This timeless hotel combines history, design and craftsmanship

The hotel

The Largo, Porto, Portugal

The sense of architectural history, with the retention of arches and stone walls, anchors the hotel in its locale.Credit: Luis Moreira, courtesy of The Largo

Check in

Our communication with The Largo hotel started before our actual arrival. Stranded on a motorway siding with an overheated car engine some 100km away, concierge Luis was something of a comfort on the other end of What’s App messaging.

To backtrack: UNESCO-designated Porto is a historic city, the boom times of the 17th-century port trade helping to shape its creative architectural heritage. It’s in this spirit that The Largo was conceived, with five historic buildings brought seamlessly up-to-date by architect Frederico Valsassina and award-winning Danish designers Space Copenhagen (who also created the interior for the celebrated Danish restaurant Noma).

The feeling is one of crafted spaces with materials that signal quiet comfort – leather, wood, wool and linen. The lighting is pleasingly dim, nothing shouts at you and with Luis at the helm there is a sense of being cared for. The ethos of the hotel is to provide a place for people to slow down and connect.

The look

The suites have elegant living spaces in calming tones and natural materials.Credit: Joachim Wichmann

The design team have worked hard to create an interior that is timeless and enduring with nothing flash-in-the-pan as part of the scheme. While it is impossible to read the footprint of the original buildings, there are significant moments where the balance of ancient and modern is made evident; a contemporary video plays on a massive rock wall in the lobby and a hidden wine-tasting room is revealed by a secret door that reads as a stone surface.

Colours are muted – sage greens and matt ochres with the ribbon of a glossy brown balustrade weaving its way upwards from ground level, defining the sculptural stairway. It is undoubtedly quiet good taste but with flourishes that indicate it is anything but dull.

The room

Generous bedrooms combine modern comfort with traditional Portuguese craftsmanship. Credit: Joachim Wichmann

There are only 18 rooms; 16 suites (some interconnecting) and two double rooms. Of these, two are penthouses that include a dining room and kitchenette. Our room was a sea of calming tones with furniture by well-known Danish brands alongside Portuguese craftsmanship.

Notable was the bath carved from an impressive slab of local marble, with attention to detail in the timber joinery and the traditional granite framed windows and doors. The sense of architectural history, with the retention of arches and stone walls, anchors the hotel in its locale and many of the rooms have a slim outdoor space hugging the ancient walls, looking down into the internal courtyard.

A well-stocked wine fridge and a linen-covered bed the size of many a small room made it hard to leave.

Food + drink

Restaurant Cozinha Das Flores is connected to an intimate bar, Flor.Credit: Joachim Wichmann

A sibling restaurant, Cozinha Das Flores and bar, Flor, were again designed by Space Copenhagen, for celebrated chef Nuno Mendes (ex-Chiltern Firehouse, London and named by the UK Times critic Giles Coren as, ‘every restaurant critic’s secret favourite cook’). This was our reward for enduring hours of roadside anxiety.

From the snacks – Jerusalem artichoke tart and spider-crab donuts – via flame-torched local amberjack to local wild blue fish with turnip congee, it was the best meal we have had all year, anywhere.

There were families, couples and I did observe a pair of young American influencers snapping their way through the most photogenic courses. A tiled mural that runs behind the banquette seating, designed by Portugal’s most celebrated architect Alvaro Siza, features loose sketches of street musicians. It aligns with the desire to tell stories and spark conversations and the waiters are very proud of it.

Breakfast was served on an upper terrace with a view of the city, made no less charming by the mist and rain, and it seemed churlish not to try the home-made croissants with cultured butter and compote.

Out + about

Porto is a walking city and The Largo is well-placed for local shopping. Around the corner is Escovaria de Belmonte, with its traditionally made brushes for personal and household use, and a stone’s throw away is Burel Porto, renowned for its beautifully woven blankets and textiles (a favourite of Australian architect John Wardle).

Clérigos Tower is a 75-meter-high Baroque bell tower with far-reaching views over the city, while the Don Luis Bridge (1881) designed by Theophile Seyrig (once in a partnership with Gustave Eiffel) spans the Douro River. You can literally take the high or low road to the other side.

One short taxi trip worth making is to the Museu de Serravles, which includes a contemporary art museum, a park with a raised walkway amongst the treetops, and a remarkable Modernist villa which is also used to full effect as a gallery space.

If you don’t mind queuing, and selfies on steroids, visit Livraria Lello – with its Hogwart vibes - dubbed the most beautiful bookshop in the world. Pre-purchased tickets with allocated time slot are redeemable against a book purchase.

Ancient walls frame the five-storey internal courtyard at The Largo. Credit: Joachim Wichmann

THE VERDICT
Traditional luxury (and its attendant price bracket) doesn’t often appeal to me but everything at The Largo seemed to come from a place of generosity and expansiveness. The staff had time to have genuine conversations; comfort and thoughtfulness were at every turn and the design pedigree spoke to longevity and quality. Combine that with the food offering and the location and there is nowhere better to be.

THE ESSENTIALS
From $1380 per night.
See thelargo.com

Karen McCartney stayed as a guest of The Largo

OUR SCORE OUT OF FIVE
★★★★★

Highlight
Unexpectedly, it was the turnip tarts at Cozinha Das Flores – inspired by the famous Portuguese custard tarts, but with a creamy turnip custard topped with fresh caviar instead of the traditional sweet filling.

Lowlight
Literally low light. The space is beautifully moody so if streaming sunlight is your thing take note: The Largo is all ambience.