Flights, Food & Drink, Hotels, Lounges, Trip Report

Paradise in Portugal: Intro – Playing Pilot to Porto

Introduction

We’d been wanting to go to Portugal for years but something always seemed to get in the way. Usually trying to find convenient flights and hotels using Avios and IHG Points. Thankfully in 2024 the points gods aligned and I managed to book the perfect Portugal trip:

  • A night at the newly refurbished Hilton Gatwick
  • A flight in Business Class on BA from London Gatwick to Porto
  • A night at the palatial InterContinental Porto
  • First Class Train Trip from Porto to Lisbon
  • Two nights of modern luxury at InterContinental Lisbon
  • Two nights in the thick of the action at Vignette Convent Square

For those familiar with the site this was exactly the kind of trip I enjoyed putting together. A mix of Avios, an Ambassador weekend night, IHG Reward Points and a handful of hard earned cash. Mix in a walking tour, a port tasting and some Bib Gourmand dining and it was going to be a week to remember. Without any further introduction it’s time to fly to take over the world!

A Stormy Start

There was something refreshing about having a full day to unwind before heading to the airport. The last minute rush of the working day had been taken care of some twelve hours earlier so we could relax, sit back and oh… maybe not! There were still chores to do. A gloriously uneventful morning of hoovering, a trip to the dry cleaners and some last minute packing whizzed by and we were soon ready to depart after a quick lunch of soup and bread, the luxury of it all!

As much as we were hoping for an easy trip to Gatwick the trains had other ideas. In a power hungry world it is not just politicians and people fighting it out, the machines are taking over too! Already just two days prior to our trip, a greed induced train had sucked up all the electricity, broken down and caused a delay on the usually reliable high speed line into London. Well, just before it was time to leave the house the trains were at it again and another one had to be towed away due to it feasting on electricity from the overhead lines, bringing everyone else to a standstill. Thankfully the line was cleared by the time of our departure but a number of trains had been delayed or cancelled that day including the one we had originally planned to take!

Anyway,  later than planned and after a change at Ashford we finally arrived into London St Pancras. With Anne-So and I completing the dash from platform 13 all the way down to platform A in world record time, we managed to arrive just as our Thameslink to Gatwick was pulling into the station. Whilst it may not be the most exciting ride for the majority of the trip to Gatwick, the view from the window as our train crossed Blackfriars bridge never tires.

After that it was a slow and steady ride towards East Croydon!

Almost there…

Once out of London our speed increased and before long we pulled into a very smart looking Gatwick Airport, now looking like a proper airport station with modern black and yellow signage, a significant improvement over our last visit.

Exiting the station, we made the short walk to the posh looking BA Premium Check In area with its First Wing lite styling.

We were waved over to the First Class end, after eventually spotting the agent peeking out behind a small group checking in. Our bags dropped for the night we then had a walk through the airport stopping for dinner at Giraffe… Oh dear.

Within minutes I was reminded of why I dislike “casual dining” establishments.

My first choice order was unavailable and the experience went downhill faster than the British luge at the Winter Olympics shortly after.
Anne-So went with the Katsu Sandwich, which was more of a baguette.
I had a rather sorry plate of Korean BBQ Chicken, a meal that turned out to be memorable for the wrong reasons.

Unfortunately no amount of friendly service can make up for £45 for a sandwich, salad, two bowls of chips and a couple of drinks.

Maybe if the food had been good but this was no Max’s Sandwich Shop, which may not have the prime airport location but it does deliver significantly more bang for buck.

Disappointed at what a poor start this trip had gotten off to we made the walk to the car park to bed down for the night. Thankfully our bed was found at the Hilton attached to it. Feeling particularly anti-social I’d checked in online and opted for a digital room key.

Hotel: Hilton London Gatwick Airport
Room: King Hilton Deluxe Room- Room 1246 (1 Category Upgrade)
Status: Silver

We had already regretted our convenient but overpriced dinner and we were also wandering if we were about to regret our convenient but overpriced hotel room.

