Palacete Severo, a new hotel in the heart of Porto’s creative neighbourhood Cedofeita, exudes art, history and discreet luxury. Surrounded by ancient camellia trees, the yellow-walled “palacete” (or small palace) was built by the celebrated Portuguese architect, Ricardo Severo, in 1904 for his Brazilian wife Francisca Santos Dumont.
It’s not often you get to stay in an architect’s dream house. This feels more like a private residence than a hotel. And the couple’s love story is at the heart of the building.
Key architectural elements have been preserved with original stained glass, black and white mosaic floors, hand-painted tiles (azulejos) and stuccoed ceilings.
The owners, brought in the Portuguese interior designer Paulo Lobo to work with them to skilfully reimagine the space as a hotel, seamlessly incorporating a new building across the garden. Contemporary touches include velvet banquettes, custom lighting, and a fresh interior palette.
And art is everywhere. Géraldine Banier who owns a contemporary art gallery in Paris (Perspective Galerie), curates the hotel as a living gallery inviting Portuguese and international artists to showcase at the Porto gallery – Perspective Galerie located inside the hotel. Exhibitions are hosted around the building and available to purchase, and art works are hung in every room, as a homage to Ricardo Severo’s love of art.
There are just 20 bedrooms and suites. Eleven are in the original 20th-century building, with oak floors, thick wicker bedheads and stuccoed ceilings; while nine are in the new-build extension in the grounds. They all have their own character, from the former maid’s room, half way up the stairs under a sloping ceiling,to the original enclosed wooden balcony room and a garden suite apartment with separate sitting room area with a varanda overlooking the garden.
The decor is luxurious but understated. Modern comforts includes high-thread-count linens and all marble-clad bathrooms come with showers and are stocked with amenities from Portuguese brand 8950, a fragrant blend of fig, almond and fennel.
There are two on-site restaurants. At Éon, the wood-panelled fine dining restaurant, Michelin-starred chef Tiago Bonito reimagines Portuguese and Mediterranean classics with seasonal local Portuguese ingredients (dishes on his tasting menu are inspired by his memories of his childhood). Think octopus with smoked paprika, or saffron risotto, bluefin tuna with oyster, wasabi, cucumber and apple, and veal with smoked celery, wild mushrooms and São Miguel cheese.
While the more informal, Bistrô Severo, in the lovely internal tiled courtyard, offers dishes such as Duck breast, sweet potato, pack chow and spices or Marinated Asparagus, poached egg, hollandaise sauce and tarragon. Bistrô Severo offers lunch daily with a weekly changing menu featuring local produce with the choice of two starters, three mains and two desserts and dinner daily with a wider A La Carte menu.
The hotel bar offers delicious cocktails including a tonka bean sour, and there is a stunning library on the first floor ideal to hide away in with a book or magazine, a small gym and an events room.
The wonderfully relaxing Spa Severo has a Turkish bath and Himalayan salt room. Treatments use French, plant-based Olivier Claire products (the first Portuguese hotel to offer the brand). Try the signature cellular-renewing facial, which includes a relaxing massage. Couples will also enjoy a treatment room designed for two.
In the hotel garden, you’ll find water fountains, formal and informal planting, and unique pieces of art, as well as the heated outdoor pool set with sleek sun loungers.
The house was Ricardo Severo’s first work in Porto, displaying different stylistic elements from all over Portugal, which is why it’s often called a “museum of details”.
Palacete Severo is a destination, rather than merely a base. Located on a quiet residential street, now named after Severo himself (Rua de Ricardo Severo), it is in the heart of Porto’s creative neighbourhood Cedofeita, where most of Porto’s art galleries are located, as well as independent boutiques, shops, restaurants and cafés.
Because it’s so central you can also walk to many of Porto’s famous cultural attractions including the Serralves – Museum of Contemporary Art, the Casa da Música, Dom Luís I Bridge, the Bolsa Palace and the Livraria Lello Book Store. The airport and main railway station are both a 20-minute drive away – as is the medieval waterfront of the Douro River and Avenida dos Aliados, with its designer shops. Beaches are also located close by in Foz, Porto’s coastal neighbourhood facing the Atlantic Ocean.
