Ibis Guimaraes Centro

Good location for stay there. Easy to get around. My friends and I like to travel.

Stayed for 7 nights for work. First of all, while the location on a map may not look like much, it is actually really close to the historic centre of Guimaraes and very convenient for buses to and from Porto. Check-in was easy and although my room wasn’t ready, it was prioritised so I could check in as soon as it was ready. Unfortunately my silver status wasn’t recognised so there was no free drink on arrival. The room was fairly basic. Work desk with extension and adapter, TV and bed with two pillows. The bed was comfortable but I could’ve done with an extra pillow or two for variety for profile and firmness. The bathroom was cleaned immaculately and although it was lacking a plug, the bath and shower were great. There were only two downsides: - Firstly, the wifi is terrible once you leave reception. It was non existent in my room and it wasn’t uncommon to see folk in reception using devices. - Secondly, the bar ran out of beer on a Friday night. A bit of poor planning there but not a major issue. Overall, the Ibis is marketed like an upper-class hostel. If you are happy to do away with the trimmings, you’ll have a great stay here.

Ibis Guimaraes Centro Guimaraes Second time, and last time...... While in Guimarães we realised why we had such a problem finding a hotel in the area we wanted to be in, as there was the CONTEXTILE 2022 - Contemporary Textile Art Biennial 03.09. – 30.10.2022. The town was absolutely heaving the weekend we were there. It is over twenty years since we stayed in an IBIS hotel, and that was in the UK. We thought we would give this a try as we had no luck getting in anywhere else even though we looked early enough in the year for a place. We booked months ago. We had just arrived back from a break in Porto and the Açores. So this is our second stay in an Ibis hotel, and definitely our last! After checking in the previous evening, we went to the bar and asked for a beer and a glass of white wine. The chap on reception said we could only have a white wine if we bought the bottle, so we declined that offer as my husband only drinks red wine or beer. Later in the evening we arrived back and a young woman was on reception/bar duty. So I asked if I could have a glass of red wine? She told me I would have to buy a bottle of red! I asked her if they did anything by the glass? Yes, was her reply, I could buy a glass of white wine, which I did, and my husband had a beer. I don't know why the receptionist /barman told us why we would have to buy white wine when we were basically in Vinho Verde region where it is abundant! The room itself was clean and tidy, but in a time warp of the nineteen seventies with it's Neopolitan decor. Bed is comfy enough. The power block and the aircon were the only bonuses I can think of. Only a bath towel each, no hand towels, we really do like a hand towel after washing our hands and faces, NOT ideal to use a bath towel for this! The receptionist who worked mornings was very helpful and pleasant. As for breakfast, which was adequate, the fact that two people sat at a table for four, every morning while we were there, and put their bags and scarves on the chairs beside them is really annoying. Trying to get a table at your allotted time is bad enough, getting a table with two chairs was almost impossible at times. I asked for a chair, and the elderly woman looked at me with steely eyes because I was expecting her to put her bag and scarf on her knee, or at worst, the floor! How inconsiderate am I? I felt sorry for the lady who was in charge of making sure everything was there for breakfast, she was on her own and very busy. So many people just left their dirty trays on the tables and walked away knowing that other people would be turning up for breakfast. We all like to sit down to a clean table, but if other guests are too lazy to move their dirty trays, then there isn't a lot you can do about improving their manners. Three people turned up one morning and they stood by the table and waited for the lady who ran the kitchen, to come out of the kitchen to move the dirty trays to the trolley for them, the trolley being less tha