The Bairro Alto Hotel is housed in the former Grand Hotel de l’Europe. An imposing, luxurious cream-coloured building, it stands in the Praça Luís de Camões not far from the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. The hotel was founded in 1845, and has undergone extensive and painstaking refurbishment, which has retained the original aesthetic of the building.

Located in one of Lisbon’s trendiest districts, the 5-storey hotel has a spacious lobby decorated with baroque furnishings and a number of contemporary iron sculptures and contrasts with the modern Café-Bar, which is set out on three levels and divided into three sections. Here you’ll find the Bar Central, and Iglú Lounge, which are perfect for private celebrations, and the casual atmosphere of The Mezzanine, which is separated by a glass wall. It serves lunches and light suppers, as well as refreshing cocktails.

The Restaurante Flores, decorated with black and white photographs, textiles and Polish crystal, perfectly combines elements of contemporary cuisine with the dishes of the former Portuguese colonies, under the expert guidance of the chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, who serves up a fusion of eastern and international styles. This is, without a doubt, exceptional cosmopolitan cuisine.

The Bairro Alto Hotel also has a massage room on the fifth floor, and a gym and terrace on the sixth floor boasting magnificent panoramic views of Lisbon and its river, the Tagus.

The Bairro Alto Hotel has 55 sophisticated rooms which play with the chromatic palette of the Portuguese colours: yellow, blue and red.

The rooms bring together contemporary details, such as walnut wardrobes, wool rugs, a variety of linen and silk fabrics and murals. All the rooms have brazilwood floors and painted wooden panelling on the walls in the corresponding colour.

They also have English-style porcelain table lamps and marble bathrooms. In addition to the services you would expect of a 5-star hotel, the rooms of the Bairro Alto Hotel have LCD television, DVD, Wi-Fi internet, direct-dial telephones and voicemail.

Guests at the Bairro Alto Hotel have at their disposal the underground car park and 24-hour room service.

Just 20 minutes from the airport.

By air: Portugalia and Tap are the two airlines operating flights to Lisbon.

Metro: Baixa-Chiado station

Tram: 28

The neighbourhoods of Lisbon are clearly delimited by seven hills overlooking the Tagus. They are a thought-provoking mix of broad avenues and streets: a perfect balance of the old and elegant and the ancient and modern.

Lisbon offers a wide range of cultural attractions and events, fine restaurants, charming narrow streets, the sweet and melancholic fado (the genuine Portuguese music), countless trams and parks.

Its prime location on the banks of the Tagus, gives a special flavour to any of the vistas you can enjoy from the different viewing points around the city. This feeling is magnified when you stop to marvel at the two spectacular bridges: the Ponte 25 de abril and the 16-kilometre-long Ponte Vasco de Gama.

The most interesting neighbourhoods are the centrally located Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto and Alfama. In the west of the city is Belém, which is a must due to its landmarks and cake shops, and further to the east, following the riverbank, the Parque das Naçoes. Other must-see attractions in Lisbon are the Museo Nacional de Arte Antita, the Museo Calouste Gulbenkian, and the Museo Nacional do Azulejo.

When you’re in Lisbon we also recommend you visit the leafy Parque de Monsanto, take a stroll through the cobbled streets of Chiado and Baixa, and enjoy Lisbon’s musical legacy and its vibrant nightlife in the streets and on the steps in Alfama, Lisbon’s oldest neighbourhood which is crowned by the ruins of an Arabian castle. Fado music originated in Alfama at the beginning of the 19th century, inspired by the rhythms of the African slave dances, Arabic songs and traditional folklore.

Also well worth a visit is the Mercado da Ribeira, built from iron and glass. The first floor sells culinary specialities and handicrafts and stages music and dance performances. Opposite the market is the Cais do Sodré, the transport interchange for buses, trains, trams, metro and ferries, where trains for Estoril and Cascais and the Cacilhas ferry depart.