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I visited Oporto in December 2007 during the run up to christmas. The city was in full christmas mode with europes tallest 'christmas tree' in the main square outside the city hall. The tree in fact being a giant scaffold of mesh and lights that looked spectacular at night. Oporto is a thriving, bustling city with plenty to see and do. There is a nice mix of old architecture and new with plenty of stunning buildings to see as well as a good many sculptures, statues etc. The Douro river splits the city in half and is crossed spectaclularly by a stunning iron bridge designed by gustav eiffel himself. There are many restaurants to be found alongside the river with great local food and very good prices. The centre of town has a pedestrianised area where the bulk of the shops can be found. Whilst I was there I stayed at the Hotel Vila Gale a four star hotel. The room I had was on the 15th floor and had spectacular views across the city and out to the sea. The room itself was very clean, well equipped with a TV (which had 3 english speaking channels), a mini bar, a heater/air conditioner, standard lamp and various other lights. A very large, very comfortable bed with plenty of pillows and sheets. The bathroom was a good size and well equipped with a shower/bath, sink, toilet and complimetary shampoo, shower gel, shower cap, shoe shine sponge, soap and toothbrush. The room also had wifi broadband at a small additional cost (from memory it was about 6 euros per hour) and room service cleaned the room every day at around 10.30 am. The hotel serves a complimentary breakfast on the 2nd floor. It is a buffet style offering a full english or continental, various cereals, fruits, yoghurts and drinks which should provide something for everyone. As I mentioned previously I stayed on the 15th floor and therefore had to use the lifts frequently. The hotel has 3 lifts all of which were operating without fault durng my stay. The hotel itself is very clean with lovely comfortable, tasteful decor. The staff were very friendly and spoke excellent english. I cannot fault my stay in Oporto. The town, the people, the atmosphere, the hotel and its staff were faultless
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