Pestana Palace Lisboa Hotel & National Monument

Pestana Palace Lisboa sits on R. Jau, set back from the riverfront activity of Belém. This restored nineteenth-century palace preserves the intricate woodwork and period decor that distinguish it from the modern hotels scattered across the rest of the city. It remains a ten-minute walk from the Jerónimos Monastery and the queues at Pastéis de Belém.

While most visitors spend their afternoons fighting the crowds near the Museu Coleção Berardo, the choice to stay here is a vote for seclusion. You trade immediate proximity to the tourist trail for a sense of scale that does not exist in the city centre. The grounds are expansive enough to feel private, a sharp contrast to the compressed, narrow streets of downtown Lisbon. The architecture here is the event itself.