after two nights in chiado, we moved on to alcantara to explore a new neighbourhood. stayed in a gorgeous, lovingly restored palacio which's basically what lots of buildings are called. what was interesting was the all-female team of sweet young things who ran the place. they were helpful to a fault and made us feel very welcome. i may or may not have developed a tiny girl crush on the manager-ess lady and was even about to suggest my brother extend his holiday to woo her, should she be available.
did have one tiny hiccup that i'm more than a little ashamed to admit. traveling as a fam, we'd a pull out bed in the living room area of the suite. but it was a sweltering summer night and the a/c was only in the bedroom, and the suite so big the gulfstream failed to reach the sofa bed. it was about midnight when i called the front desk to ask for a portable fan. the night lady said to sleep without the duvet (already doing that, duh) and open the window as they had no fans. but the window opened into the inner courtyard where all the a/c units were whirring away - adding insult to injury! someone else came up to see what the problem was and agreed that the window had to remain shut. but there was nothing they could do and the hotel was full. this frustrated me as if the room was going to be so uncomfortable, it should not have been sold as a family share. sent a couple of angry emails and um, it was a little awkward in the morning. constantly reminding myself to think before i act, to sleep on things that make me angry because, really, the manager lady was so nice about it the next day and comp-ed jugs of sangria. when we checked out, they didn't even charge for the extra bed. do think the same outcome (service recovery) could be achieved without as much undue nastiness on my part.
more photos of the pretty palacio ramalhete. playing with pano mode.
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