Covilha Homestays

The hotel is old and overdue for renovation. The pool, part of which is advertised as outdoor, is actually covered by a blurry plastic hood. For all this I would have given it three stars, but the story I describe below completely disappointed me. I drive an electric car and before arriving I phoned the hotel and made sure that there was a charger. When I arrived and asked at reception to charge, I was told that there was no charger, or rather that there was, but it was for the hotel's internal use only. I pointed out that I had called and clarified in advance and that I was expecting charging at the hotel and I only had 10% left now. The lady went off to call the manager. I was refused to charge and the only option they offered me was to go to another hotel where they said there were public charging facilities. I went there, but they also refused to provide a charger, telling me that their charger was also for internal use only. I went back to the hotel, ending up wasting almost all my remaining charge. Informed the lady at reception that I had a fully discharged car and needed a charger urgently. I asked to speak to the manager directly but I was refused. She called the manager again and informed me that I was allowed to use the charger, but for no longer than one hour during dinner. That was enough to drive to Covilha, and fast charge there. I ended up spending the whole evening on this problem and came back late at night. I was completely disappointed with the totally awful attitude. Firstly it is impossible to imagine a large and expensive hotel that doesn't have a charger. Secondly I was given false information on the phone. But most importantly, the hotel staff, particularly the mysterious manager on the phone felt absolutely no guilt for the situation and was completely indifferent to the situation in which he put the guest. And stubbornly refused to simply allow his equipment to be used to save the situation. I would like to know the name of the manager who was so indifferent to guests, forcing them into a helpless situation and spending hours of their time to resolve it, but unfortunately he avoided direct contact and was hiding behind the receptionist. The situation took place on 27.12.2022.

Sporthotel is an absolutely fabulous hotel, and I enjoyed every minute I was lucky enough to stay here! The hotel has a sport & healthy living-theme and is perfect for young, sporty and adventurous people who want to explore a lesser known but spectacular and truly authentic part of Portugal. I have travelled all over the world, but Sporthotel offered a truly unforgettable experience. I absolutely love the minimal, modern and elegant design of the rooms and the bed is super comfortable, with crisp bedlinen and small pillows that are just perfect. The rooms are super clean, very well organised, with excellent maintenance, a great shower and lovely big towels. The cleaning ladies are simply wonderful, super sweet and are really doing an amazing job. My room on the fifth floor had a lovely little balcony and a truly spectacular view over the mountains. If you are looking for a place where you can watch the sun rise over the mountains, Sporthotel is the place to be! The breakfast is out of this world and super healthy with yummy scrambled eggs, fresh fruit salad every morning made fresh from local products, traditional local breads, Greek yoghurt, linseeds, every day different (!) home made cakes - and also some traditional Portuguese super yummy sweets like Pastel de Nata. The breakfast team is really amazing and will do anything to spoil you and make sure you have a great start of the day! The breakfast room has floor to ceiling windows with a spectacular view and also an outdoor area if you feel like soaking up some sun. The hotel has a gym that is probably one of the best hotel gyms that I have ever seen, because it is also a local gym. It has all equipment that you need (I only missed the 6 kilo dumbbell), and a weightlifting room with great windows and a view. There are personal trainers who are extremely capable and will push you to become the best version of yourself! What is really wonderful that classes are included in your stay, so you can go to Yoga, Pilates or Zumba classes that are excellent and also a lot of fun. Additionally, the gym has a great sauna and a modern Turkish Steamroom and super motivating and helpful personal trainers. Everybody at the reception is super helpful and will do all to give you a great stay and helpful tips to explore the surroundings. Additionally, the lobby is a great place to relax and there is a little supermarket. Covilha is wonderful, it has an university and theatres and is still super close to the mountains for outdoor activities like hiking and (sometimes) skiing. I actually liked my stay in Sporthotel so much, that I decided to stay for four years and absolutely LOVED my stay. Highly recommended!

We stayed at this hotel in October 2022. We had room #214. The good : Check-in was fast. The staff at the lobby is great. Friendly and helpful. The room was very clean, there is a mini-fridge and a safe in the room. No carpet. Nice bathroom with good water pressure in the shower. The room has a strange configuration with the window being at an angle but it is still very functional. You can open the window. Comfortable bed. Reliable Wi-Fi. USB ports available in the room. Grocery store about 10 minutes away walking. Breakfast buffet is good although the selection is limited. The bad : Nothing really bad to say about this place beside that the room we got was smaller than usual, but not a problem for us. I would definitely recommend this place.

The Pousada Serra da Estrela is a fairy-tale hotel in the middle of the mountains with magnificient views towards Covilha. We had a splendid stay in this magnificient hotel. The rooms are wide and comfortable, the people at the reception desk are very helpful (special mention for Xavier Pérez), and the people at the bar are also kind and ready to help. Breakfasts are superb. Nothing wrong about this magnificient place.

Location, service and restaurant is excellent, but the hotel structure, in particular the quite old and noisy room, has some variety of breakfast but does not regularly rest.