Castelo Santa Catarina is a stunning boutique hotel within easy walking distance of all the main tourist attractions and things to do in Porto, Portugal.
Built in 1887 as an impressive private family home, it was commissioned by Comendador António Pimenta da Fonseca, a renowned textile industrialist. The building is majestic and extremely impressive, with its towering main building and walls covered in the trademark blue and white decorative tiles for which Porto is known.
Despite being “only” a 3-star hotel, there is a sense of grandeur and romance about the hotel which completely transcends this rather misleading rating, and in our opinion makes it absolutely a luxury hotel. It may not have some of the amenities which add stars (gym, spa, pool, etc.) but it exudes luxury, and even has its own private chapel on site!
The hotel also has a separate wing (added much later) which has modern rooms, giving extra guest capacity. See more info about the different rooms here.
Our Hotel Castelo Santa Catarina review continues below…
Disclosure : this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase through links in the article, I will receive a small commission which can help the blog to grow. I only recommend hotels that we have personally stayed in and enjoyed.
Location
The Hotel has a convenient location within reasonable walking distance or a short taxi trip from the main sights of Porto, as shown on the map below. It’s not slap-bang in the middle of the action by any means, but nor is it far removed.
There is a small gated parking area, which is useful if you have a hire car.
The Capela das Almas de Santa Catarina is the closest of the main attractions of Porto to the hotel, at around 10 mins walk. The bustling indoor market Mercado do Bolhão is also 10 mins walk from the hotel.
Check in
We were really impressed by our check in experience at this hotel. Arriving on an early morning flight from Luton (read our EasyJet flight review here), we came to the hotel at around 10am with the intention just to leave our luggage and come back in the afternoon to check in fully.
However, the team on the desk were really accommodating and had our room prepared for us within about 20 minutes of our arrival!
While we waited, the receptionist offered us a map of the area and gave us some recommendations for restaurants in Porto. She marked these on the map for us along with some of the main attractions.
The receptionist staff were extremely helpful and friendly throughout our stay. Fortunately they spoke excellent English, which was fortunate as our Portuguese is very limited indeed (not to mention my tendency to drift into Spanish whenever I try a few words).
The grounds
While we waited for our room to be prepared, we had an opportunity to explore the grounds of the hotel.
We had a wander round the well kept garden and patio area, and sat for a while next to the charming blue and white tiled chapel which I mentioned earlier.
The hotel itself is also covered in the traditional blue and white Portuguese tiles for which Porto is renowned, and there are many interesting scenes depicted on the exterior walls of the hotel.
There are so many more photos of the exterior artworks which I could choose here, so I will add them as a bonus at the bottom of the article.
The room
We stayed in The Royal Suite in the old part of the hotel, which as the name suggests is one of the grandest rooms in the hotel.
Castelo Santa Catarina’s Royal Suite is very well appointed indeed, with a beautiful matching suite of large and intricately carved antique furniture pieces.
Tea and coffee making facilities were present in the room along with a minibar. As seems usual for Europe, there was no bottled water provided.
Being an upper floor room, we were treated to some very good views of the city from our windows.
Interior
Hotel Santa Catarina has many other characterful rooms in which to relax or simply wander through and marvel at the fabulous antique decor.
Food
Breakfast (8am to 10.30am) is a typical European continental buffet style, with cheeses, cold meats, fruits, salad, cereals, and some excellent pastries. Cooked eggs and bacon can be had to accompany this.
The coffee at breakfast was really excellent, despite being from a machine.
Also on site is a bistro and bar area serving drinks and food. Service here was prompt, and bar staff very friendly also. We shared a charcuterie board in here, with seafood options included in the selection, such as the delicious bolinhos de bacalhau (salt cod fish cakes).
Conclusion
If you are looking for hotels in Porto, you should definitely shortlist the Castelo Santa Catarina. The customer service here is top notch, and the magnificent exterior and interior of the hotel makes it almost like a mini museum in itself.
As a base for exploring the delights of Portugal’s fascinating second city, it is nicely located and will add charm and a real sense of occasion to your stay.
We are delighted to unreservedly recommend the Castelo Santa Catarina as one of the best places to stay in Porto.
Book your stay at Castelo Santa Catarina here
Search for hotels in Portugal here
Read our review of our EasyJet “business class” flight to Porto here
Read our other hotel reviews here
Check out our destination guides and trip reports here
As promised, see below for some bonus photos of Castelo Santa Catarina’s artworks depicted on the exterior blue and white tiles.
