Lisbon’s New Palace Hotel Has A Passion For Wine

“Wine hotels” are a dime a dozen in Lisbon these days, so it’s refreshing to find a place as committed to the idea as the new Palácio Ludovice is. The place has a history and a present to support the claim.

In one of its earlier lives, it was home to the Solar do Vinho do Porto, a bar managed by the Port and Douro Wines Institute, where nearly 200 Port wines were represented. That bar may now be gone, but the hotel maintains a relationship with the institute, and guests can go through it to purchase bottles of their favorite wines during their stay.

There’s also an extensive wine list, of course, as well as private “sommelier’s choice” wine tastings and an in-room wine menu, with selections that change each month. Even the spa is in on the grape game, as it’s run by the cult-favorite French vinotherapy brand Caudalie and offers treatments like a Crushed Cabernet Scrub. (It sounds like so much spa gimmickry, but there’s some decent science on the skin care benefits of the antioxidants and polyphenols in grapes.)

The other thing that sets Palácio Ludovice apart is its history. It was originally the private residence of João Frederico Ludovice, who arrived in Lisbon in the early 18th century as the architect to King João V. The first palacete of its kind, it occupied an entire city block (now a very desirable one, at the crossroads of the Chiado, Bairro Alto and Príncipe Real neighborhoods, with the same gorgeous view as the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara [viewpoint] across the street).

It was notable for its five floors of unequal height and dimensions, majestic staircase, decorated pilasters, stone window frame, 18th-century white-and-blue tiles and chapel with Masonic symbols. It was also unusually sturdy, it turns out, and ended up as one of the few buildings to survive the Great Earthquake that destroyed much of Lisbon in 1755. In turn, it became an inspiration for the “Pombaline Buildings,” named after Marquês de Pombal, the man who rebuilt the city.

The remaking of the hotel was overseen by noted Portuguese architect Miguel Câncio Martins (known for his work on Buddha Bar in Paris). Those 18th-century tiles, frescoes and stucco ceilings were all restored, as the onetime private apartments of European aristocrats evolved into 61 stylish and contemporary guest rooms and suites. Each one has a unique decoration, with bespoke furniture, original hand-painted tiles and carved wood on the ceilings. Also refreshingly, the designer wasn’t afraid of color or patterns.

Some of the rooms overlook the city (and some of those have that miradouro view) and the others look out at the vertical garden in the hotel’s inner courtyard. This courtyard is also one of the starring attractions of the hotel restaurant, Federico. With objet-filled bookshelves behind the banquettes and warm-toned pendant lights hanging overhead and reflected in the glass ceiling, it manages to be both sophisticated and cozy.

So does the food, with typical Portuguese comfort fare, like chanfana, a goat stew from Coimbra, in the central region of the country, served with truffled mashed potatoes and turnip greens, and 24-month cured ham from the same small local producer that supplies Alain Ducasse. There are lighter, less-local dishes as well, such as burrata with tomato and basil, and monkfish carpaccio with passionfruit and lime.

For dessert, there’s peach panna cotta with an ice cream made from late harvest wine. What else would you expect from a hotel that promises to be a wine experience?