The Rebello Hotel & Spa

The generous and local snacks and drinks offered in the room. The incredibly peaceful spa that ensures guests have the most privacy and don’t have to share with other guests whenever possible. Fruit platter ordered to the room that was perfectly fresh and pure artwork.

You arrive at The Rebello Hotel & Spa by way of Porto’s Dom Luís I Bridge, but it might as well be a time machine. Set on the sleepy south bank of the Douro, this former 19th-century factory has been reborn with industrial swagger and soulful polish. Inside, it’s all lofty ceilings, polished concrete, and design flourishes that wink at the city’s past—vintage typewriters, bespoke tiles, and art that actually makes you pause.

Our welcome was warm, like stepping into a stylish friend’s (very well-curated) riverside apartment. Mornings began with espresso and fresh pastéis de nata on the terrace, watching the Rabelo boats glide by like lazy daydreams. Afternoons disappeared in the subterranean spa—a moody, candlelit haven where silence feels sacred and the massages are borderline transcendental.

Evenings? Rooftop cocktails with Porto sparkling below, followed by dinner at Pot&Pan, where local ingredients get the fine-dining treatment without losing their Portuguese soul.

By checkout, we were plotting our return—not just to the hotel, but to that feeling it gave us. Like we’d found the coolest corner of Porto and been let in on a secret we weren’t meant to know.