PortoBay Teatro

You can hardly be surprised to hear that PortoBay Teatro is a bit, well, theatrical. Conceived by the Portuguese designer Nini Andrade Silva and built on the site of the Baquet playhouse in central Porto, the 74-room hotel announces its conceit as soon as guests arrive. The doors are inscribed in large, sweeping gold letters with the lines of the Portuguese poet Almeida Garrett. It’s an epigraph of sorts for the production inside, starting with check-in at the reception area styled after a classic box office.

If the public spaces are decidedly playful — not least the stage-lit Il Basilico restaurant, where diners are surrounded by a wallpaper theater-audience — the guest rooms take on a more opulent mood. The palette of golds and bronzes on the walls and curtains looks like it has been taken straight from a gilded Victorian-era theater. The spacious suites come with a work desk so you can pen a script of your own, if you’re so inspired, while the Audience rooms, with their chaises longues and views of the hotel’s inner courtyard, cater to guests who would rather relax and watch some unscripted human drama below.

No one can accuse PortoBay Teatro of under-committing to its role. And it’s a good thing, too, because while plenty of new hotels please the crowds with a more minimalist style, there aren’t many that recall the feeling of a bygone age of theater, with its big gestures, dramatic lights, elaborate dress and all.

How to get there: PortoBay Teatro is located 20 minutes away from Francisco Sá Carneiro airport.