Hotel Rural Casa Viscondes Varzea

We were booked here for 4 nights by a travel group, but the hotel is worth only staying 1 or 2 nights. It was interesting to see the property and look at the grounds. The room was large but showing signs of age. Not surprisingly there was no walk-in shower and the run-down nature of the bathroom was a distraction. We met the owner of the property who was quite interesting and fun to interact with. We did have a cooking class with her one night and that was fun. Other food at the Quinta was acceptable but not as good as our fresh made meal. The place is about 10-15 min from the nearest significant town Lamego and challenging to stay at without a car. Worth a short visit to see a family-owned Quinta.

The place is very beautiful and clean. There was no wifi available in the room, bathroom needs improvement

On pénètre dans un univers aristocratique, surchargé de meubles, objets, tableaux et photos de famille. Il faut se laisser séduire par cette surcharge, par la propriétaire, mélange de femme d'affaires et de princesse, par le personnel très courtois, par le jardin aux arbres lourds de fruits et aux herbes folles. Se laisser charmer par l'ensemble sans s'acharner sur les détails. Recommandé pour qui cherche un dépaysement romanesque hors du temps.

Room was very rundown as though Expedia clients get the worse rooms. Toilet ran all night, had to get the lamp fixed, curtains were fithy, and entrance garden all overgrown making it hard to enter the room. Too bad- potentially a great place but needs alot of work.

A different type of hotel set in acres of vineyards this is a good place to stay if you want something a bit different. On the Saturday night we paid for the buffet which was great value.

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.

Don’t book an event here, owner tries to get 4 weddings in 1 weekend. Booked for a week with the whole family and yet another wedding who booked the whole place now have no rooms, (apologies to the other wedding, I hope you had a lovely day) our wedding day was lovely until it’s finished and forgot about the next day as the owner moves onto the next wedding. Asked us to move to another property twice and had to tell the owner that we have booked here for a week and we will not move. Food was good but trying to eat anything Halal is impossible.
Open bar means 2 types of drinks….
Feel for the employees getting shouted out every 5 seconds
It’s the most disorganised place I have ever been, surely if you know the next day that a couple have booked the full thing you would not allow us to stay a week??? Felt as though the other group were against us as the owner mentioned we were rude and uneducated as we didn’t want to move to another place with no activities (again the other wedding, I feel for you guys over there)

Lovely place but they double booked for my friends’ wedding causing so much stress. Not to be trusted for important events. Some guests were in rooms far away and couldn’t walk to and from the property. This meant they couldn’t use the facilities.

Super séjour en amoureux.
Il y a un an, nous nous sommes mariés dans cet hôtel. Le cadre est magnifique. Les personnel est super. La propriétaire Maria est incroyable !

Stunning property and grounds, with excellent service with food and drink.

Our room was a bit tired, with an old fashioned bathroom and no air con.

We found out that the excellent staff would deliver food and wine on request, but no one told us this and it wasn’t signposted! Information about dinner, services, prices for wine etc. should be made clear.

Otherwise, a beautiful and unique experience. Very tranquil and serene setting.

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.

Excellent accommodations, wonderful personnel and great food! The owner, Maria, was very friendly and adapted the stay for all our needs. The pool was refreshing, room service every day and food was always delicious. I highly recommend!

Great property

Absolutely stunning property. Maria and Pedro welcomed us into their home and made us feel like family. Had delicious dinner and breakfast buffet served in their beautiful dining room. The entire working property is classic Portuguese Quninta living. Staff was amazing. Looking forward to staying there again. Highly recommend if you are visiting Lamego.

Struttura meravigliosa, con una vista incredibile sulla campagna. Giardino enorme e bellissimo. Tante sale, tutte a disposizione degli ospiti, come se si fosse in un castello. Ricca colazione. Tanto comfort. Da rivedere la pulizia delle aree comuni, come la sala colazioni. Ci vuole poco a togliere polvere e ragnatele!

My family and I (53M, 50F, 17F & 13F) took the cooking class with Maria; We were immediately welcome with warm arms & given food/drinks before getting a brief overview of the historic property. Then, we all participated in hands on preparation of our three course meal (very kid friendly w/ a pizza appetizer and pork dinner etc). Afterward, we were given the option to relax on the property (pet their horses, lounge on the deck or eat more food). Overall, the experience is a 5/5 and the views are gorgeous! Very family friendly and worth the cost for the three hours.

This property was a magical experience for us. A heritage mansion set among acres of vineyards. The views were superb. The mansion villa was spectacular in its furnishings, its location, its decor and its staff and owner. We were greeted by Francesco and made to feel at home in this regal atmosphere and public space. Maria, the owner shared the history of the home and land. Our room was huge with comfortable beds and pristine linens. We thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast in a dining room with a table set for nobility. The fireplace was lit every morning and the ambience was magical and a perfect start to our day. We spent three wonderful days with easy access to touring the Douro river valley and walking the estate. We will return. Thank you we were blessed to experience such luxury and welcome. Will return from Canada in the future.

We were giving an old run down room. I won’t stay there again if ever in the area.

My group of six stayed at this magnificent home whose owner hosted us with grace and generosity. The dinner we ate was the best on our northern Portugal journey. We are only sorry we booked one night. We will return for longer next time, for it is a place to revisit.

This property was a good place for us to rest mid-vacation. It was not tourist season, so it was very quiet with very few guest. THe food was wonderful as was the staff. The hotel itself was a little on the older side and there is little to do around the estate or area. You will need transportation to go into the Duoro Valley.