Mr & Mrs Smith

Hotel Britania

Lisbon, Portugal

A hotel with history in the perfect Lisbon location, Hotel Britania was built in the 1940s by the famous Portuguese architect Cassiano Branco. A stay at this award-winning wonder gives guests a real flavour of the Estado Novo era: expect modernism and luxury with art deco flair. It’s even home to a lovingly preserved barbershop.

Need to know

• Rooms 33, including one suite.
• Rates Double rooms from $157.73 (€119), excluding tax at 5 per cent.
• More details Rates exclude breakfast, €14 a person.
• Facilities Bar, lounge, library, DVD library, free WiFi, laundry, complimentary newspaper and magazines, exchange desk, internet point, luggage store. In rooms: flatscreen TV, integrated DVD/CD, air-conditioning, minibar, Carven toiletries.
• Check-out Midday, though this is flexible, subject to availability. Check-in is at any time, depending on availability.
• Children Kids are welcome. Cots are provided free of charge and a babysitting with a local nanny can be arranged for €25. The hotel does not supply extra beds for older children.
• Also Pets are not allowed. There are smoking rooms available on one floor of the hotel.

Food and drink at Hotel Britania

• Hotel restaurant

  There is no restaurant as such at Hotel Britania, but a full buffet breakfast is served from 7.30am in the lounge every morning. It’s a plentiful and varied spread; choose from fresh fruit salad and strawberries and just-baked pastries, or bacon, eggs, cold meats, grilled vegetables and a selection of cheeses.

• Dress code

  Laid-back city chic.

• Room service

  Room service is available 24 hours; choose from a selection of drinks, soups, salads and sandwiches.

• Hotel bar

  In elegant contrast to the lobby’s vanilla and milky marble hues, Bar do Império, just to the right of the hotel’s main entrance, is a caramel and fudge treasure trove that’s kitted out in gleaming, glossy wood. Admire the original wall paintings, if you can peel your eyes away from the geometric patterned original cork floor, which is polished to such a sheen that you’ll be looking for your own reflection. The bar is a comfortable and seductive space, with squashy sofas, and curved, plump armchairs and barstools upholstered in a dusky blue, velvety fabric. Wooden chairs have striped upholstery in the same cappuccino and toffee palette, picking up on the pattern in the heavy curtains. Marble trimmings and grassy-grey tabletops add further liquidy lacquer to the space. The atmosphere in the bar is laid-back and relaxed. Soft classical music will put you at your ease and provide an unobtrusive background to your conversation. Sip on a signature Império cocktail: a blend of champagne, orange juice and redcurrant, and admire the art deco furnishings.

Hotel Britania R. Rodrigues Sampaio 17, Lisbon, 1150-278