The lobby does not impress. It is small and given that this is a hotel used by tour groups, often very busy and crowded. The staff can seem harried but once they get to know you they are very helpful and while not overly friendly, are efficient.
A major mistake made before we even arrived resulted in our being taxied to another hotel for the first night of our stay. As the hotel we were sent to was a five-star luxury hotel, it was no hardship and the Hotel Mondial paid for the taxi both ways. They were very nice to us and when we returned we were given a room even though it was too early to check in, we were also upgraded to a superior room. Superior is a bit of an overstatement given the compact size of the room.
This large hotel has 350 rooms and the elevators are small. It can get congested. Breakfast is included in the rate and is served 7:30-10:30. It is a buffet and while not expansive has enough to fill you up. Some fresh fruit, cold cereal, ham, and cheese, scrambled and hard-boiled eggs. They have a very unique toaster but great bread. Small croissants, sweet rolls and of course coffee, tea and hot chocolate round out the breakfast offerings. The bacon is very undercooked for our tastes and there are also little sausages. We found the oranges to be the highlight of the food offered.
The rooms have very basic furnishings. Blond furniture, very firm mattresses, small pillows and nice fresh clean bedding are comfortable if charmless. A desk with a chair and also an additional chair, a large closet and a stand for the luggage complete the furnishings. You have a choice of twin beds or double bed. The TV is the old fashioned kind but worked and had a couple English speaking channels (CNN and BBC World).
The bathroom is all tile. One sink, 2 bathrobes, large deep tube and a bidet. The first day a fruit basket and a bottle of water were delivered. The room has a minibar and a safe for which you must buy the key at the desk, WiFi is available but not free. when we were there the rates were 18 Euros for 72 hours or 3.6 Euros for 1 hour. (this was a few years ago so no doubt the rates have changed)
You may have a view of the castle from your room or as we did a view of the plaza in front. You are located right around the corner from the Praca Rossio and with the location right below the castle, it doesn't get better than this.
The hotel has 2 restaurants and a bar. One restaurant is on the 8th floor and has views of the castle. You need a reservation to eat there and if you arrive without one your reception will be cold in the extreme. (we were pretty well snubbed when we tried it)
The hotel can and will arrange tours for you. They can have you picked up by one of the tour bus companies or arrange a private tour. We did both and private is so much better and actually surprisingly reasonably priced. We hired a driver for two days of travel and it was lots of fun.
At the end of the day, our room is just to sleep in and the Hotel Mondial provides a well-located place to do that at a price that won't break the bank.
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