Hotel Rural Casa dos Viscondes da Varzea

Hotel Rural Casa dos Viscondes da Varzea descritpion

Viscondes da Varzea is a charming hotel in an aristocratic country manor dating back to the 17th century. It is surrounded by vineyards, fruit orchards and olive groves at the heart of the Douro Region.
Rural Casa dos Viscondes da Varzea is an example of Portugal's Gothic-Manueline architecture. On-site wonders include a chapel with a baroque altar, centuries' old wine cellars and the oil press, still in use.
The atmospheric rooms of the hotel include antique furnishings and a deluxe bathroom with jacuzzi tub and courtesy bathroom and slippers. Decorative elements include stone banisters and baroque goblets.
There are also an elevated salt-water swimming pool and a tennis court. During the wine harvesting months, guests can participate in the wine pressing and join in folklore dinners, accompanied by concertina music.
Hotel Rural Casa is 3 miles from Lamego and is close to the Murganheira Caves, where sparkling wine tastings are regularly held.

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Facilities of Hotel Rural Casa dos Viscondes da Varzea

Outdoors ：Outdoor Pool | Outdoor Pool (seasonal) | Grounds | Sun Deck

Pets ：Pets are allowed. Charges may apply.

Activities ：Tennis Court | Pool Table | Bikes Available (free) | Playground

Food & Drink ：Restaurant | Bar | Breakfast in the Room | Special Diet Meals (upon request)

Internet ：Free!WiFi is available in public areas and is free of charge.

Parking ：Free!Free public parking is available on site (reservation is not needed).

General ：Chapel/Shrine | Shops (on site) | Family Rooms | Heating

Languages Spoken ：Portuguese | French | Spanish | English | German

Reviews for Hotel Rural Casa dos Viscondes da Varzea

Review 1：Nothing

Review 2：Welcoming and friendly staff. Good quality and the help and genuine good customer service. Maris and her staff are exceptional. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Review 3：Leaving

Review 4：i just can't say enough about this place. Stunning. Great people, great food, great wine, views to die for & a building that could be out of a James Bond movie. Lots of history to understand & appreciate. I want to live here.

Review 5：Everything was top class!!!

Review 6：Perfect get-away. Super preserved Portuguese quinta in the douro valley.Perfect location, super nice and friendly staff. Great view of thevineyards. Walking trails available from the spot. Exquisite breakfastand great dinner. Would come again every year!

Review 7：It is hard to fill the leisure and type boxes because what my colleague and I do is organise Wine Tours in the Douro Valley. Time and again we come back here because we find it the most charming fairy-tale like hotel you could possibly imagine. We love the character of the place, the food and the friendliness of the staff.

Review 8：Absolutely no complaints

Review 9：Amazing setting in the vineyard. Staff were really helpful and check in very easy and quick. Our suite had a large sitting room with comfortable arm chairs and good lighting for reading, large bedroom with 2 double beds and "real"furniture and a large bathrom with bathrobes. The public areas were full of authentic old furniture, antique pictures and ornaments and was very welcoming and comfortable. Excellent all inclusive buffet dinner and very good breakfast selection

Review 10：The legendary welcome from Maria was not evident. Following what I considered to be a disparaging comment on checking on about having booked through Booking.com, she ignored us for the rest of our 3 day visit.

Review 11：Lovely location and setting. Excellent room.

Review 12：The noise during the night of local village festivities

Review 13：The hotel is absolutly beautiful. Its all decorated with great taste and surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Review 14：Nothing really!

Review 15：This is just an amazing place! The landscape of the region is breathtaking and the facilities are just awesome! Felt like kind of a "Downton Abbey" guest!

Review 16：Very nice stay. Arrived late in the evening, staff kept buffet dinner open just for us. Hotel/property was stunning, room was spacious and breakfast was good too. Absolute gorgeous scenery. Would definitely come back again!

