Casa de São Lourenço

It’s incredible, given the density of high-luxury, high-design boutique hotels all across the rest of Portugal, but Casa de São Lourenço is the only luxury hotel in the Serra da Estrela mountains. Perhaps even more noteworthy, however, is the fact that it’s an impressive piece of architecture, where studios P-06 and Site Specific have grafted an ultra-modern concrete structure onto a classically styled Forties mountain inn.

Here the views of the Glacier Valley are the main attraction, and the hotel’s full-length windows, from the bedrooms to the terraces to the glass-walled restaurant, make the most of the building’s privileged position. The rooms and suites are modern in both comforts and design, and are warmed by organic materials like wood and wool and touches of traditional craftsmanship and handmade art.

Not to be overlooked is the Casa de São Lourenço’s spa, or its striking indoor-outdoor pool with its panoramic mountain views. Meanwhile the lounge and terrace offer more of the same, this time accompanied by cocktails, wine, and furniture by the original Portuguese modernist designer Maria Keil. And for an introduction to the region’s culinary tradition it would be hard to do better than the São Lourenço Restaurant, which serves contemporary interpretations of classic local flavors with the valley as a dramatic backdrop.