Hotel Torrel Avantgarde

As artsy as it gets, this hotel is arguably the best the city has to offer. Walls of flowers welcome you into this boutique hotel on Porto’s majestic hills where you’ll feel as though you stepped into the past while staying in the future.

Location: B-

The views are fantastic thanks to the fact that the hotel is on a hill, but you know what hills mean, right? Means a lot of walking up and down to get anywhere in the city. Granted, Porto is relatively small, so there is no walk longer than 30 minutes.

Rooms: B

We booked the Mozart Suite, one of the best the hotel has to offer, and where frankly surprised with how small it was. There is a bedroom with a TV hidden inside a mirror wall and a secondary room that is really quite awkward. The secondary room isn’t big enough to be a usable space but regardless it is there so take it or leave it I guess? The bathroom is also quite tiny but the space is used intelligently as the sink is outside the toilet/shower room. Plus, there’s a bathtub with seriously awesome views so that makes up for any negative points on the bathroom.

Dining: A

Breakfast is fantastic with a great selection of food. As always, I got an Eggs Benedict, and it was great. We also did something I rarely do on vacation-ate lunch at the hotel. We had a somewhat weird schedule one day after getting almost too much done the day before so we decided to stay at the hotel in the morning and take advantage of their top-ranked restaurant. Long story short, the food was delicious. For a fancy place, the portions were more than sufficient, and I very much appreciated that.

Amenities: A-

This gets a minus because the damn pool was freezing cold, as was the jacuzzi. After working out in their gym, I was stoked to take a quick dip but noooo, that isn’t a think now is it? So that upset me but I sound like a bitch so I’ll move on. The hotel is small but has an impressive list of things to offer guests. There is a spa, a couple restaurants, lounge spaces, good enough gym, a pool, and a long list of aesthetically pleasing spots to take some photos for the gram.

Service: A

Everyone is super helpful here and maintain a good balance between good service and being a good friend which I appreciated. The hotel is relatively small so the longer you stay, the more intimate you get with the staff as there isn’t the need to have very many on hand.

Scene: Its actually a really nice crowd of people. Middle-aged, artsy but not in your face about it (except one group of people I saw), and not ostentatious by any means. Upon check in there was some mayhem going on as some lady had an emergency situation with her husband so that brought out an understandably bossy and intense side of her but I felt like the staff handled it as well as they could.

Overall, if you’re okay with the slightly further walk to get to the town, Hotel Torrel Avantgarde is the place to stay in Porto. Get a basic room unless you want that photo in the tub, which may or may not be worth it.