Best boutique hotels in Porto

This beautiful five-bed townhouse is as traditional as they come. Forming part of a terrace on Rua Dr Alves da Veiga, the frontage is tiled as many Portuguese buildings are. The trad themes run through the inside too, with midcentury touches and some modern flourishes. Each room has a double bed, kitchenette, seating area and Nespresso machine. Some even have a view of the garden, which is long, lovely and flanked by trees. If you do venture out to basque in the garden, be sure to pick up a bottle of wine from reception to sip in the shade.

Casa do Conto hasn't had an easy ride. Quite literally translating as 'House of Tales', this hotel's story is that it had to rise from the ashes of a fire that took place shortly before it was originally set to open its doors. Hope, perseverance and another cash injection ensued and Casa do Conto finally opened. The room layout is slightly different across the three floors. For instance, two rooms have balconies and two have small kitchenettes (with complimentary tea and Nespresso coffee). A key feature in the six rooms is the high ceilings impressed with poetry, and this creative element works well with modern lighting and understated artwork to create a striking, minimalist look. The rooms also offer electric blinds, an iPod dock, a robe and slippers.

Despite being in a thriving location, this sweet hotel maintains the feel of being off the main tourist track (in actual fact, you can reach all of Porto’s big-name attractions in comfortably short order). The rooms have a stylishly semi-cluttered bohemian aesthetic, with clusters of velvet cushions, sightly ‘meta’ wall art and quirky light fittings. There’s a great breakfast buffet and all the rooms have spaces for working if you’re planning on doing some WFP (working from Porto), ideally with a small evening aperitif in hand, yes?

This heritage-listed building has been lovingly converted from professor Carolina Michaelis's home into a guesthouse with heaps of Portuguese character. Casa Carolina’s eight rooms vary in size, with some offering bathtubs and/or a balcony, and the top floor suite is fitted out with a fully equipped kitchen. One of the highlights of this place is the breakfast, which goes beyond your usual continental spread with thoughtful extras like balls of avocado, plus fresh ginger and mint to make tea. When dinnertime rolls around you have plenty of food options on the doorstep, which happens to be the pedestrianised shopping street, Rua de Cedofeita.

The whole point of going ‘boutique’ is to preserve the sensation of something a little more personalised than you’d get in a megasized hotel. These lovely studios really deliver on that front, giving you a little home-from-home in central Porto that is both practical and very attractive. A white-on-taupe palette of neutrals keeps things feeling cool while those light-wood ceiling beams deliver a note of cosiness. The rooms are accompanied by kitchens fully fitted out with microwaves, fridges and everything else needed to rustle up simple meals for (delete as needed) fussier/younger/hungrier travellers.