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The Best Hotels In Lisbon For If You're Planning A Long Holiday Or City Break
Rooftop terraces, historic buildings and all the azulejo tiles: these are the ultimate hotels in Lisbon.
Portugal’s capital has held the crown of Europe’s coolest city for a while now, and it’s not just because of its pasteis de nata (pastries so popular there are entire London bakeries dedicated to them) – there are some seriously stylish hotels in Lisbon, too.
With a flight time of less than three hours from London (not to mention its UK-shaming mild temperatures), Lisbon is the ideal choice for a weekend away with the girls or your partner, or a winter-delaying balmy autumn break.
Unsurprisingly for one of the oldest cities in western Europe, its culture packs a punch, with ancient monasteries, gothic cathedrals and buzzy barrios to tour – and the weather is the cherry on the top, for outdoor living that consists mostly of sardines and salted cod on sunny terraces and coffees in art deco cafés.
The city, which like Rome was built on seven hills, also has narrow alleyways in its Moorish Quarter, tree-lined boulevards and a river winding through on its way to the Atlantic.
Whether you want to feel the melancholy of fado, enjoy the lively nightlife, ingest more of the aforementioned custard tarts or photograph the prettiest azulejo tiles, the Portuguese capital is city-break heaven.
When experiencing this incredible city, you'll want to check into a stylish address and we've done the research to bring you the very best hotels in Lisbon to book right now.
You've got the Lumiares, a luxury Lisbon hotel in Bairro Alto, with its apartment suites and panoramic rooftop for you to take in glorious views. Then there's uber-cool design hotel Altis Belém Hotel & Spa, which has a Karin Herzog spa and Michelin-starred Feitoria restaurant for you to treat yourself.
And for something charming and elegant, check in to Le Consulat on one of Chiado’s prettiest squares, the Praça de Camões. The building housed the Brazilian consulate for a century and there's Portuguese art in every room.
Check out the best hotels in Lisbon for your next European city break.
Memmo Alfama
In the namesake Alfama district, Lisbon’s oldest neighbourhood, this Memmo outpost (sibling to Memmo Baleeira, on the wild Costa Vicentina, and the well-heeled Memmo Príncipe Real, between Bairro Alto and Chiado) has a rooftop terrace and accompanying views (along with a wine bar and infinity pool).
Memmo Alfama is a 19th-century bakery made over with a little modernist magic to enhance the original features: stone accents, lots of wood and statement Arne Jacobsen chairs – even the vaulted brick bread oven has been transformed into a snug reading space. While here, you can set off down the orange-tree-lined cobbled street to explore the Moorish Quarter’s narrow streets, traditional boutiques and fado-soundtracked restaurants.
Dona Graça Apartments
Set on the highest of all Lisbon’s seven hills, Dona Graça Apartments are close to the viewpoints of the Graça district, which, along with being one of the loftiest, is one of the city’s oldest suburbs. The 19th-century building is an example of Pombaline architecture, but the interiors have been brought up to date – all while using traditional local materials such as Portuguese porcelain and Lioz limestone.
Each of the eight apartments has its own balcony, along with lots of natural light, Moorish tiles in the bathroom and a kitchen should you want to cook your own dinner (unlikely in a city with a food scene this good). There's an outdoor pool and a secret orange-tree garden to relax in – you'll feel like you're at home in your own private Portuguese residence.
Hermitage Castelo – Casa Chafariz
If you're hoping to make like countless other digital nomads and stick around in Lisbon for a little longer, these serviced apartments could be the perfect base for you and your laptop.
Aptly located in Lisbon’s design quarter, these stylish apartments in Santos set the style bar high with their striking red and white exterior that overlooks an equally elaborate baroque fountain. Inside Hermitage Castelo, things get a little sleeker, with contemporary decor that features modern kitchens, statement lamps and pastel-coloured soft furnishings – with the beams, shutters and corniced ceilings reminding guests of the building’s heritage.
The clued-up concierge can direct you to the city’s finest restaurants, or guests can stay within Santos to enjoy its revived warehouses, which now house galleries and shops (many with hipster-pleasing exposed brickwork, of course).
AlmaLusa Alfama
The newest member of the chic AlmaLusa collection of Lisbon hotels, AlmaLusa Alfama is a boutique retreat with a historic backdrop. It is located in the 12th-century arch that was once a watchtower within the medieval walls of Lisbon (the Arco das Portas do Mar), and it perfectly combines heritage architecture with sleek, modern interiors.
