Jardins do Porto
Rebooted bourgeois bolthole
Baixa’s sloping streetscape
A first-choice stay in Portugal’s second city, Jardins do Porto resides in a one-time bourgeois townhouse and is a prime example of all that’s good about Porto’s current approach to design-led, boutique stays: rescuing a site, making a feature of its historic bones (a showpiece skylight, high stucco ceilings) and tempering any stiff opulence with warm, refined materials (lightwoods, silk drapes, dark leather accents). This interplay of traditional and contemporary is as smooth as the Douro’s current, and is the perfect foil for the hotel’s green-fingered theme – each room is named after one of the city’s gardens, rooms are flush with a healthy selection of foliage that Piet Oudolf would approve of, and the conservatory restaurant serves from a plant-based menu.
Facilities
Rooms
Nine, including two suites.
Checkout
12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
More Details
Rates include a vegetarian/vegan breakfast buffet. Eggs are also on offer to guests who easily crack when trying to be disciplined.
Also
If you’re bored of Bordeaux and no longer see the beauty in Beaujolais, jet to Porto in September, when harvesting season for the city’s namesake sweet wine is in full flow.
Free Internet Access
Laundry
Pet Friendly
On-Site Restaurant
At the Hotel
Restaurant, bar, free WiFi, laundry service. In rooms: Flat-screen TV, Marshall speakers, GuestU smartphone, Nespresso coffee machine, Alessi kettle, minibar
Our Favourite Rooms
Although Jardins do Porto is flush with natural light and swathes of cream, we’ve taken a liking to the Palácio de Cristal Suite, as its moody terracotta palette has an enveloping quality that encourages guests to stay in and cosy up. The two loft rooms, added during the renovation, may not feature period details, but they have a secluded-away feel and premier balcony views over the hotel garden.
Packing Tips
Summers in Porto are typically warm Iberian affairs, but the darker months often dictate you bring a selection of Stutterheim waterproofs.
Also
The garden, which is centred around a stone fountain and where you can hear only the cackle of seagulls, is a fine place to nurse your morning bica.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
Pull up a seat in the main atrium to soak up the conservatory-style setting complete with glass roof – any patter of rain and drizzle only adds to the already beating, buoyant atmosphere.
Dress Code
A maritime-style mockneck jumper from sustainable local menswear label La Paz.
Hotel Restaurant
Even though it set up shop in a city reputed for its use of offal and offcuts, vegetarian restaurant Jardineiro (‘gardener’) has proven there’s local appetite for plant-based cuisine. The colourful interior – a medley of plush seating and Arraiolos rugs – matches chef Jerónimo Abreu’s punchy dishes: the tofu Wellington with mushrooms spinach, roasted potato and cauliflower mash; and the crunchy cannelloni with lemon mousseline, millet popcorn and citronella sauce allow you to be both disciplined and gluttonous.
Hotel Bar
The intimate bar specialises in wine, and cocktails that are, of course, heavy on fruit and veg. Sipping a coconut highball (Dewar's Caribbean Smooth whisky, coconut, lemon, 1724 Tonic Water) can be as dizzying and enjoyable as scaling Porto’s undulating avenues.
Last Orders
Breakfast is served 8.30am–11am; dinner is served 7pm–10pm.
Planes
Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is a 20-minute drive away. Transfers (€25-€30 each way) can be arranged with the hotel.
Trains
São Bento (10 minute-walk away) and Campanhã (15-minute drive away) are the closest train stations. Transfers (€15-€25 each way) can be arranged with the hotel. Trindade metro station is a five-minute walk away.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
When in Porto, do as the Portuenses do. This golden rule will lead you to low-key, unpresuming places favoured by locals, as at Confeitaria do Bolhão, where your fuel for the day will come in the form of the perennially popular pastéis de nata (we also recommend you pig out on the piglet ball). For those who know their tannins from their terroir, it’d take some serious Iberian irreverence to forgo a tasting tour of the city’s famed fortified wine. Set aside an afternoon to swap the pleasures of Jardins do Porto for the pleasures of Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, where at onsite Antiqvvm you can sample some of the most coveted bottles on the continent; then dock at waterside Kopke, the city’s oldest cellar which produces perhaps the best tawny that euros can buy. During days when you have a thirst for something beyond the barrels, head to Fundação de Serralves, one of the country’s finest collections of contemporary art – a series of works by Joan Miró are among the highlights – all housed across a cluster of buildings, the main one of which has a millennial pink facade that belies its near century-old standing. If, then, you’ve been inspired to seek out something to showcase on your own walls (but are after an item that’s a little easier on the Amex than an original Warhol), try artisanal rug maker Gur whose vibrant, often whimsical designs can be used as either hangings or hallway runners. Depending on whether space in your Rimowa allows, fill your boots at the Feeting Room, where you can try some Portuguese footwear brands on for size (Auprès deals in pared-back, premium heels; sunseeking tastemakers favour +351’s sliders), and clean out what’s left of your wallet at soap and beauty shop Claus Porto, where the fine fragrances and grooming gems are handmade and encased in the type of Art Deco-style packaging you’d likely find on Jay Gatsby’s vanity.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
