Hotel Estalagem do Brasao is well situated for town and beach.
Especially the hotel staff needs to be commended. They were at all times very helpful and acted professionally and well qualified.The breakfast was excellent.
The room had a good size, the beds very comfortable, clean, nice but rather cold.

This hotel is well situated for town and beach. The hotel staff were very helpful, the room was a good size, the bed very comfortable, the room very clean, and nice and cool in the hot weather. Breakfast excellent. For less than 60 euros this was great value for money.

We decided to base ourselves at Vila do Conde for the final two nights of our stay in Portugal, as it was on the bracing Atlantic coast and also very convenient for the short drive back to Porto airport. Having driven along the beach front 'strip', with its many new apartment blocks, it was a genuine surprise to turn a corner and discover a substantial old town, a rather appealing river front and the huge bulk of the Santa Clara convent looming over it all. All this so close to the busy city of Porto.

For once, parking was easy; the town's tourist information office close at hand, and the Estalagem do Brazao very close by. (We had already had a look at the Hotel Santana, which overlooks the river from the opposite bank; however, the price of rooms there was virtually double what the Brazao was asking). The hotel is housed in an old building which we were told was a former palace. Whether this is true or not I'm not too sure, but it is a delight inside, with azulejo tiles lining the corridors; old (but nice) dark wood furniture in the rooms; space to move around; and everything spick and span.

The residents' lounge has an almost Scottish hunting lodge feel to it, with deep armchairs and sofas, a big fireplace, wall-mounted lanterns, a small library of books and even a draughts board set out on a small side table (there's also a pool table, which of course should really be a full sized snooker table, but never mind). Just about the only thing lacking is an array of stags' heads around the walls.

The breakfast buffet is averagely good; nothing outstanding, but all the basics present.

This place maybe wouldn't suit those who are more at home in the bland corporate surroundings of a chain-type hotel; however, we found it a rather charming and appealing throwback to a more leisured and gentler age.

We spent two nights here on a short break, and chose the town as an alternative to Porto, where we'd already been. The hotel is right near the centre of Vila do Conde, and about 10 minutes walk from the beach. The town was pretty quiet as it was out of season but very pleasant to wander around, with quite a few good value restaurants.
At the hotel, the room was spacious and very clean, with everything in good working order. The staff were very courteous and helpful, and the breakfast was perfectly adequate. We didn't use the restaurant or bar.
The hotel has an old fashioned charm about it, both in decor and attitude. It's a ten minute walk from the Santa Clara metro station and 15 minutes from Vila do Conde station (where the express metros stop).