Jetsetter: Portugal's 10 Best Hot Spots
Travel like a FASHION editor. Ceri Marsh tells you what to check out.
By Ceri Marsh
Add these hot addresses to your little black book for your next trip to Portugal.
Lisbon
Lapa Palace Hotel
Rua do Pau de Bandeira 4
Tel: 00 351 21 394 9494
Web: lapa-palace.com
Nestled in the moneyed embassy district, the elegant Lapa Palace Hotel is home to La Prairie treatments and water-misting pool boys.
Olivier
Rua do Teixeira 35
Tel: 00 351 21 342 1024
At Olivier, the restaurant’s cocky young namesake offers just a single nightly 12-course menu of local cuisine, rendered with a contemporary light touch.
Alcântara Café
Rua Maria Luisa Holstein 17
Tel: 00 351 21 363 7176
Web: alcantaracafe.com
Located in riverside Doca de Alcântara, a district known for its nightlife, this converted factory is fancied up with chandeliers and velvet banquettes.
Pavilhão Chinês Bar
Rua do Pedro V. 89/91
Tel: 00 351 21 342 4729
An eccentric red and gold bar, Pavilhão Chinês is ornamented with toy soldiers, paper fans, Victorian dolls, lounge chairs and sofas.
Porto
Sheraton Porto Hotel & Spa
Rua Tenente Valadim 146
Tel: 00 351 22 040 4000
Web: sheratonporto.com
Most of Porto’s architecture is art nouveau, but more recently it has become home to several celebrity architecture projects. The sleek Sheraton Porto was opened in 2003 and marks a shift in the city’s design focus.
Cafeína
Rua do Padrão 100
Tel: 00 351 22 610 8059
Web: cafeina.pt
Set in a 19th-century villa, Cafeína sits in the centre of the action, its modern yet warm room filled with elegant young Portuguese.
Café Lusitano
Rua José Falcão
At this gorgeous art nouveau bank recast as a bustling bar, you place your order at what looks to be a teller’s cage.
Cometa
Rua Tomaz Gonzaga 87
Tel: 00 351 22 200 8774
The old-town renaissance’s loveliest spot is Cometa. Tucked in a maze of curving streets, the simple, stylish restaurant focused on fresh food is owned by a former waitress.
Maus Hábitos
Rua Passos Manuel 178, 4th floor
Tel: 00 351 22 208 7268
Web: maushabitos.com
It’s easy to miss this gallery/bar, located on the fourth floor of an unexceptional building. Local hipsters come here for “happenings” or to hear the cute DJ playing ’80s new wave.
Clube Chocolate
Rua do Padrão 99
Tel: 00 351 22 610 4323
Web: clubechocolate.com
A cute boutique that carries lots of great Brazilian lines and stays open late (as do others in the area) in case you want to do a little shopping after dinner at one of the area’s trendy restaurants.
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