Pousada Convento de Beja

The concept of staying in an old convent converted to a hotel is attractive. The reality unfortunately is that this hotel is really “old glory”. The pool area was ‘ok’ not great. The food service manager José Luis was great and the restaurant dinner was excellent.

I have questions about how this property is rated average 8.4. After the novelty of staying in a converted convent wears off in the first half hour, reality sets in. If I could rate the rooms separately from the staff, this hotel would get a 5. The rooms and bathrooms need a complete makeover - from scratch. The ‘double” bed was only 140 cm wide and as hard as a rock. Nearly impossible to sleep on. The air conditioning did not work well and it was 35 degrees C. The bathroom was functional, but a solid 6. We had 2 nights with little comfort in the room. Disappointing. Other comments: - The safe was only big enough for a wallet, passport and small valuables. Thus we had to carry our laptop and tablet with us everywhere for 2 days. - All furniture and decorations in the rooms and common areas are tired and need to be cleaned or replaced. - The outside grassy area around the pool is not manicured. The walking paths from the building to the pool are gravel/dirt and do not look attractive. - The pool itself is quite nice. However, there were not enough loungers for all the guests who wanted them, so we had to wait almost an hour before 2 loungers freed up. I do not want to come over as completely negative in this review, but the room and bathroom were among the worst I’ve stayed in recently - and I travel a lot. Kudos to the staff though. They are very friendly and professional. Upon check out the reception asked my opinion and I was as honest as I could be about these points. She nodded in agreement. This property has so much potential to be special with room makeovers and some decorations in the common areas that highlight the immensity of the spaces, not just a few old couches and tables like now. My suggestion would be to de-emphasize the convent as the primary common area theme. Everyone knows it's an old converted convent. Use some of those spaces better. Just my opinion. I would entertain coming back sometime once the rooms are redone/modernized.

Beautiful old building. Absolutely gorgeous

The beds are rock hard! Might be 800 years old 😳 Stayed in the Junior Suite and barely slept for 2 nights.

Gorgeous old building with tons of history

Stayed in the Junior Suite. Not worth it, book a normal room. Also, the beds are rock hard! Maybe 800 years old 😳

Very large old Covent but bedrooms old fashioned but clean In the centre of the town

A bit tatty in places