Torel 1884 Suites & Apartments
"Set the scene Portugal’s fortunes have reversed in the past few years, with a growing appreciation of its wine, design scene, and landscapes, and a resulting boom in independent, artfully designed hotels. Much of the attention has been on Lisbon, everyone’s new best friend, but while Porto still has many empty, Miss Haversham-like facades, cranes have been marching on the horizon and the art nouveau city center has been revived. It’s smaller than the capital, much of it walkable—though there are photogenic wooden trams to hop on—and with the Douro running through it, spanned by several bridges including one by a certain Gustave Eiffel. What’s the backstory? The Torel is part of a small group that cut its teeth on the Avant Garde hotel, opening in 2017 above the Douro, with a quirky interior that takes in a living wall of moss in the spa, topsy-turvy faux-flower ceilings and rough-edged homages to famous painters. This is its second hotel in Porto and is more cohesive, classically structured in a former palazzo-turned-bank, with three floors of bedrooms linked by a dramatic central staircase, illuminated by the skylight above. The team invited in local artists and a design studio, with the brief riffing on the country’s seafaring Age of Discovery—you know, those intrepid 17th and 18th century explorers who battled sea monsters and charted far-off lands. Walk along the plant-potted entrance and there’s a gallery of sculpted heads looking down, antlered gods and spirits to one side, mere mortals on the other; large, deeply textured oil paintings by Jorge Curval—an elephant here, a cigarello-smoking woman there—are hung all about the building, alongside bespoke details such as door tassels and wooden cabinets. A third hotel opened in town earlier in 2020. What can we expect in our room? Each of the 12 bedrooms are individually designed, and imaginatively themed so each floor represents a different area of exploration—Africa, the Americas, Asia—defined by silk, raffia, cane, linens, and cotton, parrot-bright colors, tobacco browns, tiger prints, and wallpaper painstakingly made from banana leaf. The duplex Tea suite has a standalone bath rub beneath botanic prints, for example, while the two ground-floor Africa rooms have outdoor terraces; all rooms are high ceilinged, so even the smallest feels spacious; bathrooms tend to be dark, glittery spaces with brass taps and dramatic, lightning-strike marble. How about the food and drink? The dining room is a green-tinted conservatory-style space with jungle-sized fronds and tropical wallpaper prints. Breakfast is ordered the night before to avoid food waste, but can be added to in the morning, with colorful, handmade ceramic dishes bearing cheese, pastries, and quince jam. Later in the day there’s a short menu of tostas and tapas to choose from, such as cured meats and cheeses, pork cheek in a red-wine sauce, carob crepes and tuna ceviche. The bar’s more about discovering local wines than cocktails. What’s the crowd like? Small families and couples thrilled to have discovered this place, who keep to themselves apart from an occasional encounter in the library or bar. And locals are frequent visitors to the bar and bistro, which helps to create an atmosphere. Anything to say about the service? Low-key but bright, with the concierge desk set at the bottom of the stairs—this is a small hotel and most requests involve pointers to local restaurants and bars. Ask about a reservation at the rooftop bar across the Douro, owned by the same hotel group. What’s the neighborhood scene like? Turn right out of the hotel, walk up the hill and you’ll reach the railway station with its incredible blue-and-white ceramic murals, depicting historic scenes in the nation’s life; turn left and there’s the Victorian market, currently being restored. All around are small, family-run restaurants, wine shops, and workshops worth peeking into, with the rippling waters of the Douro, the neon-signed port houses and the Eiffel bridge just a short traipse away. Anything we missed? The top-floor library is a beatific, parquet-floored space flooded with natural light from the lozenge-shaped skylight—the sort of room you fantasize having yourself to shelve your own collection. Many of the titles—Rimbaud, Javanese architecture—may not be holiday page-turners, but it’s a lovely place to hole up in, particularly if you find the honesty bar in a vintage trunk. The main wine cellar, meanwhile, is housed in the former bank vault, with vintages worth planning a heist for. Anything you’d change? Very little. Perhaps put a few towel pegs in some of the bathrooms; USB chargers and Bluetooth speakers would be handy. Is it worth it? Yes, this a characterful hotel that pins you right in the fabric of Porto—though take a look at the group’s other two places in town." - Rick Jordan
