Lisbon’s New Palace Hotel Has A Passion For Wine

“Wine hotels” are a dime a dozen in Lisbon these times, so it’s refreshing to uncover a put as committed to the plan as the new Palácio Ludovice is. The spot has a record and a current to guidance the claim.

In 1 of its earlier life, it was house to the Solar do Vinho do Porto, a bar managed by the Port and Douro Wines Institute, where by almost 200 Port wines were represented. That bar may now be long gone, but the lodge maintains a connection with the institute, and visitors can go by means of it to buy bottles of their favored wines through their keep.

There’s also an comprehensive wine list, of course, as perfectly as personal “sommelier’s choice” wine tastings and an in-home wine menu, with options that adjust every month. Even the spa is in on the grape activity, as it’s run by the cult-favorite French vinotherapy model Caudalie and presents treatment plans like a Crushed Cabernet Scrub. (It sounds like so considerably spa gimmickry, but there is some first rate science on the skin treatment added benefits of the anti-oxidants and polyphenols in grapes.)

The other thing that sets Palácio Ludovice aside is its background. It was initially the private home of João Frederico Ludovice, who arrived in Lisbon in the early 18th century as the architect to King João V. The to start with palacete of its kind, it occupied an entire metropolis block (now a extremely attractive one particular, at the crossroads of the Chiado, Bairro Alto and Príncipe True neighborhoods, with the identical beautiful check out as the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara [viewpoint] throughout the avenue).

It was notable for its 5 floors of unequal top and proportions, majestic staircase, adorned pilasters, stone window body, 18th-century white-and-blue tiles and chapel with Masonic symbols. It was also unusually strong, it turns out, and ended up as a single of the several properties to survive the Terrific Earthquake that destroyed much of Lisbon in 1755. In transform, it became an inspiration for the “Pombaline Buildings,” named soon after Marquês de Pombal, the male who rebuilt the city.

The remaking of the hotel was overseen by mentioned Portuguese architect Miguel Câncio Martins (known for his operate on Buddha Bar in Paris). These 18th-century tiles, frescoes and stucco ceilings ended up all restored, as the onetime personal apartments of European aristocrats advanced into 61 elegant and contemporary guest rooms and suites. Every one particular has a distinctive decoration, with bespoke home furniture, primary hand-painted tiles and carved wood on the ceilings. Also refreshingly, the designer was not worried of colour or designs.

Some of the rooms forget the city (and some of all those have that miradouro see) and the other people search out at the vertical backyard garden in the hotel’s interior courtyard. This courtyard is also a person of the starring attractions of the lodge restaurant, Federico. With objet-loaded bookshelves guiding the banquettes and heat-toned pendant lights hanging overhead and reflected in the glass ceiling, it manages to be both advanced and cozy.

So does the meals, with common Portuguese comfort fare, like chanfana, a goat stew from Coimbra, in the central region of the nation, served with truffled mashed potatoes and turnip greens, and 24-month healed ham from the exact same modest neighborhood producer that supplies Alain Ducasse. There are lighter, less-nearby dishes as properly, this kind of as burrata with tomato and basil, and monkfish carpaccio with passionfruit and lime.

For dessert, there is peach panna cotta with an ice product built from late harvest wine. What else would you be expecting from a resort that promises to be a wine practical experience?