Hotel Casino Chaves Guide and Review
Located in the serene city of Chaves, Portugal, Hotel Casino Chaves presents itself as a destination offering both relaxation and entertainment. While its primary identity is a casino, guest experiences highlight a broader range of amenities, from a robust spa to a hotel accommodation, often with mixed reviews regarding value and dining.
Location & Ambiance 🏞️
The hotel is situated on a hill, offering amazing views from every room and benefiting from long hours of sunshine. This scenic setting provides a pleasant backdrop for a stay. However, its remote location means that a car is needed to reach the city of Chaves itself, which is close to the Spanish border.
Accommodation & Wellness Facilities ✨
- The hotel rooms are generally described as lovely and clean. One guest noted a minor issue with a shower leaking onto the floor, but overall cleanliness receives positive remarks.
- The spa area is highly praised, with guests finding it relaxing.
- A significant draw is the comprehensive range of wellness facilities, including an indoor pool, outdoor pool, sauna, Turkish bath, and jacuzzi. These are highlighted as big benefits and are free for hotel guests.
- The gym is also available, though recent feedback indicates a severe issue with air conditioning, making it uncomfortably hot and "impossible to do a workout" for some long-term spa clients. This is a critical point for those prioritizing fitness during their stay.
Dining Experience: A Mixed Bag 🍽️
Dining at Hotel Casino Chaves appears to be one of the more contentious aspects of a stay, particularly regarding the main restaurant for dinner and the breakfast offering.
Breakfast 🍳
- Breakfast has received consistent criticism for being "too simple" and "not complete for the kind of hotel it was."
- Specific complaints include the use of "self-baked rolls from Lidl" and "coffee from a vending machine," suggesting a lower quality than expected for a hotel of this caliber and price point.
Dinner 🤢
- The dinner buffet experience has been described as "horrible," "dry," and "wayyyyyyyyy over priced" at around 30€.
- Guests reported that the food "seemed to have been prepared and it just sat there for quite some time."
- A particularly vivid critique mentions a "Fish lasagna" that was "very fish and pungent," and other dishes like pork and potatoes failing to impress.
- Despite being referred to as a "four-star restaurant," guests felt the food quality did not align with this rating.
Service & Value for Money 💸
Guest opinions on value are varied. While one older review praised helpful staff, more recent reviews express concerns about pricing.
- Some guests found the hotel "bit too expensive for a remote hotel in remote city of Chaves," especially considering the quality of the breakfast and dinner.
- One instance highlighted a dispute over mini-fridge charges at checkout for items not consumed, indicating potential issues with billing accuracy.
- Overall, the value proposition is questioned, with suggestions that the hotel could charge less if breakfast quality remains low, or that its current rates (around 100-150€ for a double) offer low value given the dining experience.
The Casino Aspect ♠️♦️
As a "Hotel Casino," it's important to acknowledge the casino aspect. However, the provided reviews focus almost exclusively on the hotel, spa, and dining experiences, offering no specific details or feedback on the casino facilities or gaming experience itself. Potential guests primarily interested in the casino might need to seek out further information.
Overall Recommendation 🤔
Hotel Casino Chaves offers a pleasant setting with beautiful views and excellent spa and pool facilities, which are a definite highlight. However, potential visitors should be aware of the recurring negative feedback regarding the quality and value of the breakfast and dinner options, as well as the significant issue with the gym's air conditioning. If dining is a key part of your hotel experience, you might consider dining outside the hotel in Chaves (a car is needed) or managing expectations for the hotel's food offerings. The wellness facilities remain a strong reason to consider a stay here, provided the gym's AC issue is addressed.
Everything was lovely clean , perfect.The view was amazing.But the breakfast could be a little bit more complete.. was a bit to simple for the kind of hotel it was
I'm a client of the spa for more than a year now, it's been a year that my partner and I have been complaining about how HOT the gym is, it is impossible to do a workout! Summer is coming, What would you be trying to do? Roast us like a chicken in an oven?! I'm not even mentioning all the other things on how bad and costly this establishment is! I, however do intend to if you don't start turning the air conditioner ON like normal people do!!!
Bit too expensive for a remote hotel in remote city of Chaves (close to Spanish border).Breakfast nothing to be repeated (self baked rolls from Lidl), coffee from vending machine.Location is nice on the hill (long sunshine) but also far from Chaves (car needed).Indoor, Outdoorpool, Sauna, Turkish Bath, Jacuzzi (still free for hotel guests) are big benefits.Better take breakfast out and charge 30€ less - low value for the usual rates around 100-150€ for double
Very pleasant hotel! Nice views from every room! Also its people are always helpful and ready for anything.Went there during winter and it was really good. The spa area is just relaxing, the pool and the gym are a nice touch if you want to exercise.Its restaurant deserves 5 stars! Really good food. Nothing bad from my experience.
Not sure about this place, ratings look ok but I feel like maybe I might just be picky. The room was ok, the shower ran down the tub onto the floor. We had dinner and both times they were buffet. Do yourself a favor don’t waste you time. It says this is a four star restaurant, no way not if you count the food. We ate there twice because it was late and we didn’t feel like driving into town. The first nigh I can’t even remember what we had but the second night it was Italian night. Not sure what about dinner was Italian, it seemed the the food had been prepared and it just sat there for quite some time. Everything was dry. Fish lasagna? I married a New York Italian so I know a little about Italian food. I Al dabble a little in the kitchen. Thus dish didn’t even deserve a rating if 1. It was very fish and pungent. The pork and potatoes had great tasting potatoes. Was trying to figure out where in Italy did this dish come from. The entire meal was horrible and at 30 eu it was wayyyyyyyyy over priced. We were here visiting family and really spent no time at the hotel until we came back at the end of the day. We purchased our own drinks and chips for snacks out in town and brought them to the hotel. At checkout they tried to charged us for mini fridge. We took nothing from the mini fridge, we put a few cokes in and that’s about it.