The catch at Casa da Companhia

Rua das Flores is a pedestrian street, and the hotel's own directions page describes the address as having exclusive pedestrian access. The hotel's arrival notice is more precise: only official city taxis and licensed private transfers may drive to the hotel, ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Bolt are not allowed, and access for private cars remains restricted. The airport is 20 kilometres and about 20 minutes away by car on the hotel's figures. Guests report the walk with luggage from the drop-off as the awkward part of arriving.

There is no parking at the hotel. It points drivers to a public car park about 200 metres away, paid at the car park, and Saba's underground Cardosas garage on Rua Trindade Coelho fits that description: open 24 hours, with a 2.2 metre height limit and a tariff from 2.55 euros for the first hour, four minutes' walk from the door. Once you are here a car is no use, so the simplest answer is not to bring one.

The hotel's own home page calls Rua das Flores one of the city's trendiest streets, and the hotel is part of the scene: its bar keeps its doors open onto the street, and A Tasquinha serves until 22:00. Guests report afternoon and evening noise in the rooms on that side, despite the glazing.

The complication is the view. The hotel does not say which side of the house its Sé-view rooms are on. It does sell its outlooks as a choice, a balcony with views over Porto or the calm of its own private garden, and the Sé stands up the hill to the south-east, across Rua das Flores from the hotel. If a Sé balcony looks out over the street, the quiet room and the view room are two different rooms.

The hotel's own room pages give each category as a range of sizes, and the ranges are wide. The King Premium, the double with no named view, runs from 26 to 42 square metres and the King Suite from 36 to 50, so the largest King Premium is bigger than the smallest King Suite. Only the cathedral-view categories are tight: 30 to 31 square metres for the King and Twin Premium with a Sé balcony, 40 to 44 for the King Suite with one.

The reason is the building: a 16th-century house with restored 18th-century interiors, vaulted ceilings and original stone, divided into 40 rooms and suites that the hotel itself calls unique. That reads well in the photographs and turns booking a category by name into a lottery.

The indoor pool, open daily from 7:30 to 20:00, belongs to what the spa calls its water circuit, together with the sauna and the Turkish bath, and the spa sells that circuit to non-residents: 35 euros for 90 minutes, or free with a treatment. It is a hotel pool that outsiders can buy their way into. The sauna and the Turkish bath need an appointment at reception, and the spa itself keeps shorter hours, 11:00 to 19:30, and 10:00 to 18:30 on Sundays.

Families should read the small print. The spa's etiquette sheet limits the circuit to over-16s, the gym is for hotel guests over 16, and the hotel publishes no age rule for the rooftop pool.

Guests praise the warmth of the staff, and also report that service slows when every room is taken; a 40-room house with two restaurants and a spa has only so many hands. Read the terms with the same care. Cancellation terms differ from rate to rate, so do not assume a cheaper rate is fully flexible.

The hotel's pages also disagree on the extras. The room page charges 50 euros a night for an extra bed for a child aged 4 to 13; the policies page says 35 euros, for ages 4 to 12. The dog-friendly page charges 35 euros a night for dogs up to 20 kilograms; the policies page says 50 euros, for pets up to 5.