If you seek an up-market, four star, boutique style hotel right in the centre of Lisbon, then you will need to look no further than the Heritage Avenida Liberdade Hotel.
The hotel has recently been accepted as a member of the Small Heritage Hotel Group and is also a Historic Hotel of Europe.
Only 7km from the airport and three minutes from the nearest Metro station, it sits on a corner of the main avenue in central Lisbon, so handy for all the city centre highlights and all within walking distance.
This is the premier shopping street in Lisbon and it has many world renowned, brand named, high-end and stylish shops. It is a very wide, tree-lined boulevard with several shaded street cafe-bars in the paved middle.
Lisbon is a relatively small city which is built on seven small hills.
Walking everywhere is not much of an effort for the able.
To assist with some of the hills, the Lavra funicular is just down the street to the rear of the hotel whilst the Gloria funicular is across the Avenue, a little further down the road.
The hotel is contained within a restored 18th century building, which was started in 1770, on the site of a ruined monastery. It has been refurbished by a world famous Portuguese architect who retained many of the original fittings, yet is has a totally modern appearance inside.
The reception area has an old fashioned wooden office feature which faces out onto a spacious and comfortable lounge with easy chairs, some in leather and some in textiles. The white and blue tiles around the walls are original tiles, complimented by modern furnishings and fittings.
An additional lounge bar has the same high quality feel to it. This doubles as the breakfast room from 7.30am to noon, so late risers need not worry.
Breakfast is self service buffet style which includes a whole range of continental choices as well as a small hot section. These are constantly replenished. Fresh fruit, cereals, pastries, yoghurts, juices, and an assortment of breads and spreads complete this excellent start to anyone’s day.
Evening meals are not served here, but there is such an assortment of excellent cafes and restaurants within a few minutes walk, it hardly matters.
There are only forty rooms, spread over seven floors, so it retains that small hotel feeling and with it comes more personal service. The friendly, multi-lingual staff include red-jacketed door valets to make guests feel that bit more special. It is family owned and operated.
Our bedroom was a Superior Room to the rear of the hotel. This had a dual aspect with wrought-iron Juliet balcony railings as featured all around the hotel.
The room was very high ceilinged, spacious, with broad-planked wooden flooring and even a chaise-longue. The highly effective air-conditioning was a blessing during our stay as the street temperature reached 37C.
The very large bed was wonderfully comfortable from which to watch the wide-screen tv.
The bathroom was very generously sized, featuring limestone flooring, wooden window shutters, the wrought-iron railings and an over-bath monsoon shower. There was a huge feature mirror above the twin porcelain sinks, in which the beautifully refurbished white and blue wall tiles could be seen.
The bathroom products were from the Molton Brown range.
These rooms felt almost Parisian in style and so lovely to look at.
In the lounge bar there are nine choices of loose-leaf tea, a complete range of pod coffees, cold drinks and biscuits available 24hrs a day to help yourself from. In the afternoon and throughout the evenings there are complimentary carafes of Moscatel wine and Port, so welcome when returning to the hotel after a full day.
To keep all those Portuguese calories at bay, there is a basement fitness room and a small but beautifully formed jet pool where you can swim against the flow of the water and then relax on the poolside loungers with fresh apples to munch.
There is free wi-fi throughout the hotel, and a free computer room with printers, so keeping in touch, to make your friends and relations green with envy, is easy.
Go on, do it, you know you want to.
For further details go to: www.heritageavliberdade.com
Lisbon is a fabulous city, for further detailed information, see my article “Lisbon”:http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/review/place/165642-review-lisbon.