Set in an equally historic part of the city, complete with views of the Tagus River, the AlmaLusa Alfama is the perfect spot from which to explore Lisbon. The 25-room hotel is home to a restaurant, Delfina Café, where you can enjoy shared suppers of perfect petiscos (Portuguese tapas). Each guest is also furnished with complimentary 4G smartphones for use during their stay, to help them explore the city without a care for personal data allowances.
The Lumiares
The Lumiares is stylish from top to toe, all the way from its high-gloss lobby, up its grand double staircase to its decked terrace with a view. The rooms are officially apartments, but the full set of hotel perks are present and correct, including two restaurants, helpful staff and, of course, that rooftop bar. From this lofty vantage point, you'll be able to spy the Lisbon skyline and the Tagus River, as you dine on seasonal food such as burrata with quinoa and quince, garlic prawns and seared tuna with wasabi mayonnaise.
Unsurprisingly for a former palace, the proportions are huge and chandelier-friendly (check out the staircase lighting) and the touches are gilded, but all with a modern flavour and new additions made by local artisans. Each apartment has a kitchen, but leave it to gather dust as you explore Bairro Alto’s lively nightlife in search of salted cod instead.
Raw Culture
Another one for the wannabe digital nomads: if you’re in need of an aparthotel in Lisbon, consider Raw Culture in the super-central Bairro Alto. It’s a haven for creatives, with unique designs in a historic building that once housed a typography company. Each of the loft-style suites are set around a staircase, which ascends from the gallery downstairs. There are 13 in total and each is adorned by furniture from the owner's rather impressive collection. Pleasingly for aesthetes admiring their temporary surroundings, many of the art and objects on display are for sale, so be sure to leave plenty of space in your suitcase.
Yet more masterpieces can be admired in the hotel's very own art gallery. The barrio itself has long been once of Lisbon's artistic hub, with plenty of museums, theatres and restaurants for visitors to discover.
Brown's Avenue Hotel
Close to the centre of Lisbon on the edge of the Avenida da Liberdade, Brown’s Avenue Hotel is a perennial Lisbon favourite. We're guessing its popularity as a place to say has something to do with its rooftop pool – graced by striped sunloungers and assorted cacti, and the perfect place to retreat after a day out exploring the city. There’s also a library in case you’ve forgotten to pack your holiday reading, an airy restaurant, and rooms with Smeg minibars, Roberts radios and Marshall speakers.
The Brown’s group has a couple of outposts within Lisbon, so make sure you’re headed to the right one. Brown's Avenue is on the edge of Avenida da Liberdade and just steps from the historic city centre, with a buzzy bistro and a classic brasserie, along with a bar in the library.
Flora Chiado Apartments
The cultural hub of a very cultured city, Chiado is Lisbon’s has-it-all neighbourhood: landmarks, luxury shopping, theatres, museums and more. Stay close to this historic centre at Flora Chiado Apartments, a cobblestoned street away from all of Chiado’s sights, which include many of Lisbon’s must-sees.
In yet another modernised heritage building, the high-ceilinged apartments have some serious original features: century-old azulejo tiles, for a start. Newer additions include prints by a local photographer and stand-out floor lamps. Opt for an apartment with a terrace and you might just hear the fado music drifting up from the atmospheric streets below.
The Vintage Hotel & Spa
Predictably, the Lumiares' sister property is equally stylish: the Vintage, on a peaceful backstreet behind the Avenida da Liberdade and near the city’s botanic gardens, is all dark decadence, with cocktail trolleys in every bedroom and mid-century style in spades, not least in its lounge bar and glossy hardwood floors.
The rooms are painted in statement shades, including a terracotta to rival any rooftop, along with bold blues and greens that may have you rethinking the Elephant’s Breath in your lounge. There’s a rooftop bar for cocktails and liveliness, and a subterranean spa to soothe sore heads the morning after.
The Lisboans Apartments
Live like a local in bohemian Baixa – and one who's the proud owner of a bright, breezy apartment courtesy of the Lisboans, each of which has tiles, trinkets and antiques all hand-picked from within Portugal. The 19th-century building was once a factory.