Attached to Gatwick’s South Terminal via a trip through the car park, Hilton London Gatwick Airport is a practical choice for an early morning departure or late arrival, assuming you can access your room!
The Lobby, shown here at the crack of dawn; at night it’s a lively restaurant/bar and perhaps we’d have been better off eating there instead.

I don’t think I’ve had much luck with digital room keys, from sneaking my way into the Executive Lounge at the Renaissance LHR (for a beer, nuts and a baguette – don’t ask and better still don’t go) to almost being stuck in the lobby as the door to the corridor where our room was located refused to open. Luckily someone else was heading out and we were able to pass through.

Strangely enough despite not being allowed into the corridor, our room door opened without a hitch.

We entered our supposedly upgraded room and to this day other than the name I have no idea how it differs from a lowly Hilton guest room. Perhaps it was just the King Bed?

Whilst our one category upgrade was not much to get excited about, the hotel rooms at the Hilton had undergone a serious makeover since the last time we stayed here some five years prior.

Whilst the refurbished rooms looked significantly fresher, they felt incredibly bland, to the point where I feel that they had less personality than a Premier Inn Premier Plus room.

If I’m booking a mid range chain hotel room I do want it to be more premier than a Premier Inn and to be honest I’m not sure Hilton London Gatwick quite passed the test.

Yes, there is some marble in the room, but no Nespresso machine… come on Hilton, you can do better than that.

We settled in and over indulged on M&S shortbread biscuits and complementary tea.
At least the shortbread felt like good value for money, unlike the room service menu.

Though perhaps room service would have been a better bet than Giraffe.

We slept ok, though the air conditioning was a little noisy, though not on the same level as the IC Park Lane as noted in my previous trip report. Anyway, despite the only personality in the room being the picture of an aeroplane, which judging from the stock photos online are the same in every room, Hilton London Gatwick served its purpose.

We were up before the crack of dawn, the shower was hot, the pressure was good and with digital check out we were on our way through the car park and off in the direction of Premium Gatwick without interacting with a single member of Hilton staff.

British Airways Business Lounge
Access For Oneworld First Class, Business Class and Emerald or Sapphire Status

We reached the relative warmth of the Terminal building and made our way to Premium Gatwick, aka fast track security which was included with our Club Europe tickets.

As per the name Premium Gatwick was a faster and more premium way to speed through the most unpleasant bit of air travel, security and help us move faster towards the fun bit, the lounge!

Whilst not quite as new and shiny as on our first visit, the British Airways Business Lounge has held up well over the last five years. Located over two levels the lower of which was pretty much jam packed with wealthy pensioners and upper middle management types heading out for a little bit of pre-summer sun. Quite a different gang from the eclectic crowd of world travellers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

If you are lucky enough to snag one of the good seats you are treated to apron views on one side and a short hop to the buffet on the other, as you can see from the photo, luck was not on our side.
If you are less lucky, like we were, you can make your way upstairs with only a coffee machine for company.
We decided upon the latter and enjoyed a relaxing hour long breakfast.
Before long it was time to head to the gate for our flight was about to depart, or so we thought.

Flight: British Airways BA 2666 LGW to OPO
Depart: London Gatwick South Terminal 07:45
Arrive: Porto 10:10
Seats: 7D and 7F Club Europe (Business Class)
Aircraft: G-EUXM A321-231 – First Flight October 2007

Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone and without airline status of any sort it was a struggle to get good seats on this flight.
In fact it was so much of a struggle that we initially ended up with window seats on opposite sides of the plane.

Thankfully the occupants of one of the aisle seats was kind enough to switch so Anne-So and I could sit together. The good news continued as our seventeen year old A321 was not looking her age, unlike some of the tired old ex BMI aircraft where the cabin interior often sports a premium silver duct tape trim.

After lucking out on the seat swap the world soon had other ideas as Gatwick Airport was engulfed in an early morning blanket of fog. As the fog continued to roll in so did our departure delay.

