Rosa Et Al Townhouse

Rua do Rosário and the neighbouring Rua Miguel Bombarda form the art district of Porto: galleries, artists' studios, concept stores, vintage shops, and the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis a short walk away. It is where the city's contemporary life happens, and it is a different Porto from the Ribeira.

Rosa Et Al occupies a century-old townhouse in the middle of it, behind a plain whitewashed door. It is run by a brother and sister, Patrícia and Emanuel de Sousa. Emanuel is an architect and did the refurbishment himself, which won a Porto architecture award in 2012, and the result is a careful blend of the original structure with mid-century furniture, antiques, crochet throws and a great deal of natural light.

There are seven suites, no more, in categories named Club, Queen, King, Garden and Loft. Wooden floors, warm lighting, natural materials and clawfoot tubs. A winding staircase connects them and there is no lift. Out the back there is a courtyard garden.

The food is not incidental here, and for many guests it is the reason to book. The house runs an all-day kitchen, a bakery and a speciality coffee operation, and its brunch has a following well beyond the guests: stacks of pancakes, bread baked that morning, eggs in several forms. There is a supper club a couple of times a month, a concept store and gallery, and the owners have published a cookbook. Rates generally exclude breakfast, which seems an odd decision given what is downstairs, so factor it in.

On position, you are about fifteen minutes' walk from Clérigos and the Livraria Lello, further from the river, and squarely in a working neighbourhood rather than a tourist one. Whether that is a feature depends entirely on the trip you want.