Clube Do Lago, Estoril

...hear you say). The Clube do Lago apartments tick many boxes. It's a nice location - near the beach, but still near enough to Lisbon to allow frequent day trips. The architecture looks Portuguese/Iberian, and so feels more traditional and personal than the big tower blocks that are sprouting like mushrooms everywhere in the area. The staff is helpful and friendly, and speak excellent English. The rooms are spacious and clean. However, everything is ...
...'should I stay at the Clube do Lago', I'd say go for it. If you were to ask me 'where should I stay in Portugal', I'd advise you to canvass opinion of folk with more experience of hotels in the area than I have - I'd imagine there are more exciting places than this for similar rates. As they say, pays your money and takes your choice.

You can visit their web site on www.hotelclubedolago.com, where you'll find pictures, 360 degree views, ... more

When is a hotel not a hotel? When it's an apartment, of course! A normal hotel room is more than adequate for a couple, however, when travelling with another couple, you have a choice (particularly when travelling to Spain or Portugal, it seems) between renting two double or twin rooms in a hotel, or sharing a two bedroom holiday apartment. In September, my husband and I visited Portugal (near Lisbon) with another couple, and chose therefore to stay in a two bedroom apartment at the Clube do Lago in Monte Estoril (near Caiscais, about a half hour cab or train ride from Lisbon). We were there six days and five nights.

As the holiday had been booked through a travel agent, we were met at the airport by a driver, and driven the 40 minutes or so from the airport to the hotel. One of the first things you notice is the cobbled semi-circular drive in the front. This would be even more notable were it not for the fact that EVERY surface in the area is cobbled...even the train platforms. The atrium is large and airy. The front desk staff are multi-lingual (well, at least bilingual) and friendly. The front desk is (as you'd expect) prominently placed, and a bit to your right as you enter. To your left, you can wander downstairs to the bar and restaurant (more on that later). Past reception are smallish lifts. Although we were only on the 2nd floor (the Portuguese do floor labelling much as the Americans do - so the ground floor is floor one, and so on), because our companions were 65 and 82, we used the lifts quite a bit. They're clean, slowish but not painfully so, and seemingly safe. Looking out the large windows directly in front of you, you can see the swimming pool, sun loungers, and neighbouring tennis courts.

Once in the room you see a small corridor ahead of you leading to the kitchen, sitting room and balcony, with a shower room and bedroom two (with two single beds) off to the left. To the right was another corridor leading to the master bedroom, which contained a bathroom, the safe, and loads of closet space. In the closets were only around four hangers, and extra blankets and pillows. The bed was a double - for the size of the room, it could have accommodated a queen or even king. The bed was not terribly comfortable - it was very, very hard, and the pillows made of foam and also unyielding (but then, I like a very soft, down pillow). The master bedroom had a door leading to the large balcony. The bedrooms were pleasantly (if blandly) enough decorated, though the carpet was not as clean as it might have been, and did look a little bit tired. Not dirty (although, as I mentioned, the carpet did have some fairly old looking stains) ... just tired.

The bathroom in the master bedroom contained two sinks, a toilet, bath with a shower attachment that thankfully attached to the wall (so that you can stand up an shower) and a bidet. The shower had good pressure, the sinks dispensed drinking water, and the toilet did what toilets should do. I did not try the bidet. The bathroom was clean and tidy, though again, could do with redecorating and refreshing (particularly around the areas where plumbing and wall met). The towels were white and rather thin. The size was adequate, but nothing to write home about. There was soap, shower gel and shampoo - I used the soap, swiped the rest.

The kitchen was reasonably well stocked with utensils, pots, pans, cutlery and the like, and had a dishwasher and sink. However, there were no consumables - no washing up liquid, no dishwasher detergent, and no supplies. We had to bring or buy our own tea bags, sugar, coffee and so forth. Whilst the cleaning staff would do you washing up for you, they charge for the privilege, so we never took them up on that kind offer.

The kitchen overlooks the combined living room dining area. This has a tiled floor, a sofa, a matching chair, coffee table, and a dining table with six chairs. There is also a TV receiving (with good reception) English and Portuguese channels (as a side note, pleasingly, the Portuguese don't dub English language programmes, they subtitle them. Even children's programmes. I guess Portuguese children learn to read very early). There is a balcony with a plastic table and plastic chairs. When we arrived, there were only three chairs - it took two days to get a fourth chair...and then one of the chairs broke (rather spectacularly). It took another day or two to get a replacement. The balcony overlooked the clean, pleasant swimming pool area.

