The Lince Santa Clara Historic Hotel

The monastery of Santa Clara was founded in Vila do Conde in the early 14th century by Afonso Sanches, a son of King Dinis, and his wife Teresa Martins. It stood above the estuary of the Ave for six hundred years, was suppressed with the religious orders in the 19th century, spent time as a reformatory, and has now been converted into a hotel with 87 rooms.

The architect was Carvalho Araújo, and the restraint of the work is what earns it. The great facade is intact. The stone archways of the old convent survive and now hold two restaurants. Rooms are pale, ivory and grey and white, with Art Deco touches, coffered walls and white marble bathrooms, deliberately quiet against the weight of the building.

Room categories follow the architecture rather than a marketing hierarchy. Heritage rooms sit in the main body. Mansard rooms are tucked under the monastery's original roof, with steeply vaulted ceilings, and are the ones worth asking for even though some are compact. There are suites up to a Royal Suite, and several look over the river.

There is an open-air infinity pool for summer, a stone-lined indoor pool for the rest of the year, and a Sisley spa. Of the two restaurants, one is run by a chef holding two Michelin stars elsewhere and works in a modern register; the other handles traditional Portuguese cooking.

Vila do Conde itself is a working fishing town with a long beach, a 16th-century aqueduct running past the monastery on 999 arches, and a tradition of bobbin lace with a museum devoted to it. The aqueduct is two minutes' walk, the main square three, the beach about fifteen.

The Michelin Guide awarded it two Keys, which puts it among the highest-rated hotels in Portugal. Porto is around 25 minutes by car and the airport 17, which makes this an unusual proposition: a serious historic hotel that is closer to the airport than the city is.