Review 17：- wireless connectivity in rooms weak - mini fridge and kettle would have been an advantage

Review 18：The moment you arrive you are made to feel that the hotel is your home, nothing is too much trouble. We travelled with our 3 year old and we felt that children were encouraged to be there to enjoy this historic estate. You can choose to enjoy the vast grounds including saline swimming pool, vegetable patch, play area and vines. The owner works tirelessly to share the home she feels so passionately about with guests from around the world. A very memorable trip!

Review 19：In our opinion the property can be defined excellent above all on the basis of these characteristics: beauty of the location, high quality of facilities and, maybe the most important thing, the extreme kindness of the entire staff.

Review 20：The hotel is set in beautiful countryside surrounded by its own estate with vines and olives. It feels more like staying in a private house than in a hotel and the staff are very friendly and welcoming.

Review 21：Not a dislike but a caution, there is no air conditioning. Room we were in had nice air flow and even though it was in the high 80sF/25C it was pleasant.

Review 22：Room was spacious and looked over the vineyards and grounds. Owner was very enthusiastic about the restoration of the property and took us on a nice tour of the estate. Food was bountiful and fabulous at a great cost! Outdoor seating area was truly fabulous as are the grounds. We will be back for cooking lessons!

Review 23：Staff were very friendly and helpful and food was good value for money with the quinta's own wine. Room was very big, characterful and comfortable.

Review 24：Bath tub needs lot be replaced - it is a broken spa bath and the jet covers fall off every time one takes a bath, exposing grungy jets ( unhygienic) Breakfast is good with lots of fruit and good bread etc. but it would be nice to have fresh tea or coffee served to each guest ( not from buffet) Evening meal buffet is not really good enough - there is wide choice and very/too plentiful, but it fell down on main course. Desserts were excellent. I would suggest buffet for starter and dessert but main course to be served to the guests - e.g. a stew and a cold option.

Review 25：Kind helpful staff. Perfect silence at night and peaceful location. Stylish room with lovely fabrics and antique furniture, in converted anneEtablexe - very different from the usual modern rooms one finds everywhere. Dining room is beautiful with old tiles on the walls.

Review 26：We had to leave the hotel so soon...

Review 27：They upgraded our room to a sweet room which was a wonderful room ! The owner, Maria helped us a lot with wherr to visit. She was very helpful and a wonderful lady with a lot of sence of humour ! Her nephew, Francisco was also very attentive and we've always had a glass of nice port at the comfortable living room. We loved a nice view from our room and the living room. We immediately felt home. We also loved their friendly dogs.

Review 28：It's an old, but expquisite house with thick walls & it was not unexpected that the wi-fi signal didn't reach our room, but it wad fine in the lounges, etc.

Review 29：We asked for a light dinner in front of the fire place and that is what we got - with perfection and a smile!

Review 30：Imagine that it is better to avoid days when they have large weddings or events; the décor is a little OTT (though that makes it interesting); it's a little hard to find, but that's also an advantage (and there are signs in local villages)

Review 31：Beautiful old mansion; wonderfully decorated with traditional luxury furnishings; attentive and helpful staff; excellent food; views over lovely gardens; surrounding vineyards and terraces great for walks; like having your own quiet, grand country estate; lots of local character; well-located for visits to Douro Valley.

Review 32：The best way to get to the hotel is to put the destination "Cerro" on the GPS and from there to follow the signs to the hotel

Review 33：The quiet of the place. The atmosphere, the appearance of the mountains and vineyards which create the atmosphere of freedom and true liberation.

Review 34：It was a little difficult to find. Make sure you have good directions.

Review 35：It was a beautiful mansion in the middle of the vineyards. You felt like you were eating breakfast in a chateau. Staff was wonderful. I recommend you eat dinner there...the food and wine were delicious. The bedrooms are very large and comfortable with two beds, chairs and their own foyer.

Review 36：Our room's double door locks on wrong side !-°. Only to find with a good GPS.

