Best luxury hotels in Porto

If you know you're vino from your Champers, you'll feel right at home at The Yeatman. This five-star establishment is an ambassador for Portuguese wines, has its own wine cellar and is partnered up with nearing 100 wine producers. Situated in the hills of Vila Nova de Gaia, the views from the rooms, the exquisite open-air pool, the restaurant and bar are incredible. It's also less than a ten-minute walk to the closest train station and just over a mile to Porto Cathedral.

If you fancy feeling like a prince or princess on your trip to Porto, book yourself into an eighteenth-century palace. The Palácio do Freixo’s baroque architecture is stunning (not to mention super-Insta-worthy) and it overlooks the Douro with stellar river views. Inside, sky-high frescoed ceilings and gilt detailing steal the show, while the Nasoni Bar and Palatium Restaurant offer regional drink and food. Front-facing rooms have views over the river, as do the hotel’s outdoor terrace, infinity pool and jetty, which is lined with sun loungers. There’s a spa, a heated indoor pool, a steam room, gym and sauna. Unless you’re up for a 45-minute walk along the river to the historical centre you’ll need to catch the hotel’s free shuttle bus, which departs every 30 minutes.

This hotel is located in one of Europe’s oldest printing and stationery shops, Araujo & Sobrinho (hence the A.S.), which opened in 1829 (hence the 1829) and the store still operates in the hotel foyer as a fifth-generation business. In honour of this, a print theme runs throughout the hotel, with old typewriters, historic photos and wooden printer cabinets. There are red carpets running down the elegant staircases, and some of the romantic rooms have freestanding bathtubs (we recommend bringing your lover not your business partner. Unless they’re the same person).

The Palácio das Cardosas was meant as a monastery for the Loios friars, but (to cut a long story short) ended up being converted into a sumptuous palace by local bigwig Manuel Cardoso da Silva, some time in the nineteenth century. It’s been a hulking neoclassical presence ever since And the inside is just as grand: marble and polished wood, crystal and brass, linen napkins, and miles and miles of footstep-swallowing carpet. And although the vibe is mostly rich-people chic, a few details – arty photography on the walls, Byredo toiletries in the rooms – lend a hint of curatorial cool. The views from the south-facing rooms are truly spectacular, past São Bento station, the cathedral and the River Douro, all the way to Vila Nova de Gaia on the other side – all under Porto’s typically dramatic skies. The Astória restaurant houses an impressive buffet, and there are also excellent pastéis de nata, if you want to go Portuguese to start your day. Not everyone will want the five-star comforts of a place like this (shoehorns, shaving kits, the whole shebang), and certainly not everyone will be able to afford them. But for those who do (and can) the InterContinental seems as safe a bet as they come. And in terms of the location, It doesn’t get more central than this.