Hotel Albatroz

Forty minutes’ drive west of Lisbon, the coastal town of Cascais is part seaside resort, part suburb. This is where kings and queens summered, and today it’s where Lisbonites of means come to indulge in some sun and sand — and for the last couple of decades the Hotel Albatroz has been the classiest lodging in town.

It’s small, with fewer than fifty units spread among several houses on a rocky promontory and an adjoining beach. The Palace building, just across the way, dates back to the late 18th century, but the conjoined houses that make up the main building are hardly any less picturesque — rooms in both differ in shape and size, with varying views of the gardens, the pools, the beach. Don’t expect much in the way of design fireworks — the Albatroz is traditional through and through, in soft seaside colors and rich old-world fabrics, furnished with antiques and quality reproductions.

Be prepared to eat plenty of seafood, both in the Albatroz dining room and in the restaurants of Cascais. It’s the perfect half-escape — disappear here from Lisbon and forget the city even exists, or come to Cascais from overseas and find the city a day trip away, with the quiet of this coastal town to welcome you back at night.