Review 37：Fantastic estate property & gardens. Superb 5* room. Quietness & calm. Kindness of welcome & diner staff. Good dinner.

Review 38：Can be highly recommended for perfect hospitality and very nice and cozy atmosphere. Food and wine are also very good and very reasonably priced. Rich decoration, but perfectly clean.

Review 39：Warm welcoming host who could not do enough to make your stay pleasureable. Great food with buffet meal all inclusive of wine, port and coffee for a reasonable price. Fantastic location. Beautifully and tastefully furnished. Family restored their estate to highest quality after having had it confiscated at the time of revolution. Bought back ten years ago with some of the Baron's furniture still in place. Really made you feel at home and part of the family. Not far from the north/south motorway for easy access to Douro Valley and and stopovers north/south. Wonderful three days.

Review 40：There is really not much to dislike, maybe a clarification, this is not a Hotel in the big city sense, it feels more like a B&B where you also get dinner (there is no menu, you get what the family eats this evening, wine and all, but catering for a vegetarian was no problem at all) The main house is a cpl of hundred years old, everything has been renovated and redone. If you are really picky, yes, the TVs are not gigantic flat screens, and some of the bathroom tiles have seen better days, but if you go there to watch TV you are doing it wrong.

Review 41：This is a working winery/farm at a stunning location. The views are really tremendous. There are multiple buildings that have guest rooms, we booked a double room and got a very very large suite. The main house (where meals and breakfast is served) is also the family home. There is ample space, gardens with apple / pear / lime / fig trees, plenty of wine, walkways overgrown with wine, a nice large pool (with a pool house with facilities). But this is not the best part. The people owning the house / working there have been a joy to deal with, helpful on every request, happy to arrange wine tastings, river tours and the likes.

Review 42：Nothing, except that we only stayed one night!

Review 43：We were given an upgrade and ended up with a spacious suite. The views are fabulous and the pool was a definite plus. We stayed during the grape harvest and Maria, the very friendly owner, took us out to the vineyards to 'work' with the grape picking team who did a little song and dance for us before we all bent over to snip the grapes from the vines.

Review 44：We enjoyed our stay and were really impressed by Maria's hard working in organising everything. Excellent breakfast and dinner. The entire hotel and rural area are exciting. We will surely come back to stay longer.

Review 45：Everything. The moment you arrive in this beautiful house you are made to feel as if you are staying with close family. Everyone from the owner to the staff makes you feel wanted and special. Delicious food and fantastic value.

Review 46：Everything was so professional , charming and welcoming .Maria and Francisco take care of their guests in a truly wonderful way - we will be returning for sure .

Review 47：Tricky to find. Do not rely on GPS directions.

Review 48：Although not easy to find, you need to stay here! We made the mistake of using our GPS to find the location, rather than relying on a small street sign that we saw along the way. This took us on a twisty road through small towns and farmland. We were really lost! We called Maria, the Viscountess and owner of this hotel, and she came in her car and found us. She told us that we were just in time for a multi-course dinner at the hotel complete with wines from their own vineyard. We followed her car to the hotel and our jaws dropped. This is not just a rural hotel. It is a proper historic Portuguese manor house complete with formal gardens, elegant interiors and enough silverware inside to make you feel sorry for the staff who have to polish it all! We sat down to dinner in the gorgeous formal dining room and met interesting guests from many different countries. Maria worked her magic telling stories and made everyone feel welcome. We felt like we were at a dinner party at a friend’s house. Maria has the perfect personality for this type of business, as she is warm, energetic and charming. The main house was sumptuously decorated with views over the vineyard, orchards and formal gardens. There is also a swimming pool, although we did not have enough time to use it. We stayed in a separate building just to the side of the main house. It was beautifully decorated and had windows that opened onto a glorious view of the main house, gardens and orchards. We were so happy we decided to stay here. Our only regret is that we didn’t stay longer.

