Grande Hotel do Porto

The Grande Hotel do Porto stands in the heart of Porto's historic centre. Its position made it a central point for travellers arriving by train at São Bento station. Silva Sardina designed it as the city's first grand hotel, and it opened in the late nineteenth century. Its late Victorian façade carries elaborate exterior detail. Marble columns, French mirrors and golden ornaments set the tone inside.

Over the decades the hotel became a meeting point for Porto's high society, from politicians and writers to artists and war refugees. After the fall of the Brazilian monarchy, Emperor Dom Pedro II and Empress Dona Teresa Cristina occupied the entire first floor. The empress, weakened by a heart condition, never left her room and died there a few days later. Her husband bought the bed she died in before departing for Paris. General Carmona and his cabinet stayed here during the Portuguese Colonial Exhibition, the occasion on which the guest book began. The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, wrote a message in it later that same year, though that page disappeared.

A major refurbishment in the early 2000s respected the original design and kept the classic features intact. Rooms run from standard and classic to family rooms and suites, all with air conditioning, Wi-Fi and coffee machines. You also find a restaurant, a bar, a rooftop terrace and a fitness centre, and the building is wheelchair accessible. It remains the oldest hotel still operating in Porto. The guest book itself survives: its pages hold signatures and notes from more than a century of arrivals.