Portugal
The hotel is well located, just a 10-minute walk into the old town of Cascais and a walk into neighbouring Estoril only took about 30 minutes. The hotel is very cleverly designed with the pool and restaurant on the third floor. Despite the fact there is a road and a railway line between the hotel and the sea, from the third floor we could look out to the sea. Walking from the hotel to the town centre and many little beaches close by is easy as there are underpasses at intervals.
A beautiful promenade links Cascais with neighbouring Estoril – I guess it’s about two miles long. Hugging the coastline it passes by little rocky outcrops, when the tide is out, and lots of lovely sandy beaches. Children played and fished in the little pools between the seaweed covered rocks and adults smothered themselves in sun cream and lay in the sun or underneath an umbrella. We dared to dip our toes in the Atlantic, but it was so cold we decided to stick to the pool! There are lots of bars and restaurants along the promenade, some had permanent sun umbrellas on the beach which you can hire if you don’t have one of your own.
It’s worthy of note that one of the sandy beaches was set up for wheelchair access. It’s possible to push the wheelchair right onto the beach down a ramp and onto a runner over the sand. This meets up with a gazebo where there is a special chair available to take people to the part of the beach they’d like to sit on. I didn’t look to see if there’s a charge for this service – but this is something I’ve never seen elsewhere.
Getting lost in Cascais old town is an absolute pleasure – little narrow cobbled streets packed with souvenir shops, bars and restaurants - although the town isn’t huge so you don’t stay lost for long. There’s a railway station in the town centre as well, which gets you to Lisbon in just 20 minutes. It’s probably no surprise that fish and shellfish are on many menus, my husband tried to eat his way through all the different offerings during our holiday – he failed! If that’s not for you, there are many Italian and Indian restaurants as well. We enjoyed two great meals at The Flamingo in town - the steak was delicious. Don't forget to leave room for the Italian gelato after your meal, the choice is huge.
Our hotel was little short of perfect – the breakfast buffet was one of the best I’ve ever seen with beautifully prepared fresh fruit, cereals, cooked food, cakes and breads. It also includes a table of goodies for people with special dietary needs, which I have never seen before. Highchairs are provided for smaller guests. The public areas and our rooms were spotlessly clean – with clean towels every day and clean bed linen every other day. Our standard room didn’t have a balcony – but our daughters’ did and it was more like a small terrace than a balcony! There was a large room on the third floor set up with children’s toys, climbing frames, games and a television for our granddaughter to release some of her energy.
We were lucky enough to have beautiful sunshine every day and it wasn’t too hot. It was a fantastic place to take our granddaughter for her first holiday abroad. Whether you’re travelling with children or as adults I can’t think of a better place to go, particularly early in the season or later in the year when the UK is still grey and damp!