You’d be correct in rolling your eyes at me when I say the gates of the Palacio Principe Real are non-descript. The stunning giant gates are regal in their very makeup but down a steep Lisbon street, there is little signage but for the demure logo stamped into the wrought iron. So demure, you could almost miss them.  

Pressing a buzzer, a gate unlocks and you are greeted by the very friendly faces of the Palacio’s staff, offering to take your bags and bring you out a glass of Portuguese champagne. After a three and a half hour train ride from Porto, the aperitivo style chips and cold classes of bubbles are the perfect level of indulgent elegance. It’s October and Lisbon is still leaning on 30 degrees, a stunning reprieve from our Dublin home. A softly spoken, perfectly tanned woman floats towards us holding the accommodations Spa menu. You can choose between a 90 minute sound bath to an Augustine Balder facial. I have a feeling this woman’s masseuse skills would solve a multitude of problems. She places a hand on my arm and tells me she’ll be around all afternoon if I want to make an appointment. Twist my rubber arm – I am a floozy for a massage.  

We’re then shown to our room on the first of three floors. The Palacio was built-in 1877 and most recently enjoyed by the Lisbon Teixeira da Mota family. It’s easy to see why the old society of Lisbon elite would still speak so fondly of the parties hosted here. It’s the kind of house or manor that deserves the term ‘soiree’. We’re even told that the families daughter hosted her 70th birthday here when the hotel was opened, a hark back to familial memories. Then, in 2014, a couple, Gail and Miles, were introduced to the building, fell in love with the space and its original decadent luxury and…the rest is history. A pandemic may have delayed it’s original open date but it’s hard not to feel like it’s been in its current form forever.  

The Palacio boasts a block of land that makes you forget you are in the middle of a bustling metropolitan city. Lying by the sleek granite pool under the signature bubble-gum pink parasols, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in a sleepy little town. But there is nothing sleepy about the Palacio’s personality. Each room is designed to make a statement. From the plush burgundy velour of the bar to the original Portuguese tiles of the sitting room, the interior design of the hotel (the brain-child of Gail) leaves nothing to be desired. The bedroom suites are all uniquely designed, with their own distinct character and signature bathtubs. It’s no surprise that grapes and another glass of champagne are almost first up on the menu as an accompaniment to wash my travel day off me in our bedrooms’ deep tub.  

Dinner is plant-based and leaves nothing to be desired. The mezze board is one of the best I’ve ever had – how do they make something so simple, so good? Well Miles makes the olive oil, which is delicious, and the gluten free bread might just make you believe you’ve stumbled into coeliac heaven. We share a polenta and vegetable concoction and a citrus and asparagus risotto that is so fresh, it’s almost as though someone is squeezing a lemon right onto every bite before it goes into your mouth. A rich Portuguese red wine and chocolate tart (the chef’s own secret recipe) to finish it off and I’m stuffed. We roll upstairs into a quick shower with all luxury Byredo products and then into my fluffy robe to check emails before flopping onto the heavenly bed.  

The next day, after a breakfast that could make you feel like you were in the tropics, and a bit of work, I’m guided to the spa for my deep tissue massage. How the masseuse knew where I was to take me to guide me to the spa suites and what I needed just adds to her magic allure. I float out afterwards feeling like a new woman. A swim and a sunset negroni on our personal balcony are the perfect way to round out the day.  

The sneaky success of Palacio Principe Real is that somehow it’s managed to gloriously trap two vagabonders into its web, making it so lovely to stay in it’s little oasis that you barely want to leave and end up…actually slowing down and relaxing. And with central Lisbon right on your doorstep, literally, it’s the perfect definition of a city-stay sanctuary.