If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR120.28), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
The essence of Village by Boa is perfectly encapsulated by its affable motto, ‘welcome home, please come in.’ This cleverly-converted cluster of self-catering apartments was once the residential neighbourhood known as Bairro do Silva, and much of the ‘at home’ atmosphere still resides within the whitewashed walls. The interiors are a calm, comforting combination of Japanese wabi-sabi and Scandinavian hygge, which promise a restful refuge from the bustle of farmers, fishermen, and florists in the nearby Bolhão market. Take your reusable tote bag (printed with that friendly phrase) to be filled with fresh produce from the traditional stalls, return to the hotel’s sun-soaked courtyard, and tuck in.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A welcome basket and early check-in or late check-out (subject to availability)
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £109.19 (€127), including tax at 6 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of €2.00 per person per night on check-out.
More details
Rates exclude breakfast, but a hamper of local produce (freshly squeezed orange juice, granola, fruit, yoghurt, jam, and just-baked bread and pastries) can be sent to your apartment for €15 each, with vegan options available.
Also
The hotel has some ground-floor accommodation suitable for guests with mobility issues.
At the hotel
Artisan-stocked boutique, digital concierge app, private penthouse event space, charged laundry service, and free WiFi. In rooms: smart TV, air-conditioning, fully-equipped kitchen, herbal tea-making kit, coffee machine, popcorn machine, and Meraki bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Expect Japandi styling (a soothing combination of Japanese and Scandinavian interiors) throughout each studio and apartment, which have been designed with minimalists and bohemians in mind. To take the home-from-home feeling up a notch, we’d opt for the Superior Duplex – there’s something wonderfully comfortable (and luxurious) about going upstairs to bed in a hotel, or is it just us? You’ve also got the added bonus of a private balcony for secluded sunbathing.
Spa
Although there’s no spa on-site, you can book a selection of treatments through the hotel’s digital app (with miracle-working massages just one minute’s walk away). There’s also a 24-hour gym (accessed using your unique code) with yoga mats and various fitness equipment in a light-filled studio.
Packing tips
With the Mercado do Bolhão on your doorstep, you’ll want to save room in your suitcase (or just bring an extra bag?) for all the market treasures.
Also
Award-winning metalworker Zadok Ben-David is just one of the many artists whose work is on display around the village – look out for his three-metre-high metal-tree installation in the main courtyard.
Children
A crib or extra bed can be added to some rooms for free (for children under 10) and there’s plenty of space for families to stretch out in the Deluxe Two Bedroom apartments.
Sustainability efforts
When this village-style hotel was carefully converted from residential apartments in Porto’s historic Bairro do Silva district, the architects went to great lengths to preserve the neighbourhood’s vibrant design (such as painted beams and upcycling existing wooden structures). Eco-friendly building materials were locally sourced, and the property makes use of renewable energy sources, including solar power. The 24-hour digital check-in is paperless, apartments are accessed via codes (rather than plastic room cards), the bathroom products are in refillable, plastic-free bottles, and there’s a reusable tote bag for shopping the city’s many markets. Your breakfast baskets and welcome hampers are exclusively stocked with local, artisanal treats – including a bottle of fortified wine from the nearby Douro Valley.
Keep it casual at your kitchen counter, or mingle under the almond tree in the central courtyard for a more sociable setting.
Dress Code
Whatever you’d wear in your own apartment, comfort is king here.
Hotel restaurant
No restaurant, no problem. Your fully-equipped kitchen will serve all your self-catering needs, with beautifully-crafted Nordic clay crockery to eat your home-cooked meals on. There’s even a hot-pink popcorn machine if you’re planning a movie night, and a Japanese tea set for warming brews. Pick up some supplies from the Market by BOA, a beautifully-curated deli and homeware boutique selling small-batch produce.
Hotel bar
The generously-sized bottle of local port in your welcome basket should help get you started, but you’ll need to venture out for drinks (check the hotel’s app for the locals’ favourite sundowner spots).
Last orders
The beauty of self-catering stays is that there’s no set mealtimes. Just whip something up whenever you fancy.
Room service
There’s no in-room dining menu, but breakfast hampers are delivered to your door each morning.
