Porto accommodation is an array of four and five-star hotels as well as small guest-houses, in fact Northern Portugal holds the largest concentration of manor houses (solares) in Portugal. Solares are family homes as opposed to hotels, offering a very different kind of holiday experience with that "personal touch", so this is an interesting alternative of Porto accomodation.
For those looking for secluded luxury boutique hotels like Aquapura in the Douro Valley are perfect. This sprawling spa retreat in wine country is perfectly positioned to take in views of the Douro Valley, once a rural, red-painted family farmhouse the sleek hotel has had a dramatic designer reinvention and it is now Portugal’s premiere spa retreat, offering indulgent wining, dining and poolside reclining.
Solares de Portugal - Barcelos, photo by TURIHAB-Solares de Portugal
If you are after more traditional Porto accomodation, there are also opportunities to stay in wineries, converted convents and even in beautiful Pousadas - traditional or historical hotels owned by the state. Created in the early 1940s by government minister and part-time poet and playwright, António Ferro, the Pousadas were supposed to offer the tourist hotels that were both rustic and genuinely Portuguese.
There are now 44 Pousadas de Portugal in historic buildings, and Pousadas de Viana do Castelo Monte de Santa Luzia is perhaps one of the most beautiful. Perched on a hilltop above the old sailing port of Viana do Castelo in Costa Verde, the expansive views are of the port, the river estuary and the long sweep of the sandy beaches of Cabedelo. It is also possible to see and the dome of the temple of Santa Luzia.
More basic, Porto accommodation is also available and there are also numerous mid-range hotels.
ATOP members: Archipelago Azores Ltd, Castaways Unicorn Holidays, Destination Portugal, Keytel International, Leisure Link Golf Holidays International, PTG Tours Ltd, Pousadas de Portugal, Sunvil Discovery, Villas Worldwide
