Hotel Rural Casa Dos Viscondes da Varzea

I'm writing a negative review, which I don't usually do, because I was very upset to see my friends (who held their wedding at Hotel Rural Casa dos Viscondes da Varzea) so stressed and upset through the wedding due to the owner, knowingly, double booking their event. My friends had booked the venue for 3 days with full exclusivity - but on arrival the prior wedding guests were still there, and they were told they were refusing to leave their rooms. Later they found out that they had legitimately booked - but the venue put the blame on the guests. We even saw people on the morning of the wedding day, and because the hotel rooms had been double booked, the groom had nowhere to get ready! Personally, I had to stay in another room, 5 mins drive at the other end of the winery which was a bit of an inconvenience, the room was pretty worn down and I found a bug in the bed. Additionally, on the first day day, 3 coach loads of people arrived for a private dinner in another part of the venue - apparently this has been a weekly event since January, but the venue did not tell my friends or re-negotiated the exclusivity. The wedding day itself was beautiful, and I felt very sorry for the staff as they were really nice and must put up with a lot of complaints due to the way the venue i s run. The day after the wedding, they were still meant to have exclusivity, but guests arrived for the following wedding. Which put a bit of a dampner on the pool party they had booked, with unexpected strangers hanging around. One of the main reasons I'm writing this review is because of the way the hotel managed this - they continually lied and made excuses to my friends, which I think made it worse for them. And when sitting down to renegotiate the price and get a partial refund - the owner had the audacity to laugh at them! It is very hard to see one of your closest friends cry on the days that are meant to be the happiest and I think that the owners should significantly recompense my friends for the stress they put them through.

We visited this 17th-century wine estate in Northern Portugal’s Douro Valley wine region on an included excursion from our April 2024 Avalon Waterways River Cruise. We were met by Countess Maria Manuel Cyrne, the owner of this family estate (historical quinto) and she led the group to a covered veranda/terrace where we were served wine and a variety of homemade sweets. The countess is a very charismatic character and it’s hard not to like (love) her enthusiasm. She tells us that she was born and grew up on the Casa dos Viscondes da Várzea estate, which had been owned by her family for generations. Due to political and economic changes in 1975 when she was just over 20 years old, it was sold and then fell into disrepair. However, in 1994, the countess and her husband were able to buy it back and restore the manor house. By 2003, the estate became a hotel. She escorted the group through the manor house that included antique furnishings and then a walk-through part of the 400+ acre. We saw the vineyards, fruit orchards, and olive groves. The vineyards produce the manor house’s red, white, and rosé wine. The house also has an exclusive Port wine, which we tasted at the vintage barn along with fruit from the orchards. Arriving back to the manor house, we were given more wine and some wonderful sandwiches and cookies. We also learned about the countess’ journey to motherhood. After 27 years of unsuccessful attempts, including 17 in vitro fertilizations, she finally achieved her dream. At the age of 49, Maria gave birth to twin sons—a true miracle. If we should ever get back to Portugal, we would love to stay here for a few days and enjoy all the amenities this estate has to offer.

Highly recommend! This was easily the most special experience my family had in our recent trip to Portugal. Countess Maria makes you feel like family and gave an excellent cooking class that felt involved but not too demanding - the results were delicious. Her and her family’s story is incredibly interesting, and you feel like you are interacting with a piece of the local history. Very charming property that was so cozy in the winter with many fires going.