An Unforgettable Portuguese Palace Hotel in Lisbon

 

The world is filled with fantastic hotels. I mean really impressive, super luxurious show-stoppers that take your breath away. What the world is not filled with are those special, one-of-a-kind hideaways, where you wander dreamlike through the corridors, trailing your hand against the walls and marvelling at how lucky you are to call this place your home for the next few days.

It was at just such a place that I found myself in June this year on the Lisbon leg of a luxury multi-centre trip around Portugal. The Palacio Belmonte was bought in 1994 by French conservationist and ecologist Frederic Coustols who, as even a brief glance over his biography will tell you, is something of a visionary and all-round remarkable human being.

Originally intending it to be his private residence, Coustols soon realised that the 15th-century former home of the Earl of Belmonte and his family was far bigger than he had realised, and had a magic about it that needed to be shared with the rest of the world. He spent the next six years painstakingly restoring the building to its original glory in accordance with the rules of sustainability and the Venice Charter. The end result is a striking, labyrinthine Lisbon haven as remarkable as the man who created it.

The location

The Palacio Belmonte is in the northern part of Lisbon’s Alfama district, the capital’s cultural heart and one of its oldest areas. There is an abundance of heritage sites and museums to explore and plenty of traditional, non-touristy cafes and bars.

It’s hard not to fall in love with Alfama. There is a relaxed atmosphere to this gentrified district despite the ongoing buzz of everyday life and the wide variety of events taking place all around you. Amble the narrow streets and you’ll pass elderly women selling Ginja (cherry liqueur) from their own doorways, cafe gardens spilling into the street, famous yellow Lisbon trams trundling by and small markets being set up and explored.

You can easily spend days getting happily lost in these intriguing backstreets. The hotel is best approached via Rua do Chão da Feira, at the end of which is the Castelo de São Jorge. A few metres from the castle is a set of large, red double doors leading to a cobbled courtyard and the hotel’s unassuming entrance.

Inside the hotel

Following a warm welcome from our hosts, we explored the stone passageways, grand banqueting halls and book-lined hidey holes of this singular, intimate 10-suite hotel in sheer wonder. This is the sort of place where you come to expect a delightful surprise around every corner. Open a small wooden door and you could find yourself stepping out onto a narrow platform amid the treetops with an unparalleled panorama across Lisbon; tip-toe up a stone spiral staircase and along short corridor and prepare to be confronted by a grand atrium with satisfyingly bendy wooden floorboards and striking blue and white tiles depicting romantic scenes of yore. The tiles, incidentally, were a real labour of love.

During Frederic Coustols’ restoration, 3,800 tiles were found scattered and broken amid the rubble throughout the property. These were pieced back together and assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle to form an intricate and significant feature of the hotel’s interiors. It puts the 500-piece “Winter Scene” puzzle I do every year at Christmas to absolute shame. Juxtaposing these older artefacts are fascinating pieces of modern art that are regularly revamped and changed creating an interesting fusion of the ancient and the avant garde.

Palacio Belmonte’s Suites

As for the suites – and frankly referring to them simply as suites feels like calling Sandringham a modest country pile – there are 10 of them, each named after a key figure in Portuguese culture and each entirely different in structure and design. The Padre Himalaya, for example, is found in the Roman tower and is nicknamed the Honeymoon suite due to the commanding views of the city from its windows and decadent marble-covered bathroom. The Bartolomeu de Gusmão has its own private terrace and is housed within a 7th-century Moorish tower.

We were fortunate enough to stay at the Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, a magnificent suite sporting some the aforementioned tiles, its own library room as you enter, unspeakably high ceilings and a mezzanine bedroom. Large castle doors lead to a marble bathroom with huge bath and private decking area for sun-worshipers. A veranda runs alongside the outside of the suite with a private balcony where we had breakfast every morning nestled among the orange trees with views across the garden and pool.

Private and beautiful are the two words I’d use to describe this suite if forced to, and for that matter the entire hotel. Exploring the hidden alcoves and rooms of the Palacio Belmonte brought out a boyish sense of adventure in me, combined with a sense of being totally at ease and at home. It has that indescribable allure of a rare piece of art, the sort of thing you can look at for hours entranced. The thought of leaving was equally as horrid as the feeling of arriving was extraordinary.

Eating and drinking

Thanks to there being only 10 suites, you’re unlikely to bump into other guests very often and the service is very personal. As a result, you can ring reception and have drinks or breakfast delivered to your balcony, depending of course on the time of day. Breakfast will sort you out with perfect scrambled eggs, pastries, granola and juice.

For lunch or dinner, the hotel has recently opened Grenache, a relaxed restaurant in the cobbled courtyard in front of the entrance serving French cuisine with a focus on Portuguese products. See off some oysters with a glass of fizz before heading out into Alfama, or return to Palacio Belmonte after a long day knowing that you’re about to settle in for a night of pork terrine, prawn and ricotta raviole, beef tartare and a rich mix of French and Portuguese cheeses.

Back in the main hotel, between 6pm and 7pm the wooden doors to a small stone alcove are unlocked and guests are invited to help themselves free of charge to the cocktail ingredients within. I tended to stick to G&Ts, but there are plenty of other drinks available. This was a lovely little touch, and emblematic of the trusting and homely attitude that the management bring to this unique hotel.

Find out more about the Palácio Belmonte