The Lince Santa Clara

As soon as I saw The Lince in photographs I knew it was my kind of hotel. I loved its style, and once there it did not disappoint. It's stylish and 'mostly' serene. When the hotel was quiet breakfast was a divine elevated 5* experience. But when busy it kind of fell apart. Dinner was just okay, the food barely hot. What I found mostly irritating is the "muzak" that seems to be played everywhere in Portugal. "Chill Pop" or "Chill Covers" which is bland interpretations sung by anonymous female session singers covering Queen, Madonna, Michael Jackson, etc, and turning their songs into dreary lounge music. And it's on repeat all day every day. And I found it especially odd to have it played outdoors in the spa area. Silence is luxury. Someone else's music is not. We all have phones and iPods with our own music. If we want music we can play our own. Also, The Lince is a former monastery. And it still has a monastery vibe. Can it not be silence by day, and Portuguese music at night? Fortunately inside the spa there was no music. And I really enjoyed the spa a lot. It appears most people stay for 1 or 2 nights. The hotel deserves to be given more time than that. Although the area of Vila do Conde is lacking in appeal, it has some decent restaurants (that also play the same Chill Pop / Covers as the hotel) 🙄 It's also worth being aware getting to Porto is around a 45 to 50 Euro taxi ride, so a return is around 100 Euros each time. But it's also positioned closer to Braga and Guimarães if they are part of your itinerary. You're also about a 2 hour drive from the Douro Valley if that's also something you want to see. So, overall I did love the hotel and it will remain a favourite. But a few tweaks would have made it bliss.