More about Memmo Baleeira Hotel
A wonderful week!
by TripAdvisor Member Watfordgirl31
My husband and I have just returned from our honeymoon in Sagres. We stayed at Memmo Baleeira for a week, and I can honestly say we loved it.
I'm always a bit wary when hotel websites are as professional as the Memmo one, as all too often they don't live up to the impression they give online. However, in this case the opposite is true - the hotel was everything we expected from our website research.
Our first impressions were good - lots of parking, including many in shady spots. The hotel has a beautiful view out over the harbour and the sea beyond. Our room wasn't quite ready when we arrived at about 13:00, so we went to the bar for a drink. The bar has a lovely vibe - there are about 12 large white sofas spread around, and the most wonderful view over the harbour. Drinks aren't cheap - we paid €3 for a small beer, and only discovered on our last night that in a bar only a stone's throw from the hotel we could have had a bottle for €1! Live and learn......
Our room was simple but clean and contained everything we needed, but my husband was disappointed not to have tea and coffee making facilities. The small balcony overlooked the pool area, gardens, and then further out the harbour and sea. A beautiful view!
Breakfast was a real treat - we could eat as much as we wanted, and chose from fruit juices, tea, coffee, cold meats, cooked food, lots of fruit, yogurts, bread, croissants, pastries, the list goes on......
We ate in the restaurant once during our stay, and while it was adequate I can say that we had much better meals elsewhere. We would recommend especially Vila Velha, and Bossa Nova (attached to Dromedario on the main street).
Sagres itself is pleasantly quiet. We chose it because we wanted to get away from the Algarve, and experience more of the western corner we'd visited many times on our last trip to Portugal three years ago. It was the right decision - we had a very peaceful, relaxing, enjoyable week, and both of us have agreed that we will be back!
The good and the bad
by TripAdvisor Member UnitarianSanDiego
My daughter and I spent 5 days at the Memmo Baleeira. We found it on the internet and the price was reasonable. We liked the look of it - very sleek and all white (moorish influence).
We arrived mid-morning. I had written several times to see about hiring a taxi from the train station but they never gave me a solid answer. They originally said they could get us a discount but then there was no follow up. We paid 135 euros and they told us we should have only paid 90 or 95. They organized our return taxi as it was at 3:30am and it was 95 euros.
The staff at the front desk was positively humorless. There were no friendly welcomes or smiles We were taken to our room - it was small but very nice. The view over-looked the pool and the marina. The room lacked a mini bar, bottle opener, iron, ironing board. No place in Portugal's hotels did I find an iron and ironing board. At this hotel, you were not allowed to iron in the room and had to pay quite a bit to send your clothes out. The bed had a very good mattress and was very comfortable.
Unfortunately, the weather put a damper on our stay as it was overcast and cool. The sun came out early in the morning and by noon the cluds had moved in. The pool was large with plenty of lounge chairs but there were not any umbrellas to shade from the sun (just in case there was some). Perhaps you had to request them. Cabanas would have been nice. There was no bar or food service at the pool.
The breakfast was very good with a lot of variety. It was probably one of the best ones I had while in Portugal. You could sit inside or outside and the view was very nice.
We ate one time in the hotel restaurant. Unfortunately, we did not read the guide book and did not know that if they offered you an appetizer and bread and sometimes olives - it cost extra. We ended up paying 8 euros extra.
We had an excursion to the beach and found it littered with trash. No one was actually on the beach. We wondered why the hotel did not take responsibility for cleaning it up. It would have extended the enjoyment of the property.
We enjoyed the small gym with its excellent tread mill, sauna and steam room.
There was a very nice lounge room with a huge wall television, books and comfortable chairs. It would have made a cozy area to have a drink or snack. We never saw anyone make use of it.
The bar area was not at all inviting but you could go out to watch the sun set (except when we were there in May - it was too cold.)