In the beating heart of bustling Bolhão, Village by Boa is a sardine-can’s throw from the traditional farmers market, near the azulejo-clad Chapel of Souls.
Planes
Francisco Sá Carneiro is the closest airport, which is just 20 minutes by car from the hotel. You can book private transfers with the hotel for €35 (one-way, for two people) or €55 (one-way, for up to four passengers).
Trains
You couldn’t be closer to Trindade Station if you tried (you can see the trains pulling in from the hotel’s courtyard). This is the city’s main metro hub, with regular, direct 30-minute connections to Porto Airport.
Automobiles
With its colourful, cobbled streets and impressive bridges, Porto is most enjoyably explored on foot (especially when the city’s many wine caves beckon). Though if you’re planning some day-trips across the Douro, there’s parking in nearby Silo Auto starting from €28.80 (for 24 hours).
Worth getting out of bed for
You simply can’t visit Porto without stopping by the Mercado do Bolhão (under five minutes’ walk from Village by Boa), a traditional indoor farmer’s market selling fresh fish, butcher-prepared meat, fruit and vegetables, flowers, and more. You’ll pass the striking blue-and-white façade of Capela das Almas (or ‘Chapel of Souls’), an 18th-century church decorated with azulejo tiles along the Rua Santa Catarina – Porto’s main shopping street. Once a sleepy fishing village, the Ribeira district is now very much on the tourist map for its colourful townhouses, cobbled streets, and riverside eateries. Away from the central hustle and bustle (but with a seaside buzz all of its own), Foz do Douro is an easy day-trip, especially if you hop on one of the city’s much-photographed vintage trams. This oceanfront enclave has been hailed as Portugal’s answer to the French Riviera, where you can stroll along pretty promenades and sip sugar-cane cocktails in trendy beach bars.
Local restaurants
Dining in Porto is mostly about two things – good wine, and just-caught seafood. Gruta delivers both with its seafood-centric menu (Atlantic shrimp stews, grilled codfish, and Brazilian-style fish broths all feature) and Portuguese wine pairings, cooked up in an all-women kitchen. And the third thing to add to your Porto food list? The francesinha, a meat-and-melted-cheese-filled sandwich soaked in a spicy tomato gravy. The most famous francesinha place in town is Café Santiago, known for its wood-oven-baked bread, sausages from the Mercado do Bolhão, and secret sauce. Vegetarians should venture to Tia Tia, for seasonally changing, Scandi-presented plates and natural wines served in a greenhouse-esque setting.
Local cafés
Quirky, colourful Época is one of the city’s most popular brunch spots for a reason. It’s worth checking their Instagram page first thing in the morning (as their menu changes daily) and getting yourself down to Rua do Rosario early (walk-ins only). The seasonal spread varies from French toast topped with nectarines, fresh basil, and lemon crème anglaise, to kimchi rice bowls sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Local bars
The hippest local hangout is hands-down Aduela, where local snacks and sangria draw after-work crowds to its sunny terrace (sit beneath the olive tree if you’re in need of some shade). There’s no shortage of wine caves in the city for late-night tastings, but we like the jazz nights at Prova, a little but lively tapas bar with friendly sommeliers to help you mull over the extensive wine list.
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 Japandi-styled aparthotel in Porto and unpacked their artisanal soaps and handmade ceramics, a full account of their bohemian city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Village by Boa in Portugal…
They say ‘it takes a village’, and for Village by Boa, this age-old phrase really does hit home. After assembling a team of architects and interior designers (including Porto-based Pablo Pita), it took two years to transform the abandoned homes of Bairro do Silva into the stylish set of self-catering stays which boast one of the best addresses in Bolhão. Inside, there’s a custardy, creamy colour palette (reminiscent of the copious pastel de nata you’ll no doubt consume throughout your trip) which champions cinnamon-browns, vanilla-whites, and citrus-yellows in natural fabrics like linen and rattan. Though the inspiration for the apartments is rooted in Japandi aesthetics, the furniture, artworks, and ceramics were crafted in Portugal especially for the hotel. In keeping with its village ethos, you’ll have the BOA community at your fingertips through the hotel’s app – with round-the-clock service and local recommendations to help you feel truly at home in the city.
