Into Lisbon's heart – Alfama and St-Georges' Castle - is Palacio Belmonte, an old Palace which was refurbished some years ago by Maria and Frédéric Coustols when they bought the Palace.

The Palace goes back to history. The first section was built in 1449, on the top of the ancient fortified Roman and Moorish walls, called "Cerca da Alcaçova" and "Cerca Moura", by aggregating three towers: a rectangular at the western extremity, a corner tower to the north built upon Roman foundations and a pentagonal Moorish tower of the 7th century to the west, which is built upon a 40meters high rock.

In 1640, the family enlarged the building, adding the majestic East terrace and five façades in a classical style, giving the Palacio its present look. In 1720 and 1730 the family commissioned two Portuguese master tile-makers, Manuel Santos and Valentim de Almeida, of a unique collection of Portuguese tiles. The 59 panels of more than 30,000 tiles are to be found throughout the building and are one of the Palace’s distinguishing features.

The original Portuguese family “Figueiredo Cabral da Câmara” was nominated Conde de Belmonte (name of a little village in the North of the country near Serra da Estrela mountain range) by Queen Maria I e Portugal, in 1805.

The property is now composed of 11 Suites, each of them different, most of them having narrow stairs to climb. Each one is named after a famous Portuguese personality but there is also the Father Himalaya Suite!

The Palacio offers an Art Café Belmonte at the entrance, a garden where orange trees carry fruit, a music room, a 2-atmosphere vast library full of books and drinks (included in the night rate), the comfortable Governor room – it would be the lobby in a classical hotel, a huge terrace built in 1640 with stones coming from Russia facing the "straw sea" and the old Alfama district offering a magnificent view. A unique place in town to receive your friends or business partners for a cocktail or a diner or whatever you may think of. 

The breakfast can be served at your private terrace – most rooms have one – and you can order whatever you wish: smoked salmon scrambled eggs will be ready in 10 minutes.

The Palacio received substantial international press exposure, the May 2000 issue of the British edition of the Condé Nast Traveller named it in the guide as one of the "21 coolest hotels in the world"

Contact  :

SAGA VIAGENS LDA
Mrs Virginie Grimault

Adr.: RUA Dr BASTOS GONCALVES 3 B - LISBON
Tel.: +351 21 724 8500 / 09
Fax.: +351 21 727 72 62 / 63
eMail: virginiegrimault@sagatravel.pt