The use of the internet was very expensive - one euro for 5 minutes. You could go into the town and eat at a restaurant/bar and use one for free. Most Portuguese hotels we stayed in had ridiculous internet charges.
My daughter and I are both vegetarians and found it somewhat difficult to find meatless dishes. There is a vegetable soup on every menu. It is always a puree and quite different from our vegetable soups. I lived on fruit, bread and olives and the vegetable soup. The larger cities and towns had more vegetarian choices.
The town is within walking distance and you could go out to find meals but mostly local foods. We found one place that served - salads, vegetable soup and wheat crusted vegetarian pizza. The waitress spoke English and was from Ireland. She was very friendly!
There were very few shops and what we did find was of very little interest.
We were able to take a local bus that stopped at every little village and town and go to Lagos. That made for a very good day trip and it had a very interesting old town with lots to see and do.
They offer no shuttle service to any place or to the airport which is an hour and a half away. You really do need a rental car to get around the area and see what is there.
All in all we had a nice and quiet vacation. The views were lovely and the sunsets very nice. I do wish we had chosen a hotel in a larger town with more choices of restaurants and shops.
Modern hotel with comfortable rooms
by TripAdvisor Member Martin_and_Sally
Stayed here 20/4/08 for one night. Room 440. Paid 85 Euro prpn including breakfast. Did not book, just looked for a hotel on arrival in Sagres.
This was a short visit to Sagres at the end of our holiday. We did not have anything booked so just looked round for a hotel on arrival. We were unexpectedly lucky in finding this hotel, and wished we could have stayed longer than the one night we had.
The hotel has recently been refurbished, so now has a very modern and minimalist appearance. Our room was spacious, very comfortable, especially the bed, and good facilities, the same for the bathroom. There was a small balcony with chairs, and a good view over the swimming pool and sea. The comfort of the room was a bonus as the weather was poor; there were also a/c and a safe. The dominant white decor in the room and the hotel is appropriate for a seaside location.
There is a large outdoor pool with many loungers, but not of use to us as this was an unusually cold day in April. We did use the indoor pool which was attractive and pleasant; this is part of a spa complex, the rest of which we did not use. Large car park if you have a car, and near to buses from Lagos if you do not.
Breakfast was excellent, a buffet with a wide continental range, also a few hot items; best of all was the outstanding range off fresh fruit. We ate in the restaurant in the evening; this was good but nothing memorable, it was quite expensive (for Portugal) and soft drinks were particularly expensive and small. There is also catering available in the bar, and a coffee shop.
The reception staff were friendly, and made a notable effort to help us, even though we were there for only one night.
There were just a few minor problems; the opening times and availability of food in the bar and coffee shop were not clear (inconsistent information in different places) and some slight glitches in service in the restaurant.
Most visitors probably use this hotel for an entire holiday, and would have different requirements to us, but we expect it to appeal to most people. We usually prefer small older hotels with character, but the comfort of the rooms and extensive breakfast, also the friendly staff, mean that we would certainly like to return for a longer stay, (although we would probably use local restaurants for eating). At 85 Euros (‘walk in’ rate) it was good value for its standard, and while that was not main season in April, I see from their website that the price is only slightly more for most of the year except August.
Very good hotel, Design Style, Great Surrounding and beaches
by TripAdvisor Member nunofelino
Hello, this hotel has been renewed recently and takes advantage of one of the beatifull places in Portugal -Sagres - and it's amazing surrounding views over the ocean. The hotel is clean, very "white", with good accomodations, conditions in terms of infrastructures and all the best if you want to experience a typicall portuguese vila outside the main touristic places.
In a nutshell:
Very good - hotel design, food, pool, views, quality of the rooms, amazing beaches in Sagres (beatifull) and the relaxying of all the surroundings.
Average - hotel has new staff, not so experience and you feel it in terms of support on your stay. Far behind any big hotel chain service, if you're used to it. Rooms not so big.
