Paradise in Portugal: The Farol Hotel

I would like to extend a warm welcome to one of our new monthly contributors, Tina Ramchandani of Life in Sketch.  I’m excited to say that starting today, Tina’s column on Design Hotels will be appearing here for us on the fourth Wednesdays of the month. I’m thrilled to have you here, Tina!

Hello LTLYDA readers! I’m so excited that Sarah chose me to be your Design Hotels contributor! Every month I’ll be taking you to a new destination and sharing a fabulous design hotel with you. I love to travel and absolutely love to experience new cultures, foods, and scenes. Most of all, I love the hotels! After a long day of walking around a new town you need a special, relaxing place to rest your head. Hotels are more than just a bed, though. They are an experience, something to make your trip just a little bit better.

I thought I would start off the Design Hotels series by sharing one of my favorite hotels with you. Two years ago I had the opportunity to visit Lisbon, which has come to be one of my favorite cities in the world. In addition to the magnificent city, Lisbon offers many small stops just outside of the city borders which can be options for day trips or overnight trips. While in Lisbon we took a quick train ride to Cascais.

Cascais is a 45 minute train ride away and is a former fishing village which also became the royal family’s favorite vacation spot. It’s easy to see why, the views are stunning! One of my favorite parts of Cascais is Boca de Inferno, which translates into the Hell’s Mouth. Because of the waves of the Atlantic many caves and cavities were formed in the rocks, and it’s one of the most beautiful places!

A few minutes away from Boca de Inferno is the Farol Hotel. While in Cascais I was lucky enough to visit both of these places. After a long walk we saw the Farol Design Hotel and were blown away! It’s like something out of a movie! The building was erected in 1890 for the Count of Cabral and contains 33 guest rooms. When you walk into the hotel you see reception, a seating area, and look through both to see the vast Atlantic Ocean.

Each of the guest rooms are uniquely decorated, no two are alike. That’s because each room was “dressed” by Portuguese fashion designers Ana Salazar, António Augustus, Arkadius, Fátima Lopes, Miguel Vieira, Manuel Alves & José Manuel Gonçalves, José António Tenente, Paulina Figueiredo and João Rolo.

While at the Farol we enjoyed some cocktails at the Bar on the Rocks. The view is unbelievable! There is another bar inside the hotel and two restaurants, Sushi Design, headed by Chef Nuande Pekel and The Mix Restaurant with Chef Hugo Silva.

Like most design hotels Farol has a number of private spaces, including the Coconuts. The space can hold 200 – 1500 people. Due to its adjustable walls the space can be made smaller or larger to fit your needs. I’d love to host a party here!

Cascais is one of my favorite towns and Farol is a very special place. I hope you’ve enjoyed our visit today and I hope you get to visit IRL soon! I’ll be back next month with another fabulous design hotel in another fabulous town!

Images /via Farol Hotel /