Rua das Flores / Historic Centre

PortoBay Flores

★★★★★

PortoBay Flores brings together a historic palace and a contemporary wing on Rua das Flores, the pedestrian street of shops, cafés and wrought-iron balconies that runs from São Bento station down toward the Ribeira. The original building is a small palace roughly five hundred years old, with a sixteenth-century coat of arms on its stonework, and the hotel has been built around it with care: a granite-paved courtyard holds a Baroque chapel from the mid-eighteenth century attributed to Nicolau Nasoni, the architect of the Clérigos Tower, and the old mansion contains a handful of the hotel's sixty-six rooms, with the rest in a new wing behind. Interiors blend classic and contemporary, with period details in the old house and calm, modern rooms in the newer part; some rooms look toward the cathedral and down toward the Douro. The Mandalay Spa has treatment rooms with therapies inspired by Indian and Thai traditions, a sauna, a hammam and a gym, and connects to a heated indoor pool lit by natural light, a rare luxury in the old town. Bistrô Flores is the restaurant, with a bistronomy approach to Portuguese ingredients, and Bar dos Maias serves drinks and light meals throughout the day, with a terrace and direct access to Rua das Flores. Service is polished and warm, in the style of the PortoBay group, which runs hotels in Madeira, Lisbon and Brazil. The combination of history, spa facilities and a perfect central location makes it one of the most complete hotels in Porto.

The location could hardly be better for sightseeing. Rua das Flores is itself one of the city's pleasures, lined with old shopfronts, jewellers, tiled facades and terraces, and from the door it is about five minutes uphill to São Bento station and a little further to the Clérigos Tower and Livraria Lello, while downhill the street leads to the Largo de São Domingos, the Palácio da Bolsa and the Ribeira quay. The cathedral is a short climb away, and the Gaia lodges are a walk across the Luís I Bridge.

Living in it: rooms in the historic mansion have more character, while those in the new wing tend to be quieter and more contemporary; ask which you are booking. Rua das Flores is pedestrianised and pleasant, but it is busy by day and some rooms face it. The indoor pool and spa are a genuine bonus after a day on the hills, and the courtyard with its chapel is a quiet place for a morning coffee. Taxis can drop off near the hotel, though the street itself is car-free.

Base math: rates sit near the top of the Porto market, reflecting the five-star facilities and the address. It suits couples, design and history lovers, and anyone who wants a pool and spa without leaving the old town. For a first visit, it is one of the best-placed luxury hotels in Porto, and it rewards a stay of three nights or more, when the spa and the street life can both be enjoyed at leisure.