We chose the weekend of 17/07 and 18/07/2021 to take our first trip with Ju and the hotel chosen was Herdade Lago Real, in the Center of Portugal.

We waited for her 2-month vaccinations, we got our Covid-19 vaccine and since we were more used to the routine, we thought it was a good time to travel. I asked in a group of mothers about complete hotels for children in quiet places no more than 2 hours from home (Cascais) and they recommended Lago Real Estate, in Mira and the Vila Galé Country Club, in Beja. As we already knew the latter – I told everything in this post -, I made the reservation for the first one after seeing the photos of the animals and the giant pool. The idea was to stay the whole time at the hotel, but we ended up getting to know the Mira Beach too. Let's get to the details! 😉

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – 07/17/2021 (Saturday)

We left in the morning with the car full of luggage (I became an exaggerated person after having children!) and after an hour on the road, I had to move to the back seat with the little ones because Ju would not sleep at all. After gaining more attention, the two little bundles fell asleep and then we were able to continue our journey peacefully to Mira.

As the hotel check-in was only from 3pm and we arrived in the city at around 1pm, we decided to park the car at Mira Beach and walk around until we can get into the hotel.

Getting to know Mira Beach

We were surprised by the beach promenade and the Barrinha Lagoon also. Everything is very tidy and clean, houses and buildings are well maintained and a surprise: Praia de Mira It is the only beach in Portugal that has held the blue flag for over 30 years., that is, the sea water has been considered ideal for swimming for a long time! There are 7km of white sand, strong waves of cold water, striped tents and lots of wind with a boardwalk displaying the 30 big blue flags. How proud!

We walked around what I think is the main block of the resort, took some photos, bought fridge magnets and COVID tests to take upon arrival at the hotel (required by the DGS) and visited the Chapel of Our Lady of Conception. This little wooden church was built on the boardwalk in 1842 and is dedicated to the patron saint of the fishermen who live there. I found this post which is quite complete about Mira, in case you want to explore more. Very cool by the way!

After walking around the block, we set up our tent on the beach and enjoyed the little pool that had formed on the sand. We were the only ones on the beach without wind protection, but we survived...lol. We had sandwiches and boiled eggs for lunch that I brought from home and when Ju got tired of the light and Paddy of playing castle, we went back to the hotel.

The Herdade do Lago Real hotel

We were impressed by the size of the land Lago Real Estate, (as expected, since it's a farm, right...) and we found everything well-kept and tasteful, but I confess that I didn't like seeing that the parking lot in front of the reception was full. Before checking in, Celo and I took the COVID tests in front of the hotel attendant (swab in the nose, arghh!), and when the negative results came back, we continued with the check-in. The receptionist told us that there were no more spaces for dinner at the hotel restaurant, which made me quite upset, but fortunately we got a space for Sunday dinner (7:30 pm), as well as a space for breakfast (8 am), of course, since it's included in the daily rate.

Our room

We were given a room in the main building on the first floor, but luckily there was an elevator and it was easy to get around with the stroller and all the other stuff. I found the room to be very spacious, as was the bathroom, but both are quite old. The furniture, flooring, curtains, colored bed linen (?), rough and small towels… I expected more for the 120 euros per night. There was a very small minibar where we put the cold snacks we brought from home and after some time in the room in the heat, I realized that there was no air conditioning (!!!). I didn't even notice this when booking, but luckily we didn't spend much time in the room during the day and it got cold at night, so it was okay to sleep.

Speaking of sleeping, we paid 15 euros for an extra bed for Patrick and got a basic IKEA crib for Ju, but I want to say that neither of them used it... lol. Paddy, for the first time in his life, asked to sleep with us in bed (and we loved it!) and Jubs slept in the Moses basket in the stroller, super protected next to me. After all, she's only a 2-month-old baby, right? They don't give you the option of not paying for the bed even if you say that your 3-year-old will sleep with you, but I understand that since he consumes bath water and breakfast food, they have to charge.

The pool

We left our things in the room and went straight to the pool because the day was spectacular! When we got to the lounger area near the steps, we couldn't find a place to sit because all the chairs were taken. The pool itself wasn't even very crowded, so Celo and Paddy went in and enjoyed themselves. I stayed outside resting at a table further away with the doll sleeping in the stroller. When we got hungry, I ordered some hot sandwiches for all of us at the pool bar for lunch and dinner. We enjoyed the space until the end of the day and when we got tired, we went straight to the room to get ready for bed and eat some more snacks we had brought. A bad day of meals, but a lot of fun at the beach and pool!

Day 2 – 07/18/2021 (Sunday)

We had a wonderful night with everyone high until the alarm clock. Glory to God! 🙂

We had a hearty breakfast and since the weather was cloudy, we went for a walk around the hotel, but what I really wanted to do was go into the pool in the scorching sun. 🙁

We first went to the soccer field to play a little with the little one and I got the first goal dedicated to me by my little one! How sweet!!! <3 (I confess I cried a little…)

Playground and animals

Then we went to the mini playground, which could have been better looked after and had more toys to choose from (I'm a very picky mother...) and finally we went to see the animals that live nearby. There are peacocks, chickens, roosters, goats, ducks and pigeons and we had a lot of fun with the noise they make and with the moment we had to feed them with the bread left over from breakfast. It was amazing!

Afterwards we continued to explore the hotel and went to feed the horses and ponies!

Riding a pedal boat

We walked all around the hotel with Ju sleeping in the stroller, passing by the birds too, and then we went pedal boating on the lake. Celo went first with Paddy to make sure it was calm and safe, and then I went with him but I was terrified of falling into that dark water, especially because we weren't wearing life jackets and the little guy wouldn't stop moving. A stressful experience when your child doesn't know how to swim yet, for sure...

Jubs woke up and we went to the pool area, which this time was empty because it was cloudy and people had already checked out. I think most people who stay at this hotel only spend one day on the weekend, and not 2 like we did, so if you have a choice, choose to arrive on Sunday and leave on Monday because it will be much less crowded! 🙂

We chose the best located lounge chairs and ordered burgers at the pool bar for lunch. We put on sunscreen, packed up our floats and toys and went into the pool even though it wasn't very sunny, being practically the only ones enjoying the pool. It would have been perfect if the water had been warmer and the sun had been shining, but we couldn't waste it.

Dining at the hotel restaurant

We spent the whole afternoon there enjoying the sunless heat and watching people watch us like crazy...lol. Then we went up to take a shower and it was time to go back down to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. Since the little guy didn't take his afternoon nap, he obviously got really tired in the restaurant and we had to cut dinner short, but it's a really nice buffet for 15 euros per person with good food and drink options. We really enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere.

Day 3 – 07/19/2021 (Monday)

After another full night of sleep, we woke up to a great breakfast and took our last walk around the hotel. We fed the animals again, rode our bikes and packed up everything to go home. I followed them in the car until they fell asleep and then went ahead to enjoy my husband and the view from the road.

 First trip of the 4 was super successful! I want more! 🙂