Brown's Boutique Hotel & Apartments

The years have crept up on my partner and me. Since meeting in our 20s, we have bought a house, become parents and established successful careers, yet still see ourselves as carefree youngsters ready to spend the night on a friend’s floor or stay up partying until the early hours. Until, that is, we attempt it, then the regret begins! When planning a few nights away in a European city, then, we were looking for a young, vibrant experience, yet finally admitting to our desire for luxury comfort and some real cultural and historical sights. Lisbon ticked all the boxes – it’s a fabulous mix of old European history that remains unspoiled by the accumulated years of its small crooked streets and beautiful Moorish castle alongside the buzzing clubs and bars of the Bairro Alto district.

Brown’s Boutique Hotel offered a chic, trendy base that more than fulfilled all our comfort needs. Our Superior Room was opulent in its décor - deep burgundy reds vied with dark chocolates, all in silk, satin, and leather, with the embroidered bed throw adding a classic touch to the minimalist modern artwork. The energy was all dark, warm comfort, heightened by the low lighting scheme, inviting us to simply give in and lie on the vast bed as soon as we walked in. Once we opened the glass doors onto our balcony, however, the spicy warm air and inviting murmurs of the street below breathed life into our room, drawing us out to explore the area.

The Chiado quarter offers a multitude of leafy squares, pavement cafés and informal-feel restaurants serving traditional pesticos, the Portuguese version of tapas. As we picked our way through a vast selection of these nibbles, we indulged in one of our favourite activities: people-watching. Here the streets are paved with cobbles, with the small narrow buildings shooting up at leaning angles, their ancient shutters peering down at the oblivious couples who wander the labyrinthine network of streets. This is a truly romantic city, especially when you venture uphill to the Bairro Alto quarter where restaurants and bars offer ideal terrace spots for sipping on local wine with the city spread out before you.

In the light of day, Lisbon only improves on its night-time glow, with the quaint yellow trams adding a charming touch of retro chic to the narrow streets. We chose to start our day in Brown’s own coffee shop, combining some deliciously sharp and velvety coffee with a selection of Portugal’s world-famous pastries. As we demolished a pastéis de nata, a cinnamon-dusted custard tart, the city began to wake up around us, with the mixture of tourists, old locals and young hipsters creating this fabulous blend of old and new that infuses all of Lisbon. As we made our way around the must-see sites – the UNESCO-listed 16th-century Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and architectural gem Igreja Santa Maria de Belém – all of Lisbon’s history enveloped us, with a soundtrack of bustling commerce and buskers in the background. The vintage shops up on Bairro Alto brought us back into the 21st century, only for the mournful fado singers at a traditional bar to send us straight back into the past again.

On our last night, after a delicious dinner at Brown’s restaurant, we relaxed in our opulent cocoon of a room with the balcony doors wide to let in the warm breeze and laughter from outside. As we went over our fabulous few days, we promised ourselves that we would recommend Lisbon and the ideally-situated Brown’s Boutique Hotel to all our friends as the perfect romantic destination.