We love a second city: all that underdog energy without the ego – or the crowds – and Porto is no exception. It’s just happy to see you, to pour a glass from a dusty old bottle of port or take you sailing down the River Duoro.
Staying here is quite a ride, too. The city fabric makes the best of its dramatic geography, built into steep hillsides and hugging the riverfront. Cosy house-hotels far outnumber the grand brands, though you’ll still find a swish spa if you need one – with port wine treatments, no less. Second to none, really.
Best for wine: The Yeatman
Neighbourhood: Castelo
A fully fledged resort up the city’s southern bank, the Yeatman mingles with the English port wineries hugging the Duoro River. Naturally, it’s amassed an excellent cellar, open for tastings and seminars when you’re not swimming or having your Caudalie facial. Book Sunday lunch with a wine flight on the Orangerie’s eighth-floor terrace, or sip on your private balcony downstairs, where views from king rooms decorated in Tiffany blues and yellows are equally stellar.
Doubles from €215
the-yeatman-hotel.com
Best for regal atmosphere: M Maison Particulière
Neighbourhood: Baixa
Is it an antique shop? A hotel? Somewhere in between, rather. The atmospheric guest rooms in this red stucco townhouse are like bijou museums you can run amok in, with marble fireplaces, Baroque mirrors and original wood-coffered ceilings. Wake up and say hello to your ivory bust by the tile mosaic wall. Breakfast on the terrace is a sweaty affair mid-morning – better for your evening aperitif, with the cathedral lit up in the distance.
Doubles from €160
m-porto.com
Best for views: Oh! Porto
Neighbourhood: Castelo
The vantage point, looking back on the city from beneath the iron arc of the Luis I bridge, is very Brooklyn-on-the-Duoro. Six hip little apartments fit cleverly within a designer concrete shell, furnished with Scandi modernity and wide window banks facing the river. With the port wineries in the hills above and Old Porto a quick stroll across the bridge, Oh!’s location is an unexpected triumph.
Doubles from €100
ohporto.com
Best for throwback luxury: Pestana A Brasileira
Neighbourhood: Baixa
Pestana takes a grand art deco landmark and makes it personal with mid-century woodiness, low vintage lighting, sinuous velvet seating and warm – but not obsequious – service. Bedrooms are slightly too cosy for all the space elsewhere; bright space-saving bathrooms fare better. Hit the buzzy A Brasileira brasserie at breakfast whether you’re staying or not – the pastries are as good as the finest padaria. Or share the octopus on a light vinaigrette salad for lunch.
Doubles from £100
pestanacollection.com
Best alfresco dining: 1872 River House
Neighbourhood: Ribeira
If you got any closer to the river, you’d be on it. Refreshed weathered-stone walls and chipper whitewashed furnishings give the light-filled rooms a country-house feel. The breakfast room serving punchy juice and fresh fruit juts out over the river path. But for dinner, head down there yourself and snag a table outside one of the old fisherman’s cottages, now a string of traditional tabernas.
Doubles from €155
1872riverhouse.com
Best for location: The House Ribeira Hotel
Neighbourhood: Ribeira
Every market, cathedral and monument you’ve marked on your map is close enough to visit in heels. Even if the rooms are just a tiny step up from a Premier Inn, this “river house” provides fringe benefits: coffee and cake in the bar and a sunny rooftop terrace from which to plot your journey – with the help of the free-to-use in-house smartphone. For a homely fried-fish dinner, walk a block to the tremendous Adega São Nicolau.
Doubles from €75
shotelscollection.com/thehouse
Best for history: Porto AS 1829
Neighbourhood: Baixa
The wood-panelled Araújo e Sobrinho stationery shop has operated out of this azulejo-tiled mansion block for nearly 200 years. In 2015, Lux Hotels designed AS 1829 to weave in and out of the showroom, setting up 41 rooms in the old offices. Handcrafted-tiles replace chipped surfaces; plush velvets, caning and milky glass lighting update Portuguese classics. But the high ceilings, deep French windows and vintage desktop knickknacks are all original.
Doubles from €83
as1829.luxhotels.pt
Best for shopping: Armazem Luxury Housing
Neighbourhood: Baixa
Porto’s best retrofit of a historic home sits on a street stuffed with boutiques, two doors down from the enchanting Claus Porto fragrance flagship – its own amazing renovation. In this former iron warehouse, 200-year-old stone walls butt up against polished concrete, deep iron staircases and a statement armoire around every corner. The light-handed service will please only some. But it does mean you can tinker at the honesty bar and tables full of curios without interruption.
Doubles from €170
armazemluxuryhousing.com
Best for greenery: Malmerendas
Neighbourhood: Baixa
The scent of dewy grass from the sun-dappled breakfast room may just keep you in for the day – not to mention the still-warm egg tart and blood-orange juice. Unbelievably, considering the tiled façade, this 19th-century townhouse drips with leafy climbers, from lawn to roof. Book a rear-facing room – or the family studio (€300), chic as a Notting Hill garden flat. Come 3pm, the garden transforms into a wine bar.
Doubles from €99
malmerendas.softconcept.pt
Best for architecture buffs: Vincci Porto
Neighbourhood: Massarelos
Not a city person? West of centre, past the twin steeples of the stunning Massarelos church, an art deco former fish market now functions as an homage to vintage design, with walnut-panelled rooms furnished for a Mad Men tryst. Lounge in low-slung designer chaises in the marble foyer, with its double-height whalebone roof. Then climb to the rooftop bar for vistas over a helipad to Arrábida Bridge.
Doubles from €63
vincciporto.com
