Torel Avantgarde

The building went up in the 1930s or 40s, during the Estado Novo, and its bones are of that period: solid, formal, a little severe. What has been put inside it is the opposite, and the tension between the two is the whole idea.

Every room is dedicated to a figure from the avant-garde, and the design follows from the person. Marcel Duchamp, Nina Simone, Andy Warhol, Coco Chanel, Zaha Hadid, Frida Kahlo, Simone de Beauvoir, Picasso, Hitchcock. The Joseph Beuys room is monochrome, because he worked in monochrome, with green lamps referencing the story about the crashed plane and the felt and fat that supposedly saved him. That level of specificity is applied across the building, and it means no two rooms are remotely alike.

The interiors were led by Isabel Sá Nogueira with Nano Design, working alongside four Porto artists: Jorge Curval, Frederico Draw, Daniel Eime and Paulo Neves. Original work hangs throughout rather than being confined to the lobby, and the hotel puts on exhibitions.

Outside there is an infinity pool set on the terrace with the Douro below it and Gaia on the far bank, which is among the better hotel pools in Portugal and is the reason a lot of people book. The gardens around it are known as the Avant-Garden. The Calla Wellness and Spa uses Phytomer products, and there is a gym and yoga.

Digby, the restaurant, does contemporary Portuguese cooking with a serious wine list, and the dining room has the same view through large windows.

On location: Rua da Restauração sits between the Palácio de Cristal gardens and the Clérigos Tower, next door to the Casa do Vinho Verde. Livraria Lello is five minutes on foot, the Cais da Ribeira fifteen, Casa da Música twenty. The gallery district around Rua Miguel Bombarda is around the corner, which suits the hotel.

The trade is the hill. Being above the city buys the view, the quiet and the pool. It also means the riverside is a descent and the way home is a climb.

It holds one Michelin Key and was named best five-star hotel in Portugal at the Publituris awards. Note that the room count has grown as the property has expanded, and published figures vary between roughly 47 and 60.