The apartment was, by and large, pleasant. It was light and airy, and clean. However, it was a little tired, and ... well ... adequate. For example, although there were two bedrooms sleeping in total four people, the 'comfy' seating really only had room for three, despite the fact the room was of an ample size for another chair. There were no consumables in the kitchen. The kitchen counters had burn marks, and there was no iron. Hangar provision was stingy. There was, in short, in the room, a failing of attention to detail. Broadly, everything was there, and ticked the boxes of things you absolutely needed, but nothing thrilled.

The room rate included breakfast. Breakfast was served in the restaurant downstairs. Again, the restaurant was ... ok. The decor was uninspired, but (and I hate to use this word again) pleasant. There were a mixture of styles in the room - leather chairs, wooden chairs and so forth. Breakfast service was restricted to one part of the room (with less classy furniture than the other part). Breakfast was, yet again, adequate but uninspiring. There was a buffet, where you could help yourself to cold meats and cheese, cereal, yogurt, bread and bread products (including sliced bread you could toast), and a hot dish with scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages (I'd never before come across bacon with bits of bone in it). It also had terrible coffee, and a couple of dispensers containing squash. The selection never changed, so after six days, I was well tired of what was on offer (especially as the hot food was greasy and bland).

We never ate dinner in the restaurant though we did spend some time in the bar. The bar staff were unfailingly friendly, and the prices were typical of a hotel bar - somewhat more expensive than the equivalent drinks elsewhere (having said that, they recognised Joe, the 82 year old, from the previous year - he received obscenely large measures of red wine. Joe is a character). The bar had seating inside the bar area, a pool table and a television. You could also sit in the corridor by the window sort of underlooking the pool (the bar was right on the ground floor - almost lower ground, so you couldn't actually see very much). The lighting wasn't brilliant, and for the seats by the window, was solely florescent, which gave me a bit of a headache.

The pool was actually one of the highlights of the hotel/apartments. It was unheated, and so a bit shocking upon first entry, but at the beginning of September, warmed sufficiently during the afternoon to have a nice cool down. There were plastic lounge chairs complete with cushions. Perhaps partly because of the time of year we went (second week in September - when the kids were back at school) it was never crowded. There is also an indoor pool and a health club, neither of which we tried. The indoor pool is free, there is a 'special fee for guests' at the health spa and tennis courts.

The hotel is a 7 or 10 minute walk from the beach at Monte Estoril, and Monte Estoril is but a 7 or 10 minute walk from Caiscais (lots of shops, restaurants - touristy and quaintish), and the same again in the other directon to Estoril (home of Europe's largest casino, apparently). The train station is also beachside, and relatively frequent trains can take you to Lisbon in around 30 - 40 minutes.

So...to sum up (it's about time, I hear you say). The Clube do Lago apartments tick many boxes. It's a nice location - near the beach, but still near enough to Lisbon to allow frequent day trips. The architecture looks Portuguese/Iberian, and so feels more traditional and personal than the big tower blocks that are sprouting like mushrooms everywhere in the area. The staff is helpful and friendly, and speak excellent English. The rooms are spacious and clean. However, everything is ... adequate. Everything's clean, yet stained (if that makes sense). The food is edible...but uninspired. The provisioning is adequate...but lacking in detail.

There is now the question of recommendation. That's a tough one, as it was ok - nice even. If you were to ask me 'should I stay at the Clube do Lago', I'd say go for it. If you were to ask me 'where should I stay in Portugal', I'd advise you to canvass opinion of folk with more experience of hotels in the area than I have - I'd imagine there are more exciting places than this for similar rates. As they say, pays your money and takes your choice.

You can visit their web site on www.hotelclubedolago.com, where you'll find pictures, 360 degree views, information, maps, and rates. The site, is however, in Portuguese. As of today (28 October 2008), the rack rate for the 'Suites Executivo' range between 126 Euro and 186 Euro a night, depending on the time of year (high or low season), however I'd recommending enquiring, as prices will vary depending on package booked, time of year, and normal fluctuations. 

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