Review 49：nothing maybe the cooking is a bit traditional and there is just one white and red house wine so if you want to have a real gourmet experience you should go to regua or somewhere else in the region

Review 50：very nice and spacious rooms, nice pool, beautiful landhouse with nice views, friendly people, personal attention, very nice breakfast, also possibility to have a portuguese dinner

Review 51：Nothing!

Review 52：We had a huge suite with views out over the valley on two sides. Choice of two double beds - not sure why! Large and well equipped bathroom. Lovely pool and pool house for changing/showering. Public rooms are fabulous and you can treat them like your own home. Generous portions for breakfast and dinner. Easy access to motorway - not close enough to hear - and visits to River Douro. Our favourite hotel on our trip. We rarely go back to places but are seriously contemplating going back to this one.

Review 53：The excessive amount of nick-nacks for sale in the public areas.

Review 54：The location is fabulous with stunning views. The staff really made us feel at home. Breakfast was delicious as was the bespoke dinner. They prepared a wonderful picnic basket for us complete with a bottle of the house white. This is not a typical hotel but more like a stay in a country manor. The superb living rooms and terrace are something you should certainly take the time to enjoy. This is a place I would highly recommend for a stay of a couple of days.

Review 55：Everything excellent! The hosts, the atmosphere, food and wines. Surroundings and outdoor pool. Bedroom! Don't miss the dinner! Everyone should experience the stay in this Casa!

Review 56：Slightly too much tat in the hotel.

Review 57：Everything, the staff, the location, the grounds, the food... it's just a lovely place and we had a great time. Very relaxing way to spend a few days.

Review 58：Nothing !

Review 59：The best stay we had during our trip in Portugal! Maria( the lady of the house) is like a family member for her guests. Lunch and dinner were delicious. Location is heavenly , the house is very beautiful. Very good beds and beautiful rooms, nice swimming pool...I certainly want to back for another stay !

Review 60：N/A

Review 61：Incredible grounds, friendly staff, amazing food

Review 62：None

Review 63：The atmosphere and serenity.

Review 64：Hard to find GPS doesn't work well in Portugal.

Review 65：I found my second mom Sr Maria was like a Mom to me. The place was perfect.

Review 66：The staff, the location, the hotel, the scenery, the wine, the ambience. It is a lovely place to stay.

Review 67：A magical place

Review 68：Really great value. Fantastic food, lovely room in a wonderful setting

Review 69：Food, service, ambiance

Review 70：Really a special place to be. Staff is very friendly and helpful. Food is excellent. A very beautiful manor with lots of vineyards and olive trees.

Review 71：nothing

Review 72：The hotel is charming and beautiful, staff is friendly and the food is realy good and typical Portuguese.

Review 73：Scenery is breathtaking. The owner Maria is so pleasant and friendly. The house is also spectacular. Strongly recommend it.

Review 74：Beautiful room, charming estate, great pool, great staff and nice meal.

Review 75：Food quality at dinner was less than what you would expect from a rural hotel

Review 76：Stunning grounds Amazing staff and service

Review 77：What a wonderful estate, surrounded by beautiful nature. During our trip to Portugal, we stayed at other country homes and pousadas, but none of them could match the charm of this one. It is a haven of peace. The rooms and bathrooms in the 12th century annex building are beautiful and extremely spacious. The main building with its many rooms feels noble and cosy at the same time. Dona Maria the host, whose family has owned the estate for 800 years, gives everyone a royal treatment and creates a warm and very friendly atmosphere. The service is excellent, the dining experience must not be missed and breakfast is a feast for the eyes and for the palate. The pool is surrounded by fields, vineyards and orchards. The place is an ideal location to explore the Douro valley and its wineries. Dona Maria can give you all the information regarding excursions. But who wants to leave a place like this? Spend at least an extra day, just to relax and enjoy the delightful premises. Gabriela Preisig Karnouk (Switzerland) Wahid and Marlene Karnouk (Canada)

Review 78：In addition to the very picturesque location, the hospitality of both Maria and Francisco was amazing and we truly felt well taken care of. The food was really good and the atmosphere - very warm, informal and family like. The Casa itself was beautiful, and so were the rooms. will carry some very pleasant memories from our stay here.

