sg123

Will be in Porto for 2 nights in July. After Porto renting a car which is on R.ANTONIO BESSA LEITE near the highway. Would like to stay somewhere central in Porto but worried about being able to drive car rental to hotel and then load/unload in front of hotel. Would like to stay in something of 4 or 5 star quality. Have looked at Infante Sagres, Grand Hotel, Teatro, etc. Any recommendations?

sandralist

Taxis in Porto are quite cheap. You definitely want to stay close in for such a short visit. If you can afford a 4 star, you can afford a taxi to take you and your luggage to the rental office.

I would stay at the Yeatman, even though it is on the other side of the river. Again, I would taxi to the center, but trams are also frequent. But you should read reviews for the hotels you mentioned (and the Yeatman) on booking.com and other places so you get a true range of opinion and details on things that might matter most to you.

sg123

They Yeatman looks nice, but wow its expensive! About 5 times more than Infante, Teatro. I will take a taxi to the car rental place but would still need to pickup luggage and my family from the hotel, so trying to minimize driving/parking hassles.

sandralist

Unless you are traveling with an extended family with two or 3 large bags per person, your hotel can summon for you a taxi amply large enough to get all of you plus luggage to the car rental office. Then you can just drive out of town. Porto is an exceptionally difficult to drive around where you are contemplating staying. You can google up pictures of Porto and see why. It is not a city that was built for autos.

I stayed at the Mercure not far from where you are considering staying. Many of the streets around there are one way streets or pedestrianized streets (perhaps restricted to residents. I don't know). You can simplify matters greatly by telling your hotel you'll be needing a large taxi when you check out.

yestravel

With just 2 nights, I would not stay across the river at the Yeatman unless you plan to spend all your time wine tasting. Based on sandralist's suggestion we did drive across the river to the Yeatman for drinks one evening. Its a lovely hotel with a great view and I'm not surprised it was very expensive. We were just in Porto, but stayed in an apt. The only hotel that I noticed on your list was Teatro which was in a good location.

We drove our rental car with no trouble. As a matter of fact came into Porto on the opposite end of town from our apt and managed to make our way to the apt. There were streets which were pedestrian only and of course lots of one ways, but with a good map you will be fine. We used the gps on our iPad. We put in destinations and followed the dot with little difficulty. But certainly if you're not comfortable driving, follow sandralist's suggestion and grab a taxi with everyone and go to your rental car place.

Not sure of your interests or age of your kids, but we loved the tour of the Casa Musica which I believe is everyday at 4 pm.

Robert2533

There's a nice, comfortable 3-star property in Porto you can consider, Hotel Aliados (www.hotelaliados.com), as well as the Teatro Porto. The 5-star Palacio Das Cardosas may be a little out of your range, but in mid-July, a deluxe room is only €179/night, compared to the Yeatman's €295/night for a superior room.

lauramsgarden

We stayed at the Sheraton which was pretty reasonable (although they nickle and dime you on the small stuff) and wasn't too hard to find. They parked the car for us after we unloaded. Just be aware as you head for the town center that the sights are further apart than they look and not necessarily easy to walk between. In retrospect I wish we had chosen one we really wanted to see and started there and then let the rest of the day go from there.

sg123

Thanks for all the suggestions. I booked the Palacio Das Cardosas, looking forward to it.