I have just returned having spent 2 nights at the hotel in the lovely city of leiria. I went there to watch a game at the football stadium between Leiria and Sporting Lisbon. I arrived by train. The station is outside of the city. If you donlt like walking then I suggest you get a taxi. I decided to walk and it took me 15-20 minutes to arrive in the city where you will see the football stadium to your right hand side. The main town lies behind the stadium. Simply go past the stadium and follow signs centro. Having arrived in the centre you will find lovely gardens and situated near the fountain is the Tourist Office. They were really helpful. The hotel is some 10 minutes away walking form the city. If you feel uneasy about walking form the station then get a taxi. You will soon get your bearings in Leiria. It is a small compact city and easy to get around on foot. The hotel lies at the top of a hill on the right hand side. The staff there were the most friendly and helpful I've ever encountered. They were simply fantastic. The room was first class and totally clean and tidy. The breakfast was really good too. There was plenty of choice and variety. It will defirnately suit all tastes and you can eat as much or as little as you want. There are nice views from the dining room looking towards the outskirsts of the city. The hotel is modern and I would have no hesitation in recommending a stay here. A walk back into the city will take 10 minutes. Leiria is a lovely place and there are some nice bars about. If you want a lovely relaxing few days away then this could be the place to visit. I went there to watch football. The Ground was a 20 minutes walk form the hotel. It is a lovely stroll through the city and is easy to find. I really enjoyed Leiria. I did intend to travel back to Porto by train but found it easier to go by coach. The bus station is bang in the city centre and it took 2 hours to get there. It is much easier than having to go to the railway station even though the trip by train into the city was a nice run.

My wife and I stayed one night at the Hotel Eurosol Leiria on the evening of September 27, 2008. Hotel Eurosol Leiria is a 94 room highrise hotel overlooking the city of Leiria (a city that you must visit in Portugal because it dates back to 1135 AD and the Castle of Leiria is superb! Of course, other than the Castle of Leiria there is nothing of note in Leiria, but the Castle of Leiria is worth the visit). The hotel is part of a two hotel complex, sharing a parking lot with the three story Hotel Eurosol Jardim (38 rooms).

Although the front lobby of the Hotel Eurosol Leiria is in relatively good shape, upon viewing our room (number 603) and the rest of the hotel property, it became evident that Hotel Eurosol Leiria is a very old, tired building that could use an update in the worst way possible. Claiming to be a 3 star property, as a North American I would rate Hotel Eurosol Leiria below a Motel 6. Our room smelled of insect repellent and had plenty of visible mold in the washroom (on the walls and ceiling). The room carpet had to be the original gross brown carpet from 50 years ago: stained and thoroughly worn. Our queen sized bed (yes, we actually found a queen sized bed in Europe, and it was for that reason that we stayed at Hotel Eurosol Leiria) had a hard and lumpy mattress that my wife thinks was picked up from a Russian Soviet era hotel or from the local flea market. The air conditioner in the room did not work (so we kept our window open all night) and the television was tiny (12 inch screen at best). Pillows were small and hard as rocks.

Breakfast was included in our 82 euro room rate. Breakfast was the best part of staying at the Hotel Eurosol Leiria. To be fair, it was better than average for a Portuguese hotel, with fresh fruit and a variety of available food items (not just the usual buns, shaved ham and one type of sliced cheese like most Portuguese hotels). The "business center" was composed of two computers. Internet cost 2 euro for 30 minutes and 3 euro for an hour (prepay at the front desk). There was no printer.

Overall, my wife and I are giving the Hotel Eurosol Leiria 2 stars out of 5, but only because in Portugal we are finding that expectations have to be low when dealing with hotels. Europeans, for whatever reason, do not expect very much from their hotels and Hotel Eurosol Leiria kind of falls into that category -- a hotel that could be a lot better than it is. If we every end up staying in Leiria again, we will not stay at the Hotel Eurosol Leiria. I would suggest that you give it a miss as well.

We stayed in Leiria for 2 days while traveling in Portugal.
Leiria is a great location for visiting nearby attractions (Batalha, Alcobaca etc) - we also visited Sao Martinho do Porto - a very pleasant seaside resort with good safe sea swimming.
Leiria castle is a must! fantastic views etc.

Room was pleasant if a little small - pool was ok but could do with a tidy up - staff were helpful.