PORTUGUESE HOTEL ELECTED THE BEST BOUTIQUE HOTEL OF 2019 AT MR & MRS SMITH AWARDS ♦ It is located next to Eduardo VII Park, midway between Marquês de Pombal and Amoreiras, and has just been voted Best Hotel 2019 by the renowned Mr. & Mrs Smith booking platform, which annually awards the best boutique hotels in the world. Casa Fortunato is the elegant boutique hotel honoured at a US awards ceremony. This year the hotel had already entered the Forbes magazine’s Best New Hotels. Secrets From Portugal, as usual, brings you all about this amazing hotel, Casa Fortunato. (This boutique hotel in the Portuguese capital is no new for those who follow our work, right?).
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The elegantly curved 19th-century white façade, graced with a charming wrought-iron balcony, belies the world of colour from inside Casa Fortunato, a nine-room retreat in Lisbon’s upscale Amoreiras neighbourhood.
The boutique hotel was a dream come true for Filipa and António Fortunato. Parents of 4 children, the couple met at the university while studying architecture. At first Fortunato, House was Antonio’s architectural studio, but the idea of turning it into a hotel was a long-desired dream. It would be not only the family home but the home of visitors from all over the world.
The hotel has only nine rooms and was not a lucky number. To the couple, “Nine is a sacred number, not only represents wisdom, but also the symbol of completion and accomplishment.”
And so, across the bedrooms – Big, Bigger and Biggest – are a riotous blend of period architecture, like ornate mouldings and traditional architraves, and contemporary details such as the colourful handmade Moroccan rugs, that rest on stripped pine flooring; a mix of mid-century and modern furnishings; and, most notably, head-turning, geometric Jupiter 10 wallpapers that are boosted further by bold Farrow & Ball hues. Floor-to-ceiling windows bathe the spaces in natural light while framing leafy street views, and indulgent bathrooms – some with large soaking tubs – come complete with Diptyque amenities.
Design plays an important role in this Lisbon boutique hotel, where “every object has meaning and is personal,” the couple explains on the website, referring to carpets bought in Moroccan street markets or original furniture recovered from their grandparents’ homes.
The distinction in the Mr. & Mrs Smith awards has now earned a mention from CNN. Already this year, Casa Fortunato had not gone unnoticed by foreign media. Forbes magazine has placed Port 10 of Marquês de Subserra Street on its list of Best New Hotels of Spring 2019, worldwide.
