe at the hotel it would be good to have tea/coffee making facilities in your room or access to cold water.

location- beautiful views and short walk to the historic centre. quiet at night, comfortable beds, towel change on request, possible to borrow a swim towel, having a small pool.

Open shelves / wall hooks or drawers would be more useful than a big bulky wardrobe (especially one with only a rail and 4 hangers, in a small room) Breakfast was nice but a slightly earlier option would sometimes be useful. ( We were attending a course and could not have attended early lessons without missing breakfast). The facility to make a hot drink would be welcome.

This delightful bed and breakfast hotel is a little slice of paradise just a few minutes from many of the main attractions in Sintra. We were lucky enough to have an upgrade so all our family could stay close together, and our apartment was lovely, with views across the garden and the valley beyond. It had lots of character and charm. The main building was stunning- full of period detail. We really enjoyed breakfast, which provided a good range of choices. The staff were incredibly helpful and gave lots of good advice. The pool was very welcome after walking round the palace gardens in the sun, and was never crowded. We also loved the parrots! Overall this was a magical stay- none of us wanted to leave!

Very little to be negative about- perhaps more utensils and a plug for the sink!

The hotel is in an excellent location, close to the station and the Old Town (via the hotel garden and the Park de Liberdade), and (if you are a good walker) close to the path up to the Castle of the Moors and the Palace of Pena, which made our visits there a lot easier. We had the apartment for 4 (for 2 of us) so we had loads of room. It was also nice having a kitchen area, kettle / fridge etc, though we didn't stay in to eat. The bed was comfortable and the whole location was quiet. We didn't use the pool but did sit in the gardens in the sun - lovely. The breakfast was pleasant, in a nice morning room.

In the apartment the bedroom had furniture to match the country house style, but the lounge furniture was cheap and dated, it could be replaced with a few things that are a bit more chic, so that the whole apartment looks more stylish and in keeping with the hotel in general. But it didn't affect our stay overall.