REVIEW: Intercontinental Hotel Cascais-Estoril, near Lisbon, Portugal

This is a review of the Intercontinental Hotel in Estoril, on the coast outside Lisbon. If you fancy a slightly different Lisbon break, or perhaps want a two-centre holiday, staying at one of the coastal towns outside Lisbon can be a great idea. There is a direct train service to the city centre, but you can also relax in more of a resort setting next to the ocean. 

Location 

The hotel is around 30 minutes by car from the airport and around 15 minutes by car to the centre of Lisbon. It is also very close to the train station (4 minutes walk) which takes you into the centre of Lisbon in about 30 minutes.

It was easy to get an Uber from here, and they are very reasonably priced. We went to eat at a beautiful restaurant with a patio that I would highly recommend nearby, Bougain Restaurant and Garden bar.

We also visited the Palacio Estoril, which was featured in one of the Bond movies and ate at the oceanfront restaurant Furnas do Guincho, which was good, but the service was a little odd. 

Booking

I had purchased Ambassador status, so I used the free weekend night offer for two nights. 

IHG Ambassador is a paid membership rewards program that allows you to receive benefits across the world at InterContinental Brand Hotels and resorts. It also gives you free Platinum IHG status and a free weekend night. So if you are due to buy a weekend night at an Intercontinental anyway, it’s worth considering it as it can work out free when you look at what you would have paid for the hotel night. With this free night offer, I paid €414 for two nights when the price for one night was €380. So I definitely saved money by paying the $200 to join Ambassador(€185).

The benefits include:

• Guaranteed 4pm check out at InterContinental Hotels
• Guaranteed one category upgrade at InterContinental Hotels
• Free Weekend Night Voucher (second night free when paid first at best flexible rate)
• IHG One Rewards Platinum status
• $20 F&B credit per stay (amount varies by country)

The fee for 12 months of membership is $200. IHG® One Rewards members may also purchase membership for 40,000 points.

I then booked the other night for €380 through luxury agents GTC which gave me:

• Complimentary Breakfast
• USD100 Credit
• Room upgrade on arrival, subject to availability.

Prices were high as I booked about six weeks in advance, and the hotel was full when I stayed. 

Check-in

I arrived late at night but still had the full check-in experience. The staff were very welcoming and explained where everything in the hotel was and the opening times. The hotel is very small, only occupying the bottom couple of floors of the building. I had been upgraded to a slightly better room as I had part booked with GTC travel. The hotel was fully booked, which lessened the chance of a better upgrade. To be honest, unless you get a suite, the rooms are all very similar, and even the basic rooms are a decent size. 

The room

I had booked the Classic Garden View Room but had been upgraded to a Classic Garden View. The only difference was that it was one level up. However, it was definitely worth it as the Garden views were on the same level as the pool and lacking in privacy.

The room felt large and modern with neutral decor. The room had all the usual things you would expect such as a Nespresso coffee machine, robes etc.

Glass bottles of water were supplied every day, which was appreciated. There was loads of storage space with the drawers, although the wardrobes could have been a bit bigger for hanging long dresses. 

We did have issues with the air conditioning while we were there, and on some nights the room did not get below 24c, which was slightly uncomfortable. I think the hotel could have handled it better, as it did not work for our entire stay. We did complain but were not initially offered any compensation, although they did say we could have a fan. Fortunately, we managed with just having the balcony doors open for the last couple of nights. We did ask for compensation at check out and got around 30k IHG points per night, which is very generous. 

The beds were extremely comfortable, and the patio doors provided good soundproofing. 

I particularly liked the bathroom, which was a decent size. It had a unique light feature where you could choose different colour mood lights which was fun (and I forgot to take a photo of!). The bath was probably too large as I kept sliding down, but I’m not complaining. You could move the screens to give a view of the room from the bath if you wanted, but it seemed a bit pointless. 

The toiletries were Bal D’Afrique by  Byredo, which I always find to be of really good quality. I was impressed with how generous they were, as there were several sets in the bathroom. It was good to see hand wash as well as soap as I much prefer it, and it’s less wasteful too. 

The sizeable shower had a rain-head with average pressure, but I liked the shelf so you could put your own toiletries within easy reach. 

The large balcony was great for chilling out on when the sun was too hot and I had a good view. As well as a table and chairs there was also a large day bed for lounging. 

Food and drink

Breakfast

Breakfast was included, but for a small fee, you could have it on room service, which was a lovely start to the day sitting on the balcony. 

As it is such a small hotel there is only one proper restaurant and a bar next to it, Bago Du Vin. Breakfast was served here too until 11am which seemed very civilised. There is also a pool restaurant. 

There was an impressive spread on the buffet, but the table service element was extremely slow on one morning and not exactly speedy the other day. I liked that you could have a cheeky bucks fizz if you wanted it. It wasn’t the widest buffet selection I have ever seen, but everything was great quality.

There was also a good a la carte selection as well. 

The terrace was lovely with ocean views, and we enjoyed lunch there as well as some evening cocktails. The food was not cheap, but it was extremely good, and service was better at lunchtime when it was quieter.

We tried some of the salads at lunch, and they were lovely and fresh, although the nicoise could have had more generous dressing on it.

It also made a great spot to enjoy a cocktail with the sunset. I really enjoyed the cocktails that I tried here, and they had some excellent wine choices too.

Facilities

The main draw of the hotel was the pool outdoors, but if you wanted to visit in winter, they also have an indoor pool too.

There were plenty of loungers by the outdoor pool, and it never got completely full despite it being a busy weekend. There were quite a few children staying at the pool, but I would not describe the pool as being particularly child-friendly as it is quiet small. Like most of the Mediterranean, the pool was not heated, and we found it a bit chilly. The sun loungers were comfortable, but the pool service was a little hit-and-miss. If you managed to grab someone as they went past, you could order food and drinks, but they did not come by regularly. Empty glasses and plates were not collected for several hours, which I thought was a bit poor considering there were a few wasps around. 

There is a spa by the pool which does a good range of treatments by L’Occitane. I thought prices seemed reasonable starting at €95 for an hour. 

The gym is fairly small, but given the size of the hotel, it seemed adequate. 

Conclusion

Apart from the air conditioning issue, I really enjoyed my stay here. It was a very relaxed couple of days but if you wanted, there is lots to do nearby including walking along the coastal path. The staff were all very friendly and helpful although service was too slow at times. I really liked the large modern rooms and I quite liked the fact it was a small, intimate hotel. 

You can find details of pricing and points stays on the hotel website here. 

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