Solar do Requeijo is a hotel that deceives with the image of a noble manor and sells the dream of a 5-star stay — but in reality, it barely delivers a 4-star experience, and even that requires effort. We arrived around 12.10 pm , before check-in time, and asked to use the pool. No one explained the outdoor space — we had to ask for towels, find out on our own and ask where to change, and explore the grounds ourselves. At the pool, the fabric lining the edges was dirty, greenish-brown in color, with loose parts and moss — clearly in need of cleaning and maintenance. The stairs were slippery, with a basic anti-slip tape stuck on as a patch. I saw a mother fall while holding her child and mentally prepared myself to be extra careful not to get hurt. The water jet didn’t work. There were few loungers outside, and the indoor ones were missing cushions. We decided to have lunch, but there was no available seating outside. They told us to eat indoors — while we were still in swimsuits and shorts — and led us to sit on velvet chairs in the breakfast/dining room with no view. I ordered the only salad available, a Caesar, and what I received had nothing to do with a real Caesar salad. The lettuce was soft (it should have been iceberg or romaine), replaced with frisée. There was no parmesan cheese, just a few chicken strips and loads of fried chorizo. The croutons were oily chunks of toasted bread, drenched in dark balsamic dressing. I asked about the Caesar dressing and why it had this black sauce — they looked at me as if I was speaking another language. When I said “white dressing?”, they brought a packaged garlic mayo in a bowl. I quickly realized that if I wanted a salad, I had no other choice. At 2:00 PM we were given our room — which cost over €250 per night — and discovered it was in the attic. It had only one ceiling window, cracks and humidity on the ceiling, peeling wallpaper, creaky wooden floors, and a bathtub with a moldy glass panel. The toilet lid hit the toilet paper roll, so I had to remove the roll to open it. The socket cover for the hairdryer was falling off. The fake flower in the vase felt symbolic of the whole experience. Dust was visible on the headboard, and inside the mini-fridge were just two waters, one Coke, and one 7Up — no snacks. We tried to book a spa treatment, but no resident masseuse was available. We managed to book a massage for the next day. For dinner, we considered room service, advertised as 24h — but the menu said it had to be ordered 24 hours in advance, and that the fee was €12.50 per person. That’s €25 just to deliver anything to the room — even if it’s just two coffees (€6), it would cost €31 total. Ridiculous. We went out for dinner instead. This is nowhere near a 5-star experience. When we returned, the bed had been turned down, but the bathroom was exactly as we left it, with wet towels still there. We showered again but had no dry towels available. At breakfast the next day, we were met with a larg
