Hotel Porto Mar - Matosinhos, Portugal 

My Girlfriend and I landed in Porto Airport and got us a hotels-in-porto-list from the toursit info point. Called a couple and decided on the Porto Mar. Turned to be an excellent decision. Getting there: Metro in Porto is a straightforward thing. So no hassles. One stop, change Metros and there you are. Reception: A friendly young man who spoke english. Ask him to recommend you some restaurants in the neighbourhood. You won't regret it. The night manager is a friendly, very well spoken gentleman, who kept referring to me as "sir" (not very comfortable with that, yet). Rooms: Excellent rooms for the price. Nice big bed, a big sofa that could have doubled up as a single bed, decent curtains, nice big terrace, rustic wooden furnitures, a 16" TV mounted on the wall, nice toilet with bath. Cost us € 50/night and it was worth every cent. Food: Restaurant serves excellent breakfast (cost included in room price). Besides that, didn't do any eating there. BTW, woke up late next day (11:30 AM) and went downstairs to check if they still serve breakfast. We were told that it is usually only till 10 AM, but no problem, they'll open the restaurant for us. Nice. Area: Location is in Senhor de Matosinhos, about 15-20 minutes by metro from downtown Porto. Matosinhos is a great place to get a feel of the portoguese way of life that has yet not given in to total tourist commercialism. People are very very friendly (all over Porto actually), and the restaurants were just great. Try the "O Valentim" (on the road to the beach from the hotel) for great seafood and wine with a very friendly english-speaking head waiter. On the same street as the hotel is the "Churrasquiera Inglesa". Great grilled food there. I recommend the spare ribs and the grilled calamares. They were mega Yummy. Summary: Our stay there was so good that we decided to skip Lissabon and stay another day there before heading off to Barcelona. The atmosphere was so relaxing and authentic and the people so great that one can't help but fall in love with that place. I recommend this place to anyone who wants to really get to know the real people, place and oohh the food..the food of the the place you are visiting. Will go there again soon (I hope).