When looking for Lisbon hotels, you’re met with a myriad of enticing—albeit unconventional—options. While you’ll certainly find your crop of classic stays, it’s not a city brimming with traditional hotels. The best places to stay in Lisbon provide a more immersive plunge into the culture of the old city, including self-serviced apartments designed to feel like a home away from home, former 18th-century buildings renovated by famous Portuguese architects offering on-site communal dining, and a family home-turned-hotel where the family acts as your host. There’s also an abundance of stylish Airbnbs in any neighbourhood of your choosing if you prefer to go that route. The one thing all of these stays have in common is they each serve as the perfect launchpad for exploring Lisbon’s labyrinth of vibrant old streets, bustling nightlife, evolving food scene and scenic beaches. Below, the 18 best Lisbon hotels and unique stays to book if you’re travelling to Portugal this summer.
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Classic hotels: Four Seasons Hotel Ritz
The Four Seasons Ritz is for the fundamentally traditional travellers who opt for a luxury stay (including a Michelin star restaurant!) in an environment that certainly won’t disappoint. Art deco interiors meet exceptional service here; and an added perk is the wellness offering with the chic indoor lap pool and the rooftop running track.
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Classic hotels: Verride Palácio Santa Catarina
In the heart of Lisbon’s old town, set in an 18th-century palace restored for modern comforts, this hotel features 18 luxurious rooms embellished with original stucco work that’ll have you feeling like a royal. On the rooftop, the Suba Restaurant sits beside the pool and features panoramic views of the sea against the backdrop of Lisbon’s red roofs.
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Classic hotels: The Ivens Hotel
New to Lisbon’s hotel scene is the Ivens Hotel, conveniently located in the bustling Chiado neighbourhood and set in a former warehouse from the 19th century. While you’re spoiled for choice with 87 rooms, some with floral and fauna wallpaper and others with decadent marbled bathrooms, the hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant, Rocco—the place to be in Lisbon right now—is the real reason to book.
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Classic hotels: Hotel Valverde Lisboa
Hotel Valverde is the perfect urban escape as it’s situated on Lisbon’s famed Avenida da Liberdade, known for its designer shops and top restaurants. While it has a stylish townhouse feel, it’s host to 48 rooms, a chic restaurant that spills out into a courtyard, and a pool to plunge into after a day of shopping.
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Classic hotels: The Vintage Lisbon
Mid-century furniture and Portugal-made decor fill the 56 rooms at The Vintage Lisbon. The street-facing restaurant offers Portuguese fare, while the free-standing bar features a variety of Portuguese wines. The rooftop bar and restaurant is the perfect place to enjoy light bites and cocktails during warmer months overlooking views of the city.
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Classic hotels: Memmo Alfama
Memmo Alfama is the first boutique hotel in the city’s oldest neighbourhood, Alfama. If the unmatched views of the city and Tagus River from the terrace pool bar aren’t enough to entice you, maybe it’s the airy rooms, each with a coastal feel that’ll seal the deal. While there’s no restaurant here, breakfast is served in the laid-back living room where you can help yourself to the honest bar.
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Classic hotels: The Independente
Set within two 19th-century palaces, The Independente is a bohemian and deeply immersive 22-room stay nestled between Lisbon’s trendiest neighbourhoods, Chiado and Principe Real. Think of it as the chicest hostel you’ll ever stay in, where you’re given the option of a stylish single suite or spacious dorm-style room with bunks if you’re travelling with friends—or open to meeting strangers.
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Apartment hotels: Santa Clara 1728
Renowned Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus helped to renovate this 18th-century building in the heart of Lisbon’s old quarter, turning it into an airy, bright guest house consisting of six suites and Ceia, a fine dining restaurant where 14 guests share a table and menu for a community dining experience. Important to note: there’s no AC here.
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Apartment hotels: Baixa House
One of the most homey stays in Lisbon is at Baixa House, where you choose from 13 quirky apartments, each with their own unique design aesthetic and colour palette, making it feel like you’re staying at a friend’s house. While the apartments are self-service, breakfast items for the following day are replaced every day between noon and 4pm and fresh bread is delivered between 8 and 8.30pm daily.
