Our VERY GOOD experience would have been an EXCELLENT experience if the restaurant staff had taken care of the little details. Fortunately for us, my pre-trip research and direct approach paid off.

FOOD: After reading more than 100 reviews of the various restaurants in Furnas that serve cozido, I decided to reserve a lunch table several weeks in advance. Terra Nostra Garden offers traditional cozido, vegetarian cozido with couscous and non-cozido options such as steak and seafood. I pre-ordered 1 cozido meal and specified that my dining partner would be ordering from the à la carte menu. In this way, we would both be able to taste cozido while enjoying other dishes. After all, when we go to other restaurants, we don’t all order the same items. It’s more fun to share.

COZIDO: It was delicious! The meat was smoky and tender (beef brisket, chicken, blood sausage, chorizo and pork trotter). The vegetables were scrumptious (collard greens, cabbage, sweet potato, potato, taro and carrot). The accompanying broth was flavourful. I could have drank a cup of it! After finishing my plate, I asked for seconds of the vegetables and the pork trotter. According to the fine print on the menu, customers can ask for additional servings of cozido. Other restaurants bring a mountain of food that becomes less appetizing as it cools down. So much is wasted.

A LA CARTE: My dining partner chose fish soup and the forkbeard fish fillets. The soup was dark and deeply aromatic - better than the bouillabaisse I had in Marseille.

FREE TICKETS to the botanical garden and thermal pools: According to the fine print on the menu, ordering a minimum of 30€ entitles each diner to a free ticket. Our bill came to 64€ for the 2 of us. When the manager swiped my credit card, he did not mention the tickets but I overheard him telling another table about it. He even brought some tickets to their table. As we got up to leave, I asked him about the tickets and he pointed me to the front desk. Preferential treatment?

BOTANICAL GARDEN AND THERMAL POOLS: Using the free tickets, we were able to save 8€ per person and skip the queue for entrance to the garden and pools. The garden is so beautiful! I only wish there were some lockers or more benches to put one’s belongings. I can imagine how pleasant it must be to stay in the hotel and stroll to the thermal pool in the early morning.

We were visiting the Azores for the first time. We had a hard time deciding whether to stay in Porto del grado or terra nostrand in furnas. We decided on the the former. However based on reviews we made a reservation at Terra Nostra for dinner. We were pleasantly surprised when we were told as a customer at the restaurant we can enjoy the bath and garden before or after dinner. We got in hour car for the 45 minute ride an hour early so could enjoy the hotel amenities as promised. When we got there we went for a stroll to take a look . We owed 4 people who walked into the area. We were stopped by an attendant telling me only guests can use the facility. I told him about what I was offered on the phone .he said NO. I asked then if we could just take a quick look around as we may want to come to this hotel on our next visit. He said no . Very rudely. We t b.c en went to the front and asked t b.c e desk why we were told we could enjoy the amenities.. he said only for lunch .. not dinner. He didnt xard that we drove al.ozt an hour and arrived an hour early. He was unwilling to e en seek out a manager. We understand that rules are rules but to not even allow us look around when many others were walking in and out seemed short suited and rude given the circumstances. We did stay for dinner. It was fine. We enjoyed the volcanic stew. However the starters were bland and the servers rarely came by and even forgot to ask the chef about our dietary restrictions.. all in all it was ok. But for a restaurant and hotel that claims to be among the best.. well in my opinion they have alot of staff training to get through.

We stayed here for 7 nights. Room and bathroom were very neat and clean. Our room was large and had a private balcony. As a guest we had 24 hour entrance into the gardens and the hot mineral baths. They even provided each guest with a plush robe and towel to enjoy the baths. There is a wonderful spa on site. The restaurant was outstanding. The breakfast buffet was full of freshly made pastries, juices, cheeses, etc. It was a true delight. It's in walking distance from the church,the bus station, and some wonderful restaurants. I plan to go there on my next trip.

We had a great stay. Beautifully restored Art Deco hotel. Reasonably priced, and good value for money. Good sized rooms, well appointed, excellent bathroom with beautiful Portuguese toiletries. Our room opened on to a roof terrace with sun loungers. Good public rooms including nice bar, with pool table. Perfectly good buffet breakfast.

Staying at the hotel gives you free access to the park and hot lake. In your room you get a separate set of grey towelling robes to wear as you wander out thru by the back garden and across into the park. The grey helpfully hides the rusty red residue that your I will be covered in on getting out of the lake ! Is worth going out of hours when the public don’t have access ie early or late. Our teenage children enjoyed it so much they were happy to get up at 0730 to go for a dip. This had the added advantage that it was cold outside and so the steam rising from the lake and the wonderful trees made it all look very Jurassic Park.

Very good restaurant, succinct but tasteful menu, excellent wine selection, and not too expensive too in my view, the local food especially nice... but... could be more practical with flowers surprise and could be more thoughtful with the surprise cake at the end for a wedding anniversary... but they did quite a good job... the most surprising part is that the restaurant is not a garden venue and at the nice weather sitting inside... had it not been for that it would be five stars perhaps...