Now resident in Portugal, my wife and I decided that a stay in an 'historic' pousada would combine seeing more of the country with distinctive accommodation.

The first disappointment was the location. Photographs give the impression of a leafy, secluded palaçio. In fact the place is on a major road junction at the edge of the town centre. Convenient, but noisy, you can't relax in the garden in the evening.

Instead of occupying a room in the historic old house, we were in a modern annex and could have been in any hotel, anywhere (in fact, we could have stayed at an Ibis chain hotel nearby and had the same facilties at one-third of the cost).

When we came to use the bathroom we found there was no plug for the bath and I had to ask for one at reception - twice. I hadn't heard of this happening outside the Soviet Union. (My wife had to make a special request for a shower cap, too.)

The breakfast was adequate, but again nothing special, and served in a soulless modern room with no distinguishing features.

When we left we were given an evaluation form and we made our disappointment known and received a very polite reply, but this was little recompense for feeling we had failed to have the holiday we hoped for.

Perhaps I'd come to expect too much of pousadas, but this doesn't really meet the mark.

Positive: Good location a few blocks from the center city, plenty of parking, super-helpful staff.
Negative: Small cheap rooms, no internet in rooms, lame breakfast, no lunch or dinner. Not a good choice for a business traveler

Even in the newly-built wing, the rooms are small and cheap, they feel like a Holliday Inn. There is no internet in the rooms, so business travellers are forced to sit at sofas in the bar to connect to the WiFi system for a fee. The restaurant only serves a sort of cold cuts and cheese continental breakfast (no charge), but is closed for lunch and dinner, so if you're a business traveler working late you can't call down for a sandwich. I've stayed in several pousadas and expect a bit of luxury and history and interesting locations, but this is just a plain building with a few old pieces of furniture in the hallways.

On the other hand, the staff was very helpful, sorting out a problem for me with a smile. The location is good, this isn't a pousada on a mountaintop 10 miles from the city center -- you can walk a few blocks to the historic town center. There is an ample parking lot, a nice touch in an urban area.

It happens to be one of the nicer hotels in Braga, and my stay wasn't exactly bad, but they could sure use some improvements.