At Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, It’s All About Art, Views and Old-School Cool

Stay Here For

Eye candy: Deco architecture, extravagant floral arrangements and museum-quality art.

Behind the reception desk at Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, a misty blue-gray mural depicts a stylized cityscape, cascading down a hill to endless water.

Powerfully positioned where the Tagus River pours into the Atlantic, Lisbon made its reputation on the sea, and that’s still the case today for the newly minted tourist darling, where most travelers descend upon the ancient waterfront neighborhoods. As in the painting, the Ritz continues to observe it all from a rarefied distance, a few miles uphill and inland.

Opened in 1959, the Ritz exudes a sense of occasion and importance. That is to say: Staying here feels like an occasion, and doing so makes you feel important. It’s not only the Art Deco glory of it all, suffused with so much incredible modern art—in what other lobby can you sip coffee in the company of Portuguese Modernist Almada Negreiros’s bold tapestries?—but the actual showmanship, too. The hotel could easily feel haughty in its richness, but the mostly young staff, with their impeccable, practiced manners, keep the vibe earnest and friendly.

But Four Seasons properties show best when they balance the seamless hospitality and luxury amenities they’re known for with a sense of surprise—and there, the Ritz really delivers. The rooftop running track; the gratis champagne that accompanies afternoon tea; the society wedding you might surreptitiously catch a glimpse of. Honestly, in Lisbon, where else would they have hosted?

The Essentials

The Location

Make time to see the 17th-century Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, near Lisbon’s Alfama district.

One of the Ritz’s highlights is its location, sheltered from the tourist crush. Take a leisurely walk to vibrant neighborhoods like Estrela and Campo de Ourique, where expats don’t completely outnumber the locals at the indie bookshops, cafés and family-owned tavernas like Choco do Bairro (get the steamed clams). Both are ripe for wandering, especially if you chart a route through lush Jardim da Estrela.

The Bars and Restaurants

Aside from the Ritz Pool Bar, where rosé and crab rolls take up most of the real estate on patio tables, all the food and beverage outlets orbit the lobby. There’s Varanda Restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and on the weekends, a magnificent brunch with favorites like lobster eggs Benedict. Across the way, the suave Ritz Bar touts a serious whiskey collection. For something a little lighter, try the Eduardo VII: Made with 10-year port, Cointreau, brandy and ginger ale, this hybrid spritz–Pimm’s cup is fizzy, refreshing and goes perfectly with the complimentary olives and almonds as a predinner snack.

Take the back door off the lobby into CURA for chef Rodolfo Lavrador’s tasting menu. Intricate compositions of Portuguese seafood emerge from the open kitchen: shrimp crudo on an altar of seashells, tender cuttlefish noodles with caviar and hazelnut sauce. The bread service is an unexpected highlight, featuring crusty malted sourdough, plush milk-bread rolls, cultured butter and local olive oil.

The Room

The expansive Studio Suite has a private entrance and a seating alcove adjoining the bedroom.

The elevators on each of the 10 guest floors slide open to reveal mini-lounges of low-slung settees that look lifted from a 1960s Manhattan ad agency. The corridors’ mirrored panels and square-shouldered doorways, stacked like croquet wickets, create an endless-hallway illusion, suggesting a hotel that’s much larger than the Ritz’s 282 keys.

Across the rooms and suites are 10 categories, plus four sprawling specialty suites. You’ll find the accommodations well-tailored and mostly sans serif, as is typical for Four Seasons. Some personality breaks through the bedrooms’ neutral backdrop: graphic-patterned carpets, midcentury desk chairs and long chaises pressed against the dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows. But most of the drama is saved for the bathrooms, which are cloaked in wall-to-wall marble.

The Standout Feature

The 11th-floor outdoor running track has panoramic skyline views.

The gym. Not only is the 11th-floor fitness center kitted out with everything from a Pilates studio to battle ropes to pocket Zen gardens, the windows wrap around three sides of the building, giving sweeping views of Lisbon—and there’s an outdoor running track circling the perimeter, to boot.

The Time to Go

Though Lisbon’s unstoppable popularity has eroded any real shoulder season, autumn is unmatched for weather in the capital, and the crowds are manageable. Outside of the holiday season, winter is getting some traction as well.

The Vibe

Afternoon tea at Almada Negreiros Lounge & Bar.

What’s in your suitcase? Sightseeing shoes. Lisbon’s up-and-down geography can be challenging in the wrong footwear. Comfortable sneakers will bring you down to the riverfront—about 40 minutes’ worth of walking—and back with ease.

The experience that’ll give you the most bang for your buck: Even in one of Western Europe’s most affordable capitals, you’d expect the Ritz’s dignified high tea to cost an arm and a leg. Held from 3 to 6:30 p.m. every afternoon in the lobby, it’s actually a steal at €58 and includes a flute of champagne and pot of tea of your choice, plus tender scones, dainty sweets and finger sandwiches.

Most overlooked hotel hideaway: Off a small foyer on the 11th floor is the Rooftop Lounge, a smart little den with potted plants, prestige coffee-table books and a peacock-blue velvet sofa. When the lobby feels crowded but you don’t want to be in your room, this is a haven you can duck into.

Everything Else