Bad - during the 3 days weekend (we were 4 couples with no children) there were a lot of your parents with small kids which made some of our meals, and nights very stressy sometimes...lot's of noise, etc. I don't blame the hotel for this of course! just maybe go on a lower season or so
Advices - order a room with ocean view, relax after dinner in the pool deck just enjoying the sea and the moon. Be aware that Sagres is pretty much windy and you should bring a "paravento" to some of the beaches. Bring your camera too.
A very nice hotel in a beautiful location
by TripAdvisor Member Dolphin34
The hotel is located on a cliff directly above a small beach near the harbour. The view from the sea facing rooms is magnificant and well worth the extra money. Its very peaceful.
The rooms are very light and tastefully decorated and very clean.
The hotel is relatively new and one block of the hotel is still being built but only interior work is being done so it wasn't noisy.
The breakfast buffet was excellent. Dinner at the hotel was nice but not cheap and the dinning room lacks a bit of atmosphere. Sagres has plenty of restaurants in walking distance. Nice pool outside and a small but nice indoor pool. Staff were very friendly.
Only downside was that the soundproofing in the rooms wasn't the best (but I am a light sleeper). On occasions we heard the neighbours.
We happened to have the rainiest week of the whole year there. Supposedly it rains the most in Sagres in April. So if I went again I would probably choose May. Its definitely worth visiting the surrounding beaches, especially towards the North of Sagres.
Nice weekend - I will come back!
by TripAdvisor Member ninamarta
This is a very modern and comfortable hotel.
The town (Sagres) is one of my favorite locations in the South of Portugal, with amazing, empty beaches and this hotel with it's views and location is a wonderful plus!
The hotel is clean and very modern-like.
The staff could be a little bit more smiley, but just don't let that get to you. They could also give some better advice on good beaches instead of sending us to the one right next to the port...
The rooms are very clean and comfortable; the restaurant has some great food at an average price (although the wines are a bit too expensive), the outside area is wonderful (swimming pool and gardens) and the SPA could offer a bit more.
The memmo keyring sold on the hotel shop is very cute... I regret I didn't get one! ;)
splendid hotel on exceptionel location
by TripAdvisor Member jardin123
This hotel gave us an almost perfect room, a splendid dinner and an excellent breakfast. The view is stunning.
The building brand new and nicely designed in white.
The staff nice and helpful.
For the price we payed it was very very good value.
This hotel is high in out top ten!
Take your sunglasses for breakfast!
Fantastic Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member ericcoombes
Booked this as a last minute holiday via Easy Jet recommended partners, what a holiday and what a fantastic hotel. The staff were friendly and helpful and the hotel was modern and clean. Excellent breakfast and the sea views set you up for the day. The indoor pool and spa area were 1st class and the lounge areas and rooms were very pleasent and with ALL rooms having sea/harbour views. Sagres is a quite town but has lots of wonderful bays and beaches nearby where one can sit and while away the time with a coffee watching the surfers or swimmers. Eating out was a pleasure at the Bossa Nova which is just behind the Dromederio in the main street. The Italian food on offer was excellent and the Pizzas too die for.
Although we went in October the days were warm too very warm and the evenings a bit chilly but still get a good tan.
The western Algarve is a quite delight and is akin too Cornwall but with much better weather. The end of the known world was as it was once described abd the beauty, quite and lack of commercialism in comparison to the eastern Algarve is peaceful and very restful.
A New Look
by TripAdvisor Member petally
We had been to this hotel before, but now it has been revitalised and upgraded. The rooms have been revamped and updated and we were very comfortable. Whilst we were there we only ate in at breakfast time. The food was fine, but we found the dining room itself very noisy and somewhat cramped which is a pity as there was little else we could fault in the hotel. It did mean that we ate out at night though, as the accoustics/noise would have spoiled an evening meal for us. Otherwise I would certainly stay there again. The view over the harbour and round the bay is lovely and the public areas are clean and comfortable.
Sign in with Facebook
