Tarabel Lisbon

Hotel review

Tarabel Lisbon is set in a 19th-century palácio, yet feels like a private home from the moment you walk in. French interior designer Rose Fournier has reimagined this blue-fronted palácio in Lapa, the eye behind Riad de Tarabel in Marrakech. The scale and space are generous: tall doors, white walls, high ceilings and soft light that changes throughout the day. The living room is more like a family salon with linen sofas you sink into, interior and lifestyle books and fresh flowers. You find yourself slowing down without even trying. Rose’s Marrakech story appears as a gentle reference; orange-flower diffusers carry the soft fragrance you may remember from Riad de Tarabel, a subtle link between the two houses. There are other reminders too, including the handmade wicker lamp shades. Materials are soft, calm and honest: chalky plaster, antique woods, pale textiles and timeworn mirrors and furniture, much of which Rose has uncovered in French flea markets. Outside, terraces step to layered gardens and a bottle-green pool (heated in the winter months), with views across the Tagus River. 

If you're on the first or second floor and laden with luggage, there is a small lift (with beautiful painted interiors) to take you up. Good to know if you're planning to do some shopping in Lisbon! Beds are genuinely large, bed linens crisp and cool, and there’s proper cupboard space (with handmade leather shelves), so your suite remains uncluttered with no excuse for clothes to be left on the floor! Blackout blinds do their job, a single touch dims the lights, and quiet colonial fans keep the air moving (there’s air-conditioning too). The large bathrooms (all en-suite and some part of the suite itself) are designed for long soaks, invigorating showers and getting ready at your own pace: think roll-top baths, orange-flower glycerine soaps made in Marrakech, Molton Brown orange and bergamot products, and double basins. Thick, fluffy monogrammed towels are exactly where you want them after a bath or hot shower. Several suites open to private terraces overlooking the gardens, pool, and river beyond. 

Chef Afonso Blazquez Raposo cooks Portuguese food with clear flavours, seasonality and a modern twist. Breakfast on the conservatory-style veranda is unhurried, with homemade granola and jams served in vintage teacups, apple cake, pastries, and eggs just the way you like them. There's no time limit on breakfast either; wake at 11? No problem! Lunch is served on the veranda, in the garden, or by the pool, and dinner is the perfect way to end the day. There are a couple of good restaurants (Skizzo being one of them, though it can get crowded and noisy) within a ten-minute walk, so if you're staying a couple of days, ask the team for their recommendations.

Tarabel frames Lisbon rather than competing with it. You’re minutes from the Museum of Ancient Art, close to the riverside and a short hop to Bairro Alto and Chiado. Step out for a gallery, lunch or a late table, then return home to your terrace and the river views. Lisbon may be busier than it was ten years ago, but at Tarabel Lisbon the pace remains unhurried and civilised. Tarabel gives you the comfort of a private home with the charm, luxury and style of a well-run boutique hotel in one of the chicest districts in Lisbon. A very lovely, romantic place to stay.

Lulu Townsend