Martinhal Cascais: Family Friendly Luxury in Portugal

Secluded inside two lush golf courses and surrounded by footballers mansions sits the family friendly luxury hotel Martinhal Cascais. As we have come to expect from Martinhal, our room was prepared for us with training potty, child toilet seat, step stool, diaper pail, flip flops, hats, and backpacks for the kids. You literally don’t need to bring anything except your kids on this holiday. And no need to bring anything to keep your kids busy as there is absolutely everything here to entertain them.

This is not a Disneyland vacation, thank goodness. Martinhal is understated and classy. When we stepped out of our Martinhal shuttle from Chiado to Cascais, the airy and large windowed reception smelled like vacation. No kids were running around screaming. No bright colored plastic toys were scattered about. No children’s music was playing. It was peaceful, quiet, and open.

We cycled to the beautiful beaches 5km from Martinhal

Our Family Concierge organized the Martinhal 9 seater van to transfer us from Martinhal Chiado to Martinhal Cascais. The drive was beautiful as we entered the golf course. It is so lush and green. We arrived at Martinhal and it just smelled so good! The vibe is airy and modern with big windows which reminded me of their beautiful location in Sagres. But this location is a bit more secluded. To offset this, there is a shuttle a few times a day to and from the colorful seaside town of Cascais. Also, the bike rental could not be easier or more convenient located right at the reception area.

There are many ways to spend your vacation here. You could have the kids in kids club the whole time while you relax at the spa, swimming pool, and restaurants. But for us, here’s my itinerary for next time (as I’m a bit of a restless busybody):
1. Rent bikes daily- cycle to the beaches, horse riding, and Cascais
2. Book another full day Sintra and the coast tour through the Martinhal Family Concierge
3. Take the daily shuttle at Martinhal to Cascais for lunch or dinner
4. For a really quiet vacation day, swim at Martinhal, kids play at the playground, then they can do kids club activities while you enjoy your cappuccino with the foam still on at the M Bar above the kids club.

Bike Rental

Rent bicycles. This is an absolute must. I wish we had done this every day. If the kids don’t want to, pop them into the kid’s club and take advantage of the incredible bike paths on the ocean. One direction there are gorgeous beaches as you cycle north. The other direction is Cascais, another easy 5 km cycle. The path is perfectly flat, two lanes, and safely off the main road. I was seriously impressed with the perfect bike path. Parent approved.

What We Loved

My kids loved the kid’s club and the playground best of all. Every morning after the buffet breakfast, they would race outside to the secured and fenced big playground and jump on the trampoline. They came home with the cutest crafts they had worked on at the kids club. They loved going from dinner straight to a movie by themselves in the evening. And of course they loved the breakfast and dinner buffet to hurry the fun along. My favorite things were renting bicycles, the Sintra tour, and the shuttle to Cascais.

Our Room

We stayed in a Deluxe Superior Room #205 (1,272 Euros in February 2019 Saturday-Saturday with breakfast included) overlooking a peaceful secluded corner of the golf course. This room includes a gigantic bed as well as bunk beds for the girls and a cot for my 16 month old. We also had a big private balcony to enjoy our morning coffee.

The bathroom is enormous with double sink, separate toilet room, separate shower, and separate bathtub which makes it easy for everyone to be in the bathroom at the same time. Of course all the extras Martinhal is known for were already waiting for us in the bathroom including a diaper pail, baby bathtub, potty, potty seats, and step stool. They have thought of everything. PS, they even have a WhatsApp number. You can just text the Family Concierge at any time for whatever you need! I made all of our dinner reservations by WhatsApp!

There is a Nespresso machine in the room with 6 capsules per day and you can just WhatsApp them to refill. There are complimentary water bottles in the room as well as a mini bar with drinks and snacks to buy. During the turn down service they leave port, chocolates, and truffles to find when we get home. And the girls loved the English television available on the TV in our room.

Final Thoughts

We have stayed at Martinhal Sagres, Chiado, and now Cascais. Lisbon is my absolute favorite with its gorgeous child friendly apartments in the best location in the city plus child care, washer/drier and full kitchen.

To me, the room we stayed at in Cascais felt more like a hotel. There was not a washer/drier and kitchen. But you’re in a full service hotel with restaurants, room service, and all the conveniences. Seriously, who wants to cook and do laundry on vacation besides me? But after staying at the other locations, I noticed the difference of being in a hotel instead of an apartment. They do have laundry service on site.

But of course Martinhal has loads of different room configurations to choose from. And next time I will book the Grand Deluxe Villa room (2667 Euros for Saturday-Saturday February 2019) which will be absolutely perfect, especially if traveling with extended family, as it has a full kitchen, laundry, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, plus bunk beds and a baby cot.

Again, these amenities are not anything you would expect when traveling in Europe, but they nail this at Chiado and Sagres so I expected it at Cascais. Again, Martinhal rooms are so much larger at all the locations than you could fit a family of 5 in at any old hotel in Europe. Whenever I look at other hotels in Europe, for a family of 5 you need to have two rooms or two adjoining rooms. But with Martinhal having the cutest bunk beds, you can easily fit a family of 5 in their rooms. Unbelievable! Martinhal understands the family dynamic and the need for space while fitting the family into one room.

Next Time

I would love to visit Matinhal Cascais again. The location is absolutely idyllic and the kid’s club is fantastic. The bike rental is so easy and convenient with bike seats and trailers for babies and bikes of all sizes for the family.

Next time I will take the Martinhal shuttle to Cascais more. The 9 seater van with car seats already organized is an absolute must. We ate lunch and dinner at Martinhal every single day. For some, this is part of the relaxing luxury hotel experience. Not having to think about cooking, finding a restaurant, or schlepping to another location to eat. And Martinhal definitely nails making everything easy for a family. But I like to move and explore, so I get stir crazy staying too long in a hotel. Plus, I love to eat where the locals eat. Also, Cascais and Sintra are so close that getting out of the hotel for a meal once in a while for me is amazing. Some would say that I can’t relax… don’t ask my husband…

I would definitely do the full day Sintra tour again. Organized by the Family Concierge at Martinhal, a full day with 9 seater van and private guide from 9am until 4pm cost 300 Euros. I would very highly recommend it and would definitely do it again on our next visit. Like a self drive safari vs a professional game drive, we learned so much more with a guide. Our guide was a local, was child friendly with a baby of his own, and knew amazing places off the beaten path. Plus, it was a private tour just for us, and we spent the entire day together. Definitely do this.

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts are my own. I did receive a media rate during our stay in exchange for a daily social media post and this blog post.