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Bela Vista Hotel & Spa’s anachronistic presence in Portimão – a town today characterised by drab high-rise seafront apartments – is a reminder of its origins at the turn of the 20th century. -
The palacete’s clifftop position offers unspoilt views of Praia da Rocha and the Rio Arade estuary. -
Nautical stripes at the pool bar reference the hotel’s Atlantic location. -
The palacete’s facade includes gothic elements such as arched windows and a turret. -
Constructed in 2011, the pool deck occupies garden space once used for parties. -
A safe haven for spies and politicians during WWII, the hotel’s lobby is dominated by a Brazilian wood staircase. On the piano is a letter of appreciation from Finland’s Baron Carl Gustaf Emil, who once resided at the palacete. -
Interior designer Graça Viterbo opted for bold colour and pattern in the bar, including fabrics from Chelsea Harbour and Wind Fabrics. Her choice of paint closely matches that of the azulejo tiling. The original mural illustrates Portuguese explorers arriving in Brazil -
Interior designer Graça Viterbo opted for bold colour and pattern in the bar, including fabrics from Chelsea Harbour and Wind Fabrics. Her choice of paint closely matches that of the azulejo tiling. The original mural illustrates Portuguese explorers arriving in Brazil. -
The breakfast room, come evening, doubles as Michelin-starred Vista restaurant. Most recently renovated, the interior includes Tom Dixon pendant lamps, marble tables, and murals and cabinets hand-painted by artist Ana Morgado. -
The breakfast room, come evening, doubles as Michelin-starred Vista restaurant. Most recently renovated, the interior includes Tom Dixon pendant lamps, marble tables, and murals and cabinets hand-painted by artist Ana Morgado. -
“Most important for me in the living room is the risky mix of furniture, objects and fabrics,” says Graça. The ceilings are original; the handmade rug near the fi replace is from Arraiolos – an ancient town in Alentejo known for its embroidery. -
A junior suite, located in the historic palacete, is a decorating mashup in which Graça offsets original azulejo friezes with stripes and bright colour. “The shapes of the headboard and four-poster canopy were inspired by the frieze,” she explains. -
A junior suite, located in the historic palacete, is a decorating mashup in which Graça offsets original azulejo friezes with stripes and bright colour. “The shapes of the headboard and four-poster canopy were inspired by the frieze,” she explains. -
All the suites in Casa Azul are painted in pale aquatic shades – in this one, the mirrors are Italian and the cabinet is custom-made. -
A sea-facing room in the palacete leads onto a balcony that overlooks the beach. -
A room in the turret today serves as a bathroom. Its stained-glass windows are original. “The Bisazza mosaic perfectly matches the colours of the stained glass,” says Graça.
High above an Algarve beach, this award-winning hotel is part historic, part contemporary, and entirely Portuguese. Decorated by one of the country’s finest, it’s a masterclass in maximalism.
WORDS Martin Jacobs PHOTOS Francisco Nogueira
It’s hard not to feel like a Portuguese Jay Gatsby when a guest at Bela Vista Hotel & Spa. There’s increased confidence in your step, an inexplicable need to descend the lobby’s grand staircase in the most statement-making of fashions, and a sense that you’ve arrived – matched equally by a desire never to depart. If ever there was a building along the sunny Algarve, Portugal’s southern coastline, that celebrates – both then and now – the decadence of the Roaring Twenties, it’s the hotel’s palacete.
Its backstory begins with its construction at the onset of the 20th century, on a clifftop overlooking Praia da Rocha, today Portimão’s most popular beach. Skip ahead to 1918, and the triple-storey mansion – with its Gothic edifice complete with arched windows and turret – officially became the private residence of cork and canning industrialist António Júdice de Magalhães Barros. Along with his wife and five daughters, he put the home to great Gatsby use, hosting lavish (and plentiful) parties attended by politicians, artists and other cultural elite. In 1924 the family relocated to Lisbon; a decade later, the palacete became Hotel Bela Vista – the first hotel along the Algarve, legend has it.
“Reimagining a turn-of-the-century hotel into an exciting place was always going to be a challenge,” says interior designer Graça Viterbo, the creative force behind Bela Vista Hotel & Spa’s contemporary iteration, and founder of Viterbo Interior Design, today run by her daughter. Graça began by honouring many of the building’s historic architectural elements, including the carved Brazilian wood ceilings, an imposing wooden staircase that climbs the palacete’s three storeys, the Art Deco chandeliers, and the traditional blue-white-and-yellow azulejo tiling, including a showstopper mural that illustrates tales of Portuguese maritime exploration.
“The palacete’s uniqueness was anchored in Portuguese design elements from its inception,” she says, “but these striking traditional features of period architecture could be regarded as challenging when reimagining the palacete as a seafront haven. I decided not only to keep most, but to add a few more, such as ceramics and materials true to our national sense of style.” Awarded Best Luxury Boutique Hotel in 2014 by the World Luxury Hotel Awards, and twice one of CNN’s 20 most beautiful European hotels, the establishment’s interiors are today an instantly seductive and eclectic mix of marine-inspired shapes, bold patterns and colours, original pieces from the palacete’s collection, flora-inspired wallpapers, and contemporary accessories such as Tom Dixon lighting.
This brave decorating mashup extends to rooms in Casa Azul (once the establishment’s staff quarters) and the newly built Jardim wing. “In interior design, creativity always bears a continuum, even if not necessarily showing on the surface, nor immediately,” Graça says of the hotel’s extensions. “The aim is to feel part of a whole while discovering new chapters.” Inventive decorating unites spaces across these buildings, but the rooms in each are distinctive. In the palacete, suites tend to be painted white, the understated colour making champions of historic elements such as azulejo friezes. Suites in the Jardim extension draw motifs and colour from the garden below; Casa Azul’s rooms are characterised by aquatic blues inspired by the Atlantic.
Graça’s interiors are not just Portuguese: they strongly reference the hotel’s sense of place. “Bela Vista inevitably alludes to the sea, a chessboard of blue and the Algarve’s unique sense of clarity,” she says. “I’ve added some exotic touches, coral and yellow, because North Africa is not far. Then comes the power of white, reflecting the Algarve’s intensity. It’s a mind game of art, and it feels appealing the minute you walk in.” Asked whether she has a favourite space within the hotel, she is reluctant to answer, comparing the question to one asking a mother about her favourite child. “I’m very proud of my work, and I still feel great emotion every time I visit, as if it were my first time. I admit it was daring – but it seems to have worked well!” | hotelbelavista.net
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