NAZARÉ and NEARBY - Portugal - page 235

ida Vieira Guimarães 39, tel. [phone], fax [phone], www.hotelpraia.com , ger-
[e-mail] ).
$$$ Residencial A Cubata, a funky place on the waterfront on the north end, has 22
small rooms with older bathrooms. Rumor has it the place will be remodeled sometime
in 2013 (Db-€40-70, depends on view, noisy bar below, Avenida da República 6, tel.
262-561-706, fax [phone]). For a peaceful night, forgo the private balcony, take a
back room on the top floor (saving some money), and enjoy the communal beachfront
balcony.
$$ Ribamar Hotel-Restaurant has a prime location on the waterfront, a rare Old
World atmosphere, and 25 small rooms with dark wood and four-poster beds. To spot the
hotel from the waterfront, look for its yellow awnings and balconies (Db-€30-65, a couple
of suites cost same as doubles in off-season, four rooms with balconies, good attached res-
taurant downstairs; parking-€10/day, €15 in Aug; Rua Gomes Freire 9, tel. [phone],
fax [phone], www.ribamarnazare.com , [e-mail] ). If you don't get a
reply to your email, try sending a fax.
$$ Hotel Âncora Mar is a big, modern, almost institutional place, with 26 spacious,
bright, and functional rooms and a generous roof terrace with a pool. It's on a quiet street
a block from the bus station (Db-€35-45, €60-80 in July, €95 in Aug; free parking, Wi-
Fi in lounge, Rua Sub-Vila, tel. [phone], fax [phone], www.ancoramar.com ,
[e-mail] ).
Quartos
I list no dumpy hotels or cheap pensions, because the best budget options are quartos.
Like nowhere else in Iberia, locals renting spare rooms clamor for your business here. Ex-
cept perhaps for weekends in August, you can stumble into town any day and find count-
less women hanging out on the street (especially along the waterfront and near the bus sta-
tion) with fine modern rooms to rent. I promise. If you need an inexpensive room, they've
got it. Their rooms are generally better than cheap hotel rooms—for half the cost. Your
room is likely to be large and homey, with old-time-elegant furnishings (with no plumb-
ing, but plenty of facilities down the hall). Many quartos are located in a quiet neighbor-
hood, six short blocks off the beachfront action. I'd come into town and have fun looking
at several places. Hem and haw, and the price goes down.
$ Julia Pereira rents five nice rooms with private baths in a small building over her
daughter's café. Rooms overlook a charming square that faces the beach and comes with
night noise (Db-€30, €50 July-Aug, reception desk at ground-floor café run by same fam-
ily, on Praça Dr. Manuel Arriaga, mobile [phone], or call Julia's daughter Eduarda at
mobile [phone], [e-mail] ).