Hotel Spa Relais & Chateaux A Quinta da Auga

We paid over 300 euros, plus 45 surcharge for our dog for just one night at this hotel, so expected to be wowed by the experience, as previous reviewers had been. We specifically chose to travel hundreds of kilometres to spend a night at this hotel since the tasting menu, with wine parings, looked amazing and was supposed to be a memorable and luxurious treat. Our total bill for the room, meal for two and set tasting menu came to an astronomical 650 euros. Unfortunately, this price was too much for this particular hotel experience. Realistically I’d be happier with 180 max for this relatively nice hotel, with nothing of particular interest nearby. The Reception staff were friendly and welcoming and the grounds were lovely but not outstanding. Our room was large and clean and looked great. However, some of the handles on the furniture were broken and there were bits of wood coming away from the front of the desk. The mini bar only contained two soft drinks and the temperature wasn’t cold enough; there was no room service and only 3 tea bags were provided - each a different type of tea. The cups were espresso sized, so not really worth using for a tea. The bathroom came with basic toiletries nothing special. The biggest disappointment, however, was the new tasting menu: it was more expensive and not anywhere near as exciting or desirable as the tasting menu advertised on both the hotel website and the information page on our TV screen in our room. We were looking forward to eating at the restaurant and had essentially chosen the hotel for the food. Unfortunately, this information was out of date by a least a week and we were disappointed with each course as it arrived at our table. Waiting staff also seemed to be making frequent mistakes and struggled with the timing of each course. The wine pairing choices were nice but our waiter served the smallest measures and gave almost no information about the wine, other than basically showing us the bottle to check. We had one small glass for three courses so we were without a drink for some of the time: appalling for a restaurant of such an apparently high calibre. During the course of our “special” dinner, we were served by seven different people which was disorienting and may explain the poor timing. We were often still eating when the next course arrived and even received another table’s drinks. Although English was spoken by all our seven waiting staff they were far from fluent which made if difficult to communicate that there had been a problem with the menu, which therefore compounded the issue. For high prices expected high quality and better trained staff. Our recommendation: lower the prices or improve quality - it’s as simple as that. We reported our complaint regarding being mis sold the tasting menu, as well as the numerous problems in the room and have yet had no response from the hotel management despite being promised one. In a word “gutted”.

I just stayed at Hotel Spa Relais & Châteaux A Quinta da Auga. What a disappointment, tacky, overpriced, and with shocking bad service. The approach to the hotel is not at all ideal. One need to go through a suburban bunch of ugly modern terrace houses. The hotel it self is decorated with a full container of fake antiques. Incredibly ugly and in such bad taste… it lacks charm and it feels like a third rate decoration shop. The rooms are awful. We stayed at ‘the so called ‘suite’ -at the top floor of the hotel. Room 514. It smells mouldy and it has no views what so ever, even if we are supposed to be in the countryside outside Santiago. The only windows are in the ceiling! Part of the room height is restricted as it is in the roof. So basically we stayed in a very overprice furniture storage attic. The bathroom is aged and in need of a complete make over. The shower is old and it lacks pressure, the hidromasaje bath, also very old, makes so much noise it sounds like an ancient fridge. TV did not work. The room was freezing but there was not heating. It was end of September in Galicia and it was chilly. There was no turn down service. Service overall was patchy. Calling reception was quite difficult and we were put on hold for a long time. I wonder why on earth this place is part of Relais & Châteaux? It is basically a ripe off, a tourist trap with fake / bad taste furniture completely lacking in character. To be avoided.