It’s easy to imagine why Avenida de Montevideu was once such a choice address for Porto’s well-heeled upper class. A breezy 20-minute drive from the city’s considerably more dense centre, the long esplanade in the Foz do Douro neighbourhood featured an ornate necklace of 19th-century palatial mansions whose grand fin de siècle Empire facades and sprawling gardens serenely faced the broad stretch of beach and the Atlantic beyond.
Only a handful of these stately homes have survived Porto’s gentrification, but the debut of the 68-room Vila Foz shows how a thoughtful and light-handed architectural intervention can so vividly rejuvenate a faded pile.
For this, full credit goes to the architect Miguel Cardoso and interior designer Nini Andrade Silva who faithfully realigned the building’s old bones to create imposing room-sets, especially in the public areas. Under their watchful eyes, a squadron of artisans scraped away a century of accretions, painstakingly reguilded pilasters, restored elaborate cornices and mouldings, whilst reworking iron gratings in curling staircases, and polishing gorgeously retiled walls and ornate Baroque fireplaces.
The result of this almost maniacal obsession with historical and aesthetical accuracy is that, from the moment one rolls in through the garden and pulls up at the stone steps, the hotel feels wonderfully out of time.
The momentum of the restoration also meant that it is only in the bedrooms that Silva has felt freer to experiment and be more playful in her palette of green hues, travertine, beveled mirrors and brassy hardware. Here, the eye is drawn especially towards the bed where the quotidian headboard has been replaced by an organic cut-out whose curved ridges evoke a rivulet curving upwards to the ceiling, the angles quietly counterposed by the asymetrically cut carpets and sharper lines of the stone flooring.
If additional privacy is required, the Manor House features a clutch of suites with bracing views of both sea and garden, alongside easy access to the in-house restaurant. And set deeper within the garden is a spa stocked with the usual suspects of Turkish bath, sauna, and indoor pool – though, to our mind, the rolling waves of the Atlantic, a few minutes walk away, are an equally compelling diversion.
Architect Miguel Cardoso and interior designer Nini Andrade Silva faithfully realigned the building’s old bones to create imposing room-sets, especially in the public areas
Under their watchful eyes, a squadron of artisans scraped away a century of accretions, painstakingly regilded pilasters, and restored elaborate cornices and mouldings
The momentum of the restoration also meant that it is only in the bedrooms that Silva has felt freer to experiment and be more playful in her palette of green hues, travertine, beveled mirrors and brassy hardware
Here, the eye is drawn especially towards the bed where the quotidian headboard has been replaced by an organic cut-out whose curved ridges evoke a rivulet curving upwards to the ceiling
The artisans also reworked iron gratings in curling staircases, and polishing gorgeously retiled walls and ornate Baroque fireplaces
If additional privacy is required, the Manor House features a clutch of suites with bracing views of both sea and garden, alongside easy access to the in-house restaurant
The result of this almost maniacal obsession with historical and aesthetical accuracy is that, from the moment one rolls in through the garden and pulls up at the stone steps, the hotel feels wonderfully out of time
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Avenida de Montevideu 236
Porto
-
Beloved sushi restaurant Sōgo Roll Bar comes to Highland ParkThe sushi hangout begins a new chapter in its second location, becoming the perfect spot for a quick grab-and-go or a relaxed tasting experience in east LA
-
Japanese designer Shinichiro Ogata's latest venture is a modern riff on the traditions of his home countryAs he launches Saboe, a series of new tearooms and shops across Japan, we delve into Shinichiro Ogata's creative vision, mirrored throughout the spaces and objects, rituals and moments of his projects
-
These are Dover Street Market’s jewellery designers to watch, exhibiting at the London store all summerIn a special exhibition, Dover Street Market London is highlighting 36 emerging jewellery designers to know – shop our pick of their pieces
-
Wallpaper* checks in at MACAM Hotel: a night at the museumPortugal’s first hotel-museum is home to 600 pieces of modern and contemporary art and 64 rooms for the ultimate artistic immersion
-
Sun-soaked European destinations to visit in springDreaming of Florentine palazzos and Greek islands now that the weather is starting to turn? Check into one of these beautiful European hotels and holiday homes
-
The world's most heavenly destinations for astrotourism in 2025We're in for a big year for celestial events. These are the world's best hotels to see the cosmos as you've never seen it before
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: meet the travel winners transcending destinationsDiscover the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 travel winners – the year’s places to stay, dine, drink and join – and watch our video to find out why they won
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
-
Find serenity at Casa Fortunato, a Portuguese bolthole filled with lightDesign-savvy duo Antonio Falcáo Costa Lopes and Filipa Fortunato chose Alcácer do Sal as the perfect setting for the second iteration of their original Casa Fortunato
-
Lisbon hotel Locke de Santa Joana wins Wallpaper* Design Award 2025Born from the restoration of an old convent, Locke de Santa Joana receives our Best Opening award for its design inventiveness and sunny disposition
-
The Rebello is a chic hotel with an industrial past on Porto’s riversideTransforming industrial buildings on the Douro river, The Rebello is a new hotel ‘with an old soul’