Review 79：A truly memorable stay in a luxuriously decorated country manor, surrounded by vineyards and spectacular countryside. The rooms were large, comfortable with beautiful views. The hostess Maria and her staff could not have done more to make us feel at home. The food was a culinary delight served in beautiful surroundings, with the house wine complementing it all.

Review 80：It is not a hotel - it is a home, it became one to us. it is packed with love, detail and passion. a MUST stay if you drive trough douro valley. DON`T get irritated by people writing about cleanliness, worn carpets, variety of breakfast or any other curios stuff- it is nothing like this and i am working in the hotel industry myself. It is a place in the middle of the most beautiful country side, portugal as you expect it to be - thats how you eat and how you live in this country. A place packed with history and every whole in the carpet tells its own exciting story. it is honest, rural, overwhelming and pretty. we will certainly come back, telling everyone about it and never forgot our first stay. Obrigada Maria, Obrigada Casa dos Viscondes da Varzea. True Protugal in the most beautiful quinta!

Review 81：Casa dos Viscondes da Varzéa is a unique place that anyone should be given the pleasure to experience. Surrounded by vast vineyards, this ancient house is an enchanting reminder of the past, filled with light by it’s owner Maria and all the staff. The Quinta feels like a treasure island, where at any corner, you can find beautiful decorations, silverware, paintings, but also adorable ponys, wonderful scented flowers in orange trees and acacias, a baroque chapel and many many more. Here you are really treated as a guest, Maria’s guest. She will make you feel at home, give you good advice on the region and maybe even prepare a romantic candle light dinner with velvet roses from the garden and your very own butler for the evening (trust me, I know ;) )

Review 82：There is nothing you cannot like about this place....

Review 83：Everything!!!! It is the best hotel we have ever been at. Beatiful place, luxury rooms, nice staff - especially Francisco (thank you!) and excellent food (we had a dinner there). Very nice, kind and friendly owner Maria made us feel at home. We will try to come back here as soon as we can.

Review 84：No very suitable for vegetarians dinner wise, breakfast not a lot of choice.. And the rooms could do with an update / clean, such as the bathrooms, and one downside on the bedrooms it can get very humid which makes the beds/fabric furniture feel a bit wet, which is not great ...

Review 85：Loved the location, and the hotel beautiful !! Great wine, great staff

Review 86：Nothing, everthing was fantastic!!

Review 87：Fantastic! Great place, staff super friendly, food was great, place is superb! Highly racomended! Don't miss it!!

Review 88：Countess Maria the charming owner , her family and staff where all extremely welcoming and attentive ensuring that we had a truly memorable stay at this wonderful hotel which we would highly recomend.

Review 89：The house, a trully palace in Douro. Exquisitely decorated. Rich diverse food. Very welcoming people. A real fairy tale to share with 2 or not. I will come back and recommend.

Review 90：Very friendly welcome. The owner of the house was available to answer any questions. Interesting decor, a real country house feeling with lots of fireplaces, places to sit and read. Comfortable quiet rooms. We would go back.

Review 91：Everything was just perfect, we were made to feel right at home from the minute we arrived to when we left, all too soon. Food was excellent, people were lovely, we would recommend this hotel to everyone. We will return as often as we can.

Review 92：We liked most of all the atmosphere of the old estate house and surrounding 400 acres of vineyard. Also exceptional was the staff’s discreet eagerness to please. Highly commendable.

Review 93：whilst the food was wonderfully "home made" I felt it was a bit outdated.

Review 94：This is a must for those of you who like something completely different. A cross between a National Trust property, a long lived in home and a slightly quirky hotel. The rooms are stuffed with the gorgeous to outrageous, a lot of it for sale.

