Parador Casa da Ínsua

We loved everything about this place. It's a historic building, lots of charm, but still the rooms are very clean and modern. There's a museum on site and beautiful gardens. The restaurant was also SO good! The service was impeccable and the food fantastic. If you stay for dinner you have to try the cheese and jams they make on site. The 2017 red we ordered was also one of the best wines I've ever had.

Everything was excellent. A unique place to stay. It is a real castle with in-house museums. You stroll through the corridors and your mind cand comprehend the beauty of the details all around you. We got the wine tasting as well. Totally worth it.

I'm speechless; how can I describe such a fantastic place? We had a medium suite in the main building and it was quite classy, extremely clean, modern and well appointed, yet historic. The Casa da Insua has that real castle/manor house feel, happily everything is first class and modern. The staff was attentive, professional and helpful. We had the half-board and I would say it represents a great value. The breakfast was fresh and huge; the evening meal was rather formal but still relaxed. The food was always 5 star and the menu extensive. The gardens and grounds are amazing! This edifice ha been here a long time and the extensive French and English gardens are perfectly manicured and mature. There are fruit orchards all around, along with grape vines and olive trees. They have sheep and make their own cheese. If you ever wanted to stay in a castle and be made to feel like royalty for a few days, then this may be your place.

We had a lovely stay here at Casa da Ínsua, A very interesting property, a rural retreat with lots of history and agricultural aspects, nice place to get away and enjoy a quiet time in the countryside of northern Portugal. This place is for relaxing and reflecting, not much to do except for explore the gardens and appreciate the scenic pastoral landscapes and enjoy some fine Portuguese food & wine. Will fondly remember this visit and would be glad to recommend to anyone who can appreciate a bit of historic hospitality!

The antiquity of the estate; the furniture, paintings, gardens and history make this a perfect place to stay. The receptionists were.very helpful and gave us a guided tour of the mansion and up graded us to a beautiful room overlooking the gardens. We spent a delightful time meandering through the estate and picnicking by the pool. We would rate the parador as OUTSTANDING except that we experienced the worst dinner of our entire trip.

We accidentally ended up staying at this fantastic hotel after an invite to a wedding. Thank you Leslie and Antonio! The venue is laid out like a castle with lovely grounds and function spaces away from the elegantly furnished and spacious bedrooms. Located literally in the middle of no where, tranquility can easily be found, even when the wedding is on. The pool area is serene with lots of sun beds, parasols and tables, and rarely crowded. There’s a small babies pool too. Inside, there is the museum style historic rooms easily able to be explored. The restaurant, also currently being used as the bar is lavish and inviting. The food quality exceptional. Right outside the main gate is a small pub/cafe serving very cheap drinks and food with a very local atmosphere. Lots of local beers and wines on offer along with snacks and treats. Seating outside too for relaxing and admiring the hotel from the outside. The best plus on offer is the views, simply stunning and not to be missed, from pretty much each side of the grounds and hotel. Big thank you to the reception chap, who checked us in on 11/08. Very friendly, and helped us with our bags. Breakfast here is expensive but you get a pretty good choice with local cheese and meats and all the usual fare. When departing on your route out, the first Respol fuel station offers the best views a fuel station could provide, perfectly back towards this hotel, perfect views in reverse. Well worth a special stay for a night or two.

Check in was easy and the staff very friendly. We enjoyed walking the grounds and visiting the on-site museums and the originally furnished rooms. Our room was very large. We couldn’t get the bathroom window to lock and safe was not bolted to anything, so somebody could just walk off with it. Outside the room, WiFi was spotty at best.

Had a lovely stay at this charming parador. Amazing building(s) filled with history, charm and character. When you stayed there, you felt you were immersed in it. Beautiful gardens. The property itself is really stunning (you must also visit the chapel in the house). However I found the service a bit lacklustre. Staff were not particularly friendly or helpful, they did what they needed to but it wasn't like the service was amazing. We ate at the restaurant one evening and the food was very good. Breakfast was nice but I really don't enjoy fried eggs put out on a buffet. They were very willing to do fresh eggs though, you just had to ask for them. It was a lovely stay, the pool was officially "not open" so we weren't given towels for the pool although a day later we did see other people with the pool towels.