Vila Foz Hotel & Spa
A 19th-century manor on the Foz seafront with a Michelin star and Nini Andrade Silva interiors.
Foz do Douro is where the river finally reaches the Atlantic and where Porto's wealthier families built their summer houses in the 19th century. Vila Foz occupies one of them, on Avenida Montevideu facing the ocean, and it has since roughly doubled in size with a contemporary wing behind the original manor.
The interiors are by Nini Andrade Silva, the Madeiran designer who also did the Savoy Palace in Funchal, and the staff have coined the word Ninimalism for it, which tells you it is not minimal. Rooms in the manor house have high moulded ceilings, marbled walls and furniture made to measure. Rooms in the new wing take the bigger ocean views and run to curved forms echoing Atlantic swell. Bathrooms are travertine and onyx with Maison Codage products. There is a bottle of port on arrival and, less predictably, a sun hat each.
There are 68 rooms and suites in total. The manor house rooms are the more atmospheric, the extension rooms have the better outlook, and there is one of each on the top floor for anyone wanting distance from everyone else.
Food is a serious part of the proposition. The Vila Foz restaurant occupies the former ballroom, holds a Michelin star, and is run by Arnaldo Azevedo, working with what comes off the Atlantic that morning. Flor de Lis is the everyday alternative, recommended by the Michelin Guide, set among exposed stone and Portuguese tiling, and children are welcome. The team also runs a bistro in the Matosinhos fish market nearby.
The spa sits below ground with an indoor pool, sauna, steam room and gym, opening into a garden.
On location: you are on the seafront, twenty minutes from central Porto by car or tram, with the Serralves museum and gardens close and Matosinhos and its seafood restaurants along the coast. A road runs in front of the hotel between the building and the beach. The rooms are quiet, and on the balconies the traffic is masked by piped music, which is either thoughtful or slightly odd depending on your view.
It is a member of Design Hotels and holds one Michelin Key.
People who want the Atlantic outside the window and are content to taxi into Porto.
Foz is about twenty minutes from central Porto, and a road runs between the hotel and the sea. Rooms are quiet, but the beachfront is across traffic.
The building
- Architect
- Nini Andrade Silva
Amenities
- Heated pool
- Spa
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Gym
- Garden
- Parking
- Air conditioning
- Lift
- Family rooms
Check the dates
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