Valverde Hotel
Secret terraced townhouse
Wide central boulevard
Shh, no one need know you’re staying at Valverde Hotel – a discreet, centrally located townhouse where A-listers grace the halls undisturbed. Its gorgeous, rose-hued façade veils a warren of hidden corners and tucked-away spaces, each showcasing the best of Portuguese interiors: heavy fabrics, artwork by Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Braz Gil porcelain and Moorish floor tiles. The pool and courtyard are quite the duo: marble-clad and jungle-like, respectively. Curl up in one of the sultry corners (the first-floor terrace and film-room snug are our favourites) after a day of easy exploration in the city of seven hills.
Facilities
Rooms
48, including four suites.
Checkout
12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
More Details
Rates include breakfast, served in the leafy corners of the courtyard. Try the stack of carob pancakes doused in maple syrup; top your toast with eggs-any-way; or start your day with homemade granola, yogurt and fresh fruits.
Fitness Center
Free Internet Access
Laundry
Pool
On-Site Restaurant
Room Service
Spa
At the Hotel
Heated pool, courtyard, treatment room and masseuse, small gym. In rooms: WiFi, TV, robes and slippers, hairdryer, Delta Q coffee machine and pods, desk, Zenology toiletries
Our Favourite Rooms
Junior suites are extra special – ask for room 202, 302 or 502 to secure a balcony overlooking Avenida da Liberdade. Décor is clean and crisp, with bright fabrics, 13th-century paintings and colourful sirgaria tassels. There’s plenty of room for your designer purchases in the walk-in, lighted closets.
Poolside
Pools are a rarity in Lisbon. Valverde’s marble-encased addition to this exclusive group provides welcome respite from the high temperatures of summer. The pool is heated, so a dip in winter is definitely on the cards, too – followed by a lounge on the wicker-style sunbeds, book in hand.
Spa
There’s a treatment room and in-house masseuse – book in for an 80-minute deep-tissue massage or a 30-minute jetlag recharge. The adjacent door reveals a small gym with a treadmill, elliptical trainer, mats and hand weights. There’s a private terrace to cool down on, post-workout.
Packing Tips
Leave the heels at home for tackling the seven (or eight; it’s disputed) hills of Lisbon.
Children
Welcome, though the hotel is most popular with couples. Babysitting can be arranged for €40 per hour with advance notice. Extra beds for children up to 12 years are available for €37,50 per night in certain rooms, inclusive of breakfast. Cots are free.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
We love the round tables on the raised courtyard terrace, especially in summer. If you’re wanting to fly under the radar, opt for one of the hidden tables, shaded from the sun by the lush vegetation of the courtyard.
Dress Code
Floor-length dresses, jumpsuits, linens and your favourite bow tie won’t look out of place here; but the reality is that anything goes.
Hotel Restaurant
Sítio Valverde is helmed by chef Carla Sousa, who brings a Cape Verdean twist to traditional Portuguese dishes. Start with a warm bread roll, slathered with homemade herb butter and tomato tapenade: something of a palette cleanser for the rich dishes on the menu. Try the pork belly, lovingly cooked on a low heat for six hours and served with roasted pumpkin purée, roasted shallots and a port wine sauce; or the grouper with razor clams and salicornia rice. There’s always a vegetarian option, too, such as beet risotto with baby vegetables. Dishes change with the season, but one always remains: the Valverde hamburger – a veal burger in caco bread with foie-gras, cheese and homemade jam. The mood attained by low-key lighting, glossy green tiles and elegant table settings is heightened by the floor-to-ceiling wooden slatting separating each table. Sítio spills out into the courtyard, where you can enjoy dinner on a summer’s day, or an alfresco afternoon tea of carob and chia scones, smoked salmon finger sandwiches, and decadent chocolate cake.
Hotel Bar
Take a seat in the courtyard and disclose your palette’s preferences to the bartender: dry, sweet, floral or sharp – soon after, a perfectly poured cocktail will arrive in your hand. The extensive menu has plenty of local wines and port, and the Valverde Spirit cocktail is as eclectic as the hotel itself: Tanqueray gin, lime, sugar cane, ginger beer, basil, cardamom and egg white foam. The bar becomes full on nights hosted by fado singers, whose lung-filling vocals reach increasingly more despairing crescendos.
Last Orders
Breakfast is from 7.30–11am; lunch from 12.30–3pm and afternoon tea 5–7pm. Dinner is served between 7.30–10.30pm, and drinks finish up at midnight.
Room Service
Room service can be ordered around the clock (with a reduced menu past kitchen hours), with an additional charge of five euros.
Planes
Lisbon airport is a 20-minute taxi from the hotel. The team at Valverde will be happy to arrange your transfer.
Trains
Avenida metro station is less than a two-minute walk from the hotel; Rossio train station – with links to Sintra and Queluz – is a 10-minute walk away.
Automobiles
Much of Lisbon is walkable (and the trams are convenient, should you tire of the hills). If you do bring a car, there’s valet parking in a private garage for an additional €20 a day.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Valverde’s central location means that many of Lisbon’s sights are within walking distance. Head up the Avenida da Liberdade to the top of Parque Eduardo VII – the burning calves are worth it for a bird’s-eye-view over the gardens, the Avenida and all the way to the Atlantic. Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara is another garden with a view – this time over the characteristic red roofs of the city. Get there by ascending the graffiti-art lined streets of Calçada da Glória – a particularly steep tram street – or, in fact, jump in the tram itself. The streets of Bica are atmospheric and very aesthetic – all pastel-coloured houses and foliage-covered cafés, with a growing community of independent restaurants, bars and boutiques. See the light at Caza das Vellas Loreto, a charming candle shop that has been in business since 1789. The postcard-worthy Bica Funicular is just off Calçada do Combro, regularly photographed on account of the view from the top of the line down to the sea. Speaking of which, pull up a deckchair at Quiosque Ribeira das Naus, a waterfront café-bar where you’ll find locals reading, chatting (and occasionally, napping) to the lull of the waves. The former munitions factory that is now home to Fábrica do Braço de Prata spans many mediums – its 20 rooms are used for concerts, art galleries, sound installations, exhibitions, vintage market and second hand bookshops. You name it, it’s probably in one of the rooms at FBP.
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. .
