Porto District, Portugal

The Lince Santa Clara

Price per night from$270.62

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR263.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The Lince Santa Clara Photos

Style

Second to nun

Setting

Peaceful Porto outpost

Explore

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Former nunnery the Lince Santa Clara is graced with awe-prompting architecture and history-steeped surroundings. Its two restaurants, including a fine dining spot, view-blessed outdoor pool and heavenly spa are worthy of worship, as are its sweeping views of the sea and Santa Clara church. You could make the pilgrimage to Porto, which is within driving distance, or take refuge within these hallowed walls – either way, we have faith you’ll soon be singing the Lince’s praises.

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Facilities

Photos The Lince Santa Clara facilities

Need to know

Rooms

87, including 11 suites.

Check–Out

Noon. Earliest check-in, 3pm; both are flexible, subject to availability.

More details

Rates at the Lince Santa Clara include buffet breakfast.

Also

The hotel caters to guests with reduced mobility – one Deluxe Heritage room, the public bathrooms and pools are all accessible.

At the hotel

Gym, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, bathrobes and slippers, and organic bath products.

Our favourite rooms

The hotel’s rich heritage brings romantic grandeur to all rooms – the lofty ceilings and stone walls in the Deluxe Heritage Rooms are particularly lovely. The suites have more personal tales attached to them: the Berengária Heritage Suite is named after the determined Abbess who used to run the nunnery, and the Ruy Belo Mansard Suite is named after a local poet, as is the José Regio Grand Mansard Suite.

Poolside

There are two picturesque pools to choose from; both are heated and little Smith-friendly. The outdoor infinity pool is flanked by plants, made-for-two day-beds and sage-green parasols; the adjacent pool bar delivers drinks as you top up your tan or admire the hotel’s historic exterior. You’ll find the second pool indoors at the spa; its sleek, stone walls create a cocooning space for pre- and post-treatment respite.

Spa

The pared-down design of Aqueduto Wellness and Spa is inspired by the contemplative nature of the Poor Clares, the nuns after which the hotel is named. You can book in for classic or unconventional treatments (such as chromotherapy), which use Sisley Paris products, or switch off in the peaceful spa garden, punctuated with spells in the sauna, Jacuzzi, heated lap pool or Turkish bath.

Packing tips

When the rooms are inspired by Portuguese literary legacy, tome-like reading material deserves a spot in your suitcase

Children

Little Smiths are welcome and free baby cots can be added to Deluxe rooms and all suites.

Sustainability efforts

Earth-kind endeavours at this historic hotel include the installation of solar panels, water-saving devices and energy-efficient light bulbs.

Food and Drink

Photos The Lince Santa Clara food and drink

Top Table

By the wine cellar in Oculto to pick out your preferred vintage; next to the sun-streaming windows at Mosteiro to admire the awe-inspiring dining room and water views.

Dress Code

There’s no need for monk-like modesty, but threads with an ethereal quality, such as flowing fabrics and shimmery silks, will fit in well.

Hotel restaurant

The sense of devotion at Mosteiro extends from the arched, former-convent ceiling to the elevated Portuguese plates, which are lovingly made by local chefs using seasonal produce and traditional techniques. Fan favourites include the oven-roasted lamb and freshly grilled fish. Oculto is a cavernous dining space with an impressive wine cellar, tucked away in the vaults. Down here, starred chef Vítor Matos uses local ingredients to create polished, often-seafood-led plates that pay homage to this port city.

Hotel bar

The former convent’s cloisters are now home to something a bit more sinful – Abadessa Concept Bar. The grandiose space is dotted with snug seating areas, and behind the bottle-lined bar, mixologists shake up signature tipples. For post-dip refreshment, poolside Arcos Bar serves light bites and cocktails.

Last orders

At Mosteiro, breakfast hours are 7.30am to 11am, lunch is from 12.30pm to 3pm, and dinner is from 7.30pm to 10.30pm. Dine at Oculto from 7.30pm to 10pm, Tuesday to Saturday; Abadessa pours from 9am until midnight, and Arcos serves until 8pm.

Room service

A dedicated selection of dishes can be delivered to your door at any hour.

Location

Photos The Lince Santa Clara location
Address
The Lince Santa Clara
Largo Dom Afonso Sanches
Vila do Conde
4480-946
Portugal

The Lince Santa Clara is in Vila do Conde, a quiet fishing town in Porto District, a short drive north of the eponymous city.

Planes

Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is a 20-minute drive from the hotel; staff can arrange one-way transfers for €45.

Trains

Santa Clara station is a 10-minute walk from the hotel; from here, it’s 45 minutes on the metro to Porto city centre.

Automobiles

It’s a 45-minute drive from Porto’s city centre to the hotel, and the airport is halfway between the two. There’s a private car park at the Lince, and valet services are included with the room rate.

Worth getting out of bed for

The Lince Santa Clara is surrounded by historic sights, its story beginning with the 14th-century Santa Clara Convento, the original church of which is still in the grounds. Also vying for your attention is an impressive aqueduct, built in the 17th century and four kilometres from end to end. Porto District’s dune-dotted coastline is famed for its sandy stretches – head to Praia da Azurara for convivial volleyball games and good surf; Praia de Mindelo is a bit quieter and borders wildlife-abundant wetlands. Vibrant Porto is a 45-minute drive away; head to this pretty-as-a-picture city for riverside lunches and atmospheric Ribeira strolls.

Local restaurants

Head to the sun-sheltered terrace at locally loved Villazur, which impresses with polished Portuguese fare and an extensive wine list. You’ll be as full as your camera roll after dinner at riverside Romando Sushi Caffè, where colourful platters of thickly cut sashimi and tobiko-topped rolls star. Regional home cooking gets an elegant makeover at Garfo Torto; expect designed-to-share rice dishes and sweet-tooth-satisfying desserts, as well as riverbank scenery.

Local cafés

Moor up at Humble Anchor Coffee Roasters for locally roasted beans, speciality brews and baked goods.

Local bars

Take your date to one of the dimly lit corners at quirky Bacchus Wine Bar, where books line the walls, money hangs from the ceiling and trinkets fill the space in between. With its waterfront setting, Guia Beach, Food & Drinks is an enviable spot all day long, but is our pick for sipping sundowners.

 

Reviews

Photos The Lince Santa Clara reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this historic hotel in Vila do Conde and unpacked their hand-painted ceramics and bottles of port, a full account of their coastal city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Lince Santa Clara in Porto District…

Crossing the Ave River into Vila do Conde is a majestic sight that’s only enhanced by the Lince Santa Clara, a sturdy stone structure on the site of a 14th-century nunnery. Although religious restraint has been replaced with far-from-pious frills, the hotel’s heritage is palpable: arched church-like ceilings are an omnipresent motif; the serene spa encourages spiritual contemplation, and the two restaurants (one traditional Portuguese, the other fine dining) are deserving of your devotion. Devilish delights are catered for with cocktails and Portuguese vintages at poolside Arcos Bar and the awe-inspiring Abadessa Bar, plus the vaulted wine cellar is our kind of temptation. Break out of cloisters to explore azulejo-clad Porto, its rich Roman history and quaint fishing ports, set on a picturesque, surfer-dotted coastline. The Lince Santa Clara is blessed in more ways than one…

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