The apartments also all have kitchenettes to cook up your haul from the hotel’s market store, or you can head out to its restaurant next-door instead, whose chef is a protégé of Nuno Mendes. First, evenings should start with a drink from the handy tray in the lobby lounge. The apartments have a prime buzzy Baixa postcode and are also close to both the banks of the Tagus and Lisbon Cathedral.
Altis Belém Hotel & Spa
Overlooking the River Tagus in Belém, Altis has won prizes not only for being Lisbon’s most-loved design hotel but for its Karin Herzog spa (the Swiss brand's only presence in Portugal) and Michelin-starred Feitoria restaurant, where the menu features creative dessert plates such as chocolate with peanut, seaweed and chilli. Accolades aside, the hotel pays homage to Portugal’s great explorers, working nods to Africa, Arabia, India, Asia and South America into its decor.
Belém is eight kilometres away from the city centre, but it has its own sights to shout about, including the namesake tower and the Jeronimos Monastery, as well as some excellent seafood restaurants and houses decked out in colourful azulejo tiles.
Le Consulat
Home to the Brazilian consulate for a century, the 12-room Le Consulat is on one of Chiado’s prettiest squares, the Praça de Camões. Helpfully for custard tart fans, a prolific purveyor (Mateigaria) is located over the road. Chiado has much to keep visitors entertained and most of it is within walking distance, including the dazzling Igreja São Roque church and the edge of the Tagus.
The rooms keep the refinement of the building’s diplomatic past alive with Portuguese art in every bedroom, each curated by a local gallery – along with stucco ceilings, wooden floors and terrace windows that overlook the main square below.
Torel Palace
On the most central of Lisbon’s several hillsides, Torel Palace is formed from two mansions that were constructed in the early 20th century and are now joined by a courtyard. This boutique hotel in Lisbon has a swimming pool on a red-rooftop-showcasing terrace, where you can also spy the river and enjoy dishes from all over the world.
Fittingly, the rooms are named after royalty, with each dedicated to a king or queen of Portugal – there’s a brief history of each next to the nightstand to brush up on at bedtime – and regal details such as chandeliers, vast windows and view-framing balconies to wave at your subjects below.
Hotel Hotel
The name may be somewhat uninspired (or totally genius), but Hotel Hotel is one of Lisbon’s coolest stays, created in collaboration with local designers and artists. The hotel has an outdoor pool, a yoga and meditation space, and regular live music – all of which contribute to making it a hub for the community as well as transient guests passing through the city for mini-breaks.
The sleek black pool is lined with reclaimed tiles from the Eighties, with greenery surrounding it – don’t be alarmed by the dead ringer for Tolkein’s Treebeard overseeing your lengths. The restaurant celebrates all things leafy and plant-based, too. It's part of the Design Hotels collection, with eye-catching details at every turn, from illuminated installations and animal prints to murals by the pool.
Sublime Lisboa
The name of this boutique hotel, which has a sister property on the coast at Comporta, implies good things and you won’t be disappointed at Sublime Lisboa, which is in a building that dates back more than a century. Its fabled history includes a stint as a restaurant owned by a Portuguese national treasure.
Breakfasts are leisurely, with service extending to accommodate late-risers (even if your alarm is set to mid-afternoon). It’s in the district of Amoreiras, most famous for its shopping centre. At the restaurant on-site, Davvero, dine on Mediterranean dishes created by former Cipriani chef Isaac Kumi, such as whipped salt cod with crispy black polenta, beef croquettes, tuna tartare with avocado, and spicy lobster spaghetti.
There's no spa at the hotel, but a health club around the corner grants guests of Sublime Lisboa access on request, plus in-room facials and massages can be arranged.
Caroline Lewis has been a travel journalist for more than a decade, reviewing luxury hotels and covering destinations all over the world, but with a soft spot for Greek islands and absolutely anywhere in Italy.
Among her most memorable trips are a month spent subsisting almost solely on guacamole in Mexico, sleeping in a room made of ice in Swedish Lapland and a rather lengthy but thankfully bear-free drive across America's wild west.
She was previously deputy chief sub-editor on the print team at Harper’s Bazaar and is a long-time contributor and editor at Mr & Mrs Smith. She writes about travel for Hearst Digital titles such as Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Red, Esquire and more. She read English and Philosophy at Durham, before doing a master's degree in magazine journalism in her hometown of Bournemouth.
When she's not testing out the buzziest new hotels, she's at home in London, probably baking.
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