Canto de Luz

Style

French-Portuense pad

Setting

Azulejo-tiled Old Town rua

The best boutique stays know it’s the little kindnesses guests will look back on fondly, perhaps even more so than the grand designs. But inviting hideaway Canto de Luz – in Porto’s Old Town – offers both in memorable style. Enter a humble townhouse on a street of Azulejo-tiled beauties, and you’ll find yourself in a modern cathedral to design, with a vaulted glass roof to let the sun shine, and plants, objets d’art and vintage pieces in every nook. Suites – and a villa with a pool – follow stylish suit, and a hidden garden is a welcome city escape. And, to really nail that first (and last) impression, speciality coffees and pasteis de nata on arrival, a breakfast with clout, and fresh-cut flowers in your room are tokens to treasure.

Facilities

Rooms

12, including six suites and one villa.

Checkout

10am, but very flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates include breakfast, one that’s slowly gaining cult status thanks to its fresh produce and unique treats. A two-night minimum stay applies for exclusive-use bookings, and a cleaning fee applies for retreats, duplexes, villas and whole-house bookings.

Also

One of the City View Suites and one of the Urban Retreat Suites are accessible for guests with mobility issues, and there are elevators to each floor and a ramp for the entrance steps.

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Room Service

At the Hotel

Lounge with a fireplace, communal kitchen, orangery, garden with a terrace, honesty bar, charged laundry and ironing service, free WiFi. In rooms: Samsung TV with streaming services (Netflix and Disney+), Amazon Echo with music streaming, Nespresso machine, kettle with teas, plugs for different regions, Rituals bath products. Some of the Urban Retreat Suites and Villa Almada have an X-Box too, and the latter has a private pool.

Our Favourite Rooms

Rooms have all been curated with care, whether it’s the art on the walls, the contemporary furnishings or the selection of makes-it-feel-like-home trinkets, plants and books. The garden-view rooms feel the most restful. If you’re staying with a family or partying about Porto with a group – or you really want to feel like a local – the Urban Retreats have more knockabout room, plus a full kitchen and laundry facilities. And, with Villa Almada you can have your own private townhouse, dressed to the nines and with a private pool to play in.

Spa

There’s no spa onsite, but the hotel has partnered with talented pamperers Mirra Spa Porto, who have massages, facials, mani-pedis and some more decadent and weighty treatments: caviar facials, body sculpting… And for keep-fitters, the hotel’s also partnered with Holmes Place gym.

Packing Tips

Bring flats for this fetching yet treacherously cobbled part of the city, and swimsuits if you’re checking into Villa Almada.

Also

You can reach the owners on Whatsapp if you need their local insight (or anything else).

Children

The hotel’s ideal for families. Rooms either have a sofa bed or enough bedrooms for the fullest of broods. Babysitting can be arranged (€15 an hour minimum three hours), and there are scooters to borrow and a basket of toys.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Hidden away, the garden is a picturesque leafy perk.

Dress Code

It depends on how shy you feel about the other guests seeing you in your PJs.

Hotel Restaurant

The hotel’s main serve is breakfast, but that’s like saying ‘football is just a game’ here – it’s passion that makes it truly great, and the owners put a lot of love into this most important meal. Most ingredients come from Bolhao market, but bread and pastries are brought in from Padaria Ribeira – one of the city’s oldest bakeries – and the owners like to mix things up with different dishes each day. You might have pasteis de nata and a selection of home bakes, waffles or pancakes, French toast, tropical fruit salads, eggs as you like them, platters of local hams and cheeses, granola and more. Otherwise, pick at the petiscos and ham- and cheese-laden tablas offered till evening.

Hotel Bar

The hotel serves bottles from Portugal’s top appellations, Porto gins and – well – port, Douro wines, and local craft brews (try the Nortada artisan lager).

Last Orders

Drinks are poured from 12 noon to 10pm. There's also a round-the-clock wine machine which delivers Douro Valley wines.

Room Service

In keeping with the hotel’s homey feel, the owners will bring small plates to your room from 12 noon till 10pm.

Planes

Porto Airport is a 25-minute drive from the hotel. Transfers in a four-seater can be arranged for €45 one-way (€79 for a seven-seater) and the driver will be the one holding a sign with your name on it at arrivals. If you catch an Uber, you’ll find it in the lane behind the taxis. Or, you could hop on the purple E-line and ride it to Trindade station, just a few steps from the hotel.

Trains

Set in a grand 19th-century building, main station Porto-Campanhã is about a 15-minute drive away. It’ll connect you to Lisbon, Faro, Braga and other parts of the country, and it’s also a Metro stop. However, for zipping across the city, Metro stop Trindade is handier, connected to all lines.

Automobiles

Porto is compact enough to explore on foot – after all, the city was laid out before cars were conceived. If you need a car because you’ll be hopping to another city or along the coast, then watch out for trams as you drive; the hotel has a secure garage that you can use for €18 a night.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Rua do Almada is known for its…hardware stores. Sexy, right? Well, it’s not all spanners and stopcocks – over the years it’s attracted bohemian and literary sorts and back in the day, young women would flirt with dandies on horseback from their wrought-iron balconies. And now, it’s on the fast track to trendiness, with quirky concept stores like Almada 13 and Almada Em Branco, bookstores like Timtim por Timtim, and vintage shops like Wild at Heart. To the north is leafy Praça da República, but the main action is a 10-minute walk south in the belly of the Old Town. Start with Porto Cathedral and its baroque satellite churches: Igreja Do Carmo, Igreja de Santo Ildefonso, and Torre dos Clérigos, which you can climb for a humdinger of a 360-degree view. And stop to admire the Neoclassical Palácio da Bolsa. The surrounding riverside Ribeira neighbourhood is very photogenic and you can stay awhile to watch traditional Rabelo boats being made, then indulge your inner mariner with a shopping session at La Paz – a menswear store with sea-inspired wares. Get another unique aspect of the city by riding the Elevador da Lada for free, then go muse on Porto’s art scene. Start with the old masters at Museu da Misericórdia, well-composed snaps at the Centro Português de Fotografia, and hop around the smaller contemporary galleries that have given the area the name Bairro das Artes. And follow the hotel owners’ footsteps to Bolhão Market for a sensory overload, stopping by glorious antique grocery Pérola do Bolhão to pick up picnic bits. To be enjoyed in the elegantly landscaped Jardins do Palácio de Cristal.

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. .