"A 105-room boutique hotel facing out onto Praça da Liberdade, Porto’s elegant Belle Époque main square, the classically-styled InterContinental Porto – Palacio das Cardosas tops out for old-world luxury. Light from the crystal chandeliers bounces off the lobby's staid marble floors, and the bar, drunk off an English Library motif, sports a grand piano, warm, wooden floors, and shelves stocked with fake book spines—and a sweeping list of local Port wines, of course. The newly renovated eighteenth-century palace has surprisingly spacious rooms—a delight by the standards of most cramped European quarters—with a clean, contemporary aesthetic, and a history only narrowly hinted at by detailed crown molding and ceiling-height mirrors. Marble bathrooms, coupled with occasional views of the courtyard and the nearby Clérigos Tower, serve as a welcome sanctuary after a busy day of sightseeing. Downstairs, the upscale Astória restaurant flaunts explosively-colored modern artwork on crisp, white walls, and plates of Portuguese-inspired specialties like creamy oxtail risotto and delicate, flaky black bass are the first order of an evening. In the summer, take a long lunch of tapas on the attached open-air terrace before strolling over to the nearby Avenida dos Aliados—one of the most happening, and beautiful, streets in the Old City—for some first-rate shopping and an up-close look at some of the city’s most storied monuments."
