Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Like all of Portugal, the richly layered city of Porto is hot these days—not so much as in summer temperatures, but as in deservedly mega-popular hot. After a day of trekking the hilly Douro river town, you’ll welcome a retreat from the crowds. Three miles outside of town on a breezy bend in the fabled river, you can lay your head in the stunning Pestana Palácio do Freixo , a Monumento Nacional that stands out from cookie-cutter hotels on the banks.
The original mansion of the Pestana Palácio do Freixo hotel. Credit: Pestana Palácio do Freixo With the palace’s four corner towers and rich 18th-century Baroque embellishments, you couldn’t miss it if you tried, whether coming by car or boat. Neither can you miss the imposing factory that was built next door in the 19th century.
Collectively, the two seemingly-incongruent structures make up this Leading Hotels of the World member property today. Credit for the Palácio Do Freixo’s monumental status goes largely to the 18th-century Tuscan architect Nicolau Nasoni who left his broader mark on the city of Porto, principally in the grand Bishop's Palace and its monumental stairway. He also built the Clérigos Church whose elegant 250-foot-tall Baroque bell tower can be seen from all vantages in the city, More modestly at the Freixo palace, Nasoni added a small chapel right off of today’s reception room, just in case you find yourself inclined to get married over.