Rito Hall da Serra

We stayed at the Rito Hall da Serra in late November, after having spent a week down in the Algarve. The weather, as it was further north and situated more inland, was a bit cooler than we had experienced down south. Still very tolerable for this late in the year. Rito Hall da Serra is located in the little town of Sao Bento, about 14 km from the nearest large town of Porto de Mos. The approach to the town is through narrow, winding roads. In fact, when we first got there , we wondered what our GPS was up to. We were approaching from the south and after coming off the freeway, Ms.GPS seemed to be leading us into the "wilderness", not so. The roads are all paved and the windiness of them is just part of their nature. When you arrive, you are greeted with a very modern and updated hotel. The building has been in the family for generations and is a converted old barn. There is nothing left that will remind you of this, the conversion is beautiful. You enter the hotel to a reception area, to the left are the rooms and to the right is a sitting area looking out over the restaurant. This room features the restored stone walls from the original building. You descend the stairs and it is here where you will have a very complete and wonderful breakfast served to you. The restaurant, while we were there, was not open for business due to lack of finding reliable staff. This is an unfortunate problem facing the service industry, and is a residual effect left over from the Covid pandemic. Our hostess, while we were there, was pretty much left on her own. Nonetheless, this did not affect us the one bit least. Truly, everything was in very good order, as I stated, breakfast was grand, all facilities were in top order. Our room, super comfortable, large bathroom, free wifi was available, and free parking, just outside. The proprietress was a pleasant lady, who was very communicative and spoke excellent English. The hotel is one we will return to, not only for its own appeal, but also because of the area it sits in. There are many attractions to see and do here. We would like to come back in the Spring. The Parque Natural das Serras de Aire e Candeeiros is located nearby. This park contains much unique, natural beauty, as well as having many architectural heritage things to see. When you are here, you must visit the Serra D'Aire Dinosaurs Trackway, a spectacularly well preserved tracksite containing some of the best sauropod trackways in the world. There are also many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, all quite close by. You are only 32km from the Monastery of Alcobaca, the Mosterio da Batalha, about 30 minutes away, and Tomar, where the Convento de Cristo is located, about an hour away. Tomar was originally a 12th century stronghold from the Knights of Templar era. Some others that are perhaps a bit further away, but not by much, are the University of Coimbra, the Cultural Landscape of Sintra and the Royal Buildings of Mafra. Also close by is the seaside town of