I just came back from our trip to the pousada and we had a very pleasant stay there! We stayed in a suite with a huge terrace and a magnificent view of the Alentejo area. The main purpose of our stay was to ride in the stables next to the hotel and it was just fantastic! The horses are great (well schooled lusitano-stallions, a dream to ride them! (but maybe not for beginning riders)) and the instructor teaches the principles of classical dressage with much patience and in an encouraging way.

The hotel itself is beautiful, an ancient monastery that has been very well renovated, it has a great pool and staff is very friendly and eager to meet your needs. The only less positive element is the restaurant of the hotel, we stayed in half board but nevertheless we went to eat outside the hotel because of the poor quality of the food. I would recommend to stay in the hotel but not in half board.

My wife and I booked into the Pousada after reading some of the reviews here - we decided to push the boat out and go for a few days of 5-star service.

The hotel looks lovely from the outside; a well renovated convent about a mile outside the local town that gives it its name. I'm not sure about it taking 10 minutes to walk to the castle, though: perhaps I'm getting old and unfit! The room was functional; no balcony and a strange set of shutters. There was some minor damage to the furniture and a towel hook had been damaged and not replaced - nothing major, but not 5-star. The cleaning staff did an excellent job.

There is a nice pool; although it was not cleaned during our 3-day stay and was quite dirty. Towels were available from reception - at the other end of the hotel.

The breakfast buffet was reasonable; the scrambled eggs were excellent, the fruit juice did not appear to be fresh and I could not get a decent cup of tea. Dinner was excellent.

The staff on duty were friendly and relatively competent. However, there were never enough of them to provide 5-star service - my major issue with this hotel. During our stay, there were only ever 3 people on duty; one on reception and 2 in the dining room. No concierge, no bell boy, no barman, no bar staff, no pool staff, no staff on the terrace - or anywhere else that was available as a 'sitting' room. At one point, after waiting for 40 minutes to order a drink on the terrace, I went to the bar where there was a phone and instructions to phone reception. I phoned reception and, after no answer after 5 minutes I went to reception - there was no-one there. I eventually ordered through the dining room staff and, after an hour, received a drink. This was not a one-off event. The service provided by the staff was well below the standards expected of a 3-star hotel; let alone a 5-star hotel. I feel for the staff on duty, they tried as best they could; there were simply too few of them on duty to provide the expected level of service.

One other, minor niggle: you can't lock the room from the inside and retain electricity unless you dismantle the room key!

I would not return to this hotel unless I could be completely convinced that the level of service had improved dramatically - they need to double (at least) the number of personnel on duty.

Definetely, a very beatiful place. Calm, peaceful and with quality.
Very nice breakfast with a wide variety of goods served at the restaurant or on room (restricted products, but they don't charge any fee). Pool very good, but with some dirt. Tennis court was ok. They gave me a superior room because of the extra bed for my daughter. Very nice, but need some maintenance. The only problem I see with Pousadas product is that has a poor price-quality ratio and you feel that you can get a better price on a promotional price, web site, discount card, etc.

Pousada de Nossa Sra. Assunção is located near the Arraiolos Castle (10 minutes walking) and is a historic hotel.
There you can enjoy a relaxing period since it is quiet and friendly.
I stayed at the Pousada for three nigths and in witch one of them they left something nice at the bedroom, fruit, juice, milk, local sweets.
The staff was always very polite and friendly.
You can not get bored since they have lots of activities, tennis, swimmig pool, hourse center.
The restaurant is very good and you can taste local food.