JAM Hotel Lisbon

After launching their flagship property in Brussels, JAM Hotels expanded to Lisbon, applying the same successful formula — snapping up an old office building and transforming it into a youthful, art-filled boutique hotel — on a commercial block in the riverside neighborhood of Santos. The concept works just as well here, if not better, considering the stark contrast between the building’s past and present. Architect Lionel Jadot led a team of designers and artisans through the years-long overhaul, maintaining the structure's industrial character while incorporating colorful artwork and sustainable local materials like cork, terracotta, and wood.

The result is vibrant but stripped back, with a lobby that looks like a street art exhibition space, rooms lined in raw concrete, and a rooftop pool lined with hand-painted tiles. Rooms sleep from two to six, with the larger dormitory-style rooms featuring modern sleeping pod-like bunk beds with sliding wooden doors for extra privacy. Reinvention is everywhere: handwoven carpets upcycled as curtains, beds built from burnt eucalyptus, bedding made from surplus fabric. Similarly eclectic is the hotel’s fusion restaurant, overseen by a talented young Angolese chef, and the poolside bar with an open-air performance space where local musicians regularly perform.