Review 95：a fantastic experience by a lovely host. recommend dinner in one of the 2 dining rooms and drinks after in one of 3 beautiful & luxurious lounges.

Review 96：This hotel is an absolute 'must' when your are travelling through the north of Portugal. The location is absolutely beautiful. The hotel itself is a perfect place for a memorable stay. Thanks to host/owner Maria and her great staff, you feel like a king in your own palace. Wonderful pieces of the family heritage are displayed in the hotel with respect and pride. Other small pieces of the interior-decoration are for sale. Please take the time to wonder around inside the house. Don't forget to buy a few bottles of the wine of the house!! It is great! We will absolutely return to this wonderfull piece of paradise. Thanks Maria, Christina and the rest for 3 wonderful days!

Review 97：- We thought we would stay in the main building, but we were in an annexed house with some difficult access, no light on the road (winding stone staircase). However the receptionist led us with flashlight. Something "cold", this outbuildings are more suitable for summer. However it has a beautiful panoramic view.

Review 98：- Staff - Landscape - Breakfast - Decoration - Bed and bedclothes

Review 99：leaving!

Review 100：a wonderful experience from our arrival to departure, the hotel was like a home away from home, superb hosts, the staff was fantastic, Cristina especially went out of her way to make sure we were happy.

Review 101：room cold,bathroom looked a bit tired,dinner served too quickly, no wine choice

Review 102：character of the hotel, rooms spacious, lovely surroundings, friendly staff

Review 103：The hotel was a little hard to find.

Review 104：The owner and staff went out of their way to make us feel at home and were hospitable well above expectations. They were among the best we have ever had.

Review 105：Food at other meals is all local and prepared on the premises, but a bit pricey and a little quirky on timing. Lunch was lovely and well prepared. They accommodated us when we came mid-afternoon. However, we felt that a dinner that was to have been a buffet, but was postponed because a group was late in coming, ended up being mostly reheated leftovers and therefore was overpriced. I do think the kitchen is capable of more and hopefully this is not a common occurance. The building is old and while beautifully restored, at least in the building we stayed in, plumbing is a bit cranky, though manageable. Same for no screens in old casement windows. Still worth it to stay here! Would be helpful if the property provided more detailed directions- it's not an easy turn-off to find and even some locals don't know quite where it is. Once you see it, it's actually not far out of Lamego and near an A-24 exit, so convenient.

Review 106：While a bit difficult to find, the location of this property is out of the ordinary and absolutely beautiful. It's a 17th century estate set in a vineyard with fruit trees and a fantastic view of the surrounding valley. The breakfast that is included is outstanding. Other meals served in lovely settings on the porch or in one of several private dining rooms with beautiful china, clothes, etc.. Property manager is very friendly and helpful.

Review 107：The dining room of the evening buffet was too spacious, not an eating experience in a warm setting.

Review 108：We received excellent service at the reception. The receptionist was friendly and fluent in English to explain the driving directions. The rooms are very spacious and reside in a beautifal vineyard with extraordinary views.

Review 109：Lovely hotel; not plush but perfectly comfortable and very elegant surroundings. The staff went out of their way to make us feel at home. The buffet dinner (not a regular feature) was outstanding; the local wines great.

Review 110：Food was good however we felt it wad relatively expensive compared to some other great food we had in Portugal

Review 111：Lovely grounds and beautiful setting

Review 112：The idyllic moments sitting on the 17th century balcony, listening to birds singing their hymn to spring and to the music of the fountains. Perfect.

Review 113：Breathtaking hotel and location, wonderful breakfast, diner and wine! But most of all an amazing hospitality.

Review 114：A beautiful and very comfortable hotel, in a magnificent ecosystem, with extraordinarily helpful and friendly people close the Douro river.

Review 115：super hotel. excellent, polite, helpful, friendly staff. we felt at home.