As Janelas Verdes

Elegant townhouse B&B hotel with a peaceful courtyard garden and a fabulous library terrace

This peaceful townhouse has a pretty courtyard garden and a fine third-floor library that opens onto a wide terrace, giving sweeping views of the River Tejo. You’re in Santos, an area made fashionable in the 16th century when King Manuel built a palace here. In the 19th century artists colonised the district and Santos retains a bohemian air. Janelas Verdes takes its name from the road on which it stands, Green Windows Street, once the main thoroughfare between the city and historic Belém.

Step inside and you find smart country-house interiors: sofa-ed sitting rooms, a marble fireplace, a pillared breakfast room and a small fountain at the foot of a three-storey atrium. Azulejos (antique tiles), rescued during renovation, have been framed in fours and hung on the walls. Take the lift up to the library and find oak panelling, fat armchairs, and glass doors onto a terrace. There’s an honesty bar up here, so help yourself to a drink and watch the ferries zipping to and fro. Rooms are spread over 3 floors, windows are double-glazed, beds are comfortable, 19th-century prints hang on the walls.

Highs

• The library, with its river views; it's flooded with light from a glass wall that opens onto the terrace
• Breakfasting in the courtyard garden which brims with colour; you can also have a sundowner before heading out to supper
• WiFi throughout
• The Museum of Ancient Art is 200m up the road.

Lows

• You’re not as central as you’d like to be, though trams and buses will get you to the Praca do Comercio in 10-15 mins
• Breakfast is excluded from the room price, and there is no restaurant on site (but plenty nearby)
• The street outside is a little grey, and can be noisy