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Apartment hotels: The Lisboans
In a centrally located residential neighbourhood between Alfama and Chiado sits The Lisboans, a former 19th-century factory building turned apartment complex. But these apartments weren’t put together by the usual Ikea enthusiast; rather, the 15 charming one and two bedroom apartments feature furniture and decor from local antique shops, Portuguese folk art, and handcrafted textiles by local artisans. Each has its own kitchenette, which guests can stock up at the on-site mini grocery. A continental breakfast will also be dropped off in your apartment’s fridge everyday at 8am. For those who prefer eating every meal out, head to The Lisboans’ sister restaurant, Prado, next door which is open for lunch and breakfast.
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Apartment hotels: Casa Fortunato Lisboa
This historic 20th-century building in the city’s central Amoreiras district was formerly the office of architect António Costa Lopes before he moved in with his architect wife, Filipa and their four kids. Following their longtime dream of opening a hotel together, António and Filipa decided to move their family living quarters to a newly converted attic floor so they could host their guests under their roof. Below the family’s quarters, the home features nine impeccably-designed suites, a reception area, a library for remote work (and homework!) and a living room, all with floor-to-ceiling windows and geometric wallpapers. The warmest space is the kitchen: It’s not just the chef’s high end macrobiotic food offering, but the familial feel of guests and the family sitting around the communal table.
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Apartment hotels: Dona Graça
Graça is one of Lisbon’s oldest suburbs, steeped in cultural traditions and lined with stunning mansions atop the city’s highest hill. With a more local feel, it’s the ideal neighbourhood if you’re hoping for a relaxing stay. Dona Graça is the perfect launchpad for visits to the bustling Bairro Alto and Baixa neighbourhoods, just 15 minutes away, balanced with some sun soaked R&R in the aromatic orange garden which features a swimming pool and lounge areas. Inside the 19th-century family home, you’ll find eight carefully renovated apartments with wooden floors, limestone furniture and local clay pottery.
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Airbnbs: A duplex with a terrace in Chiado
Lisbon’s Chiado neighbourhood is the city’s theatre and arts hub, and is thus referred to as the “Montmartre of Lisbon”. The lively and bohemian streets are lined with restaurants and shops open until late, and at this sun-drenched duplex on Rua da Bica, you won’t even have to leave the house to feel the energy come alive at night, given the two outdoor spaces from where you can kick back with a Douro red to end the day or begin the night. In the loft’s lower floor, there’s a fully-equipped kitchenette, a spacious living and dining area and the bathroom. The top floor features the bedroom which looks out to the terrace. While the streets can get busy at night—especially on Fridays and Saturdays—the double glass windows keep the noise at bay.
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Airbnb: Cascais garden house with a plunge pool
If you need a break from the city, the seaside town of Cascais is just a 30-minute train west of Lisbon’s city centre. The charming fishing village has long gripped the admiration of travellers, as much for its white sandy beaches as its cobbled streets and abundance of shops and restaurants. Post up at this cosy garden studio whose sense of calm is perfectly matched by its organic quality, where natural materials like warm woods and crunchy linens complement the white stucco walls in the bathroom. Facing the bed, large patio doors lead out to the private terrace perfectly suited for lounging. Hints of blue, visible from the patio stairs that wind their way through the apartment complex, indicate the shared plunge pool that’s open from April through October.
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Airbnbs: Remodelled historic apartment in Bairro Alto
Homey comforts are abundant in this private corner apartment in the city’s bustling Bairro Alto district, complete with modern furniture, rustic wood floors and a bright living space with a street view from the Juliet balconies. While you’re in the heart of Lisbon’s nightlife, the apartment remains quiet and tucked away so you’ll still get a good night’s sleep.
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Airbnbs: Collector house with swimming pool
What was once Lisbon’s industrial district, brimming with factories and warehouses, is now one of the city’s coolest up-and-coming arts neighbourhoods. This collector’s house in the heart of Beato is the perfect place to discover this untapped labyrinth of galleries and restaurants, while still being just a 10-minute drive from the city centre. Although you may wish to take it all in from home with spacious interiors (there are three bedrooms and a cosy living and dining space) or in your private garden with a pool.
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Airbnbs: Modern and minimalist studio reno in a historic building
The tranquility of Graça’s scenic landscape carries into this modern, minimalist studio in one of the neighbourhood’s historic 19th-century buildings. Freshly renovated with blonde cabinetry and cooling concrete floors inside, along with lounge chairs on the terrace of an urban garden, you’ll find little excuse to leave the house; but if you do, there are plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance, as well as Miradouro da Graça, the neighbourhood’s best viewpoint.