Rather than send us back to the terminal we remained seated whilst the crew came round with snacks and water followed by an offer that was hard to refuse.

All passengers were invited to queue up for a visit to the flight deck, result! The most surprising thing about this offer were that none of the takers were families with children.

After a short wait Anne-So and I got to sit in the real row 1 (A and F) whilst the Captain and First Office showed us around and took our photos.

Thankfully the toilets were also available on the ground as something from the night before clearly hadn’t agreed with me. I suppose that’s what happens when you let a giraffe cook you dinner.

Not long after our trip to the flight deck the fog had cleared, we enjoyed some plane spotting from the window and were given the all clear to taxi and fly off towards Portugal.

On this short 2.5 hour flight we would be served breakfast and I for one was determined to re-start the trip in style with a glass for champagne from the bar.

For food Anne-So went with the vegetarian option of eggs with spinach. I went with the full English. As always with a BA Breakfast it tasted better than it looked but never as good as you’d hoped.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, with a cloud covered view. That was until we began our final descent into Porto. On the way down we were treated to a stunning view of the city we were about to explore. Surely one of the best approaches we have ever had.

We were soon on the ground and ready to disembark, though sadly not on to the aircraft in the photo above!

After making our way through passport control and collecting our baggage we headed for the Metro where the queue for tickets was longer and slower moving than the one to enter the country. In my opinion the queues were caused by the confusing nature of the ticket machines. As two people who have comfortably used public transport in many countries around the world they got the better of us too! In the end after erroneously purchasing two 24 hour passes for one person we re-joined the queue to buy another day ticket. In the end we spend €22.50 on three single day Andante Tour cards instead two as we were not expecting to use any public transport on our second day with a walking tour planned and our hotel close to the train station we’d be departing from. Oh well, it wasn’t that much in the grand scheme of things, but from overhearing the conversation it wasn’t just us who made that error.

The modern Metro E took us towards the hotel and was crammed full (insert sardines joke reference here, we were in Portugal after all). Thankfully the journey was only around half an hour and we disembarked at Trindade a little after 13:00, just a few hours later than planned. We then had what would have been a short fifteen minute walk to the hotel, that is if I hadn’t turned the wrong way out of the station, a common mishap.

Hotel: InterContinental Porto – Palacio Das Cardosas
Room: King Junior Suite (7 Category Upgrade from King Classic Quiet Zone)
Status: Platinum Ambassador

The first thing that we noticed as we arrived at the hotel were the extensive roadworks surrounding what was otherwise a prime location in Central Porto. These works were to allow for the construction of a new metro line and are hopefully now complete. Once we finally managed to navigate to the entrance of the hotel we made our way to check in. Palacio Das Cardosas was a former 18th Century Palace and later a bank. In 2011 it was transformed into a luxury hotel with just over 100 rooms and suites.

As per usual we made our slightly flustered from navigating public transport luxury hotel entrance; where after a short wait to catch our breath, we were checked in.
We made our way up to the second floor wondering what lay in store for us.

On account of my IHG Status, our short stay and the current road works outside the hotel we received what turned out to be an excellent upgrade for our one night stay. The entry level King Classic room we’d booked was replaced by a spacious Junior Suite.

General feedback on Flyertalk is that the Junior Suites are preferable to the Duplex Suites.

Our second floor suite was a good size with a clearly defined living area, complete with comfortable sofa, good sized TV, mini bar and Nespresso machine.
There was a large and comfortable king size bed.
We had a pretty burgundy and grey marble bathroom with the usual IC Byredo Bal d’Afrique amenities.
A separate bath and shower is always appreciated.
Shortly after settling in we received a welcome amenity of a couple of natas and a small bottle of port.

Whilst the £ value of this amenity may have been low, it was a nice surprise and felt relevant to our destination.

The other plus was that despite the building site outside, our room was lovely and quiet. All in all things had gotten off to an excellent start and we couldn’t wait to explore the beautiful town of Porto.

Paradise in Portugal: Porto and Lisbon – Luxury Old & New

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