Frommer's Review
With a location that's unmatched for its association with literary, historic, and Romantic-era Portugal, this 2005 reincarnation of Lisbon's oldest hotel sits within an ocher-colored six-story baroque building within a few steps of the square (Praça Luís de Camões) that commemorates Portugal's most important literary patriarch. It's every inch a boutique hotel that successfully competes for the clientele that might otherwise have descended upon the larger, flashier, and more expensive Lapa Palace or Four Seasons. It originated in 1845 when it was rebuilt from the rubble of Lisbon's Great Earthquake less than a century before as the Hotel de l'Europe, then the capital's most visible hotel. (Sarah Bernhardt was one of its clients.) After a decline in fortunes that followed in the wake of the "People's Revolution" of 1975, and a radical architectural transformation, it re-emerged as the city's venue for the kind of upscale hipster who might tend to work in the arts, media, or music industries, and who appreciates its proximity to the bustling shops, dining, and arts scene of the Bairro Alto and the Chiado District.
Huge effort was taken to blend the historic with the cutting edge here, from the ample use of thousands of feet of exotic hardwoods, to the presence of all the electronic accessories that the post-millennium generation would expect. Bedrooms and their furnishings are rich with antecedents to Portugal's imperial past, yet updated with a sense of upscale minimalism and with lots of postmodern amenities. Paneling runs halfway up the very high walls here, painted in monochromatic tones of ocher, Tagus blue, bull's-blood red, or linen white. The neo-baroque lobby manages to somehow remain Zen-like and uncluttered, despite the presence of two wrought-iron sculptures by noted Portuguese artist Rui Chafes. There's also a sophisticated bar, a rooftop terrace with a splendid panorama, and a gem-size restaurant whose upscale food, fine service, and intimate setting emulates a dining room within the gracious home of a group of (very upscale) friends.
Facilities:
Restaurant; bar; gym; room service; babysitting; laundry service; dry cleaning; nonsmoking rooms; rooms for those w/limited mobility
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
