Novotel Porto Gaia

The staff was really helpful and provided us with ticket information for tours in the area. The hotel was close to the old section of town and only short taxi rides were used to get back and forth. They had good parking. The breakfast was really good as was the dinner. The wine was a little high...the bottle we bought was 13 euro and we found the same bottle at a convenience store for 4.99 euro later. Avoid the tourist trap eateries...there are "hole in the wall" places that have wonderful food at low prices. Overall nice start to our vacation. Great bed!

I really liked this hotel but it was out of the way. Unless you like to walk a lot, you really need to take a cab to get downtown. Public buses are very close but the system isn't that easy to use (not the hotel's fault but they could provide route maps). We were there in August and there was a constant cool breeze coming off the ocean which you could see from the property. Ask for an ocean view. The buffets in the restaurant were very good and even satisfied my very fussy 87 year old father.

The hotel is actually 10 - 15 minutes outside of Porto which ended up being a blessing in disguise. Short taxi ride into Porto (about 6 Euros) as parking in Porto would have been a major pain. Once in Porto we realized that we needed to see the sights and get back across the river before sundown as we did not feel safe walking around. We felt like prey and we are both city people. History is beautiful but the city and its historic sights are in severe decay and filthy. We walked across the bridge into Gaia and loved it. Nice little shops and cafes with seating along the river. Beautiful views of gondolas and Porto. Walked back to hotel at night along river with no problem.