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I moved my family of four to Lisbon in August 2024, and it has become my entire personality.
One of the unexpected perks of living here? I get to play hotel critic in my own city!
Friends and family visit constantly, I book staycations whenever I need a break, and I’ve made it a personal mission to check out every luxury property in this town. Which is a mission I am still on.
Some of the hotels on this list I’ve stayed in and reviewed in depth. Others I’ve toured, eaten at, had drinks at, or sent visiting friends to and then grilled them about every detail over pastéis de nata.
This is the list I send people when they ask me where to stay in Lisbon, written out properly for once.
So if you’re searching for 5 star hotels in Lisbon and drowning in identical roundups written by people who’ve never set foot in Portugal, welcome. Let’s fix that.
How Lisbon Does Luxury
Lisbon’s luxury hotel scene is genuinely interesting because it is so incredibly varied. You’ve got converted royal palaces with subtropical gardens, towers overlooking the Tagus River, and a grande dame built in the 1950s with more marble than a Renaissance sculptor’s fever dream.
Most of the city’s best 5 star hotels cluster in a few areas. Avenida da Liberdade and the surrounding Marquês de Pombal area hold the classic heavyweights. Lapa, the old diplomatic quarter, hides some of the palace hotels.
Belém has the design-forward waterfront properties, and Parque das Nações, the modern district, has the sleek newcomers. Each area gives you a completely different version of Lisbon, so where you stay genuinely shapes your trip.
The 11 Best 5 Star Hotels in Lisbon
1. Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon
Let’s start with the icon. The Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon sits above Eduardo VII Park near Marquês de Pombal, and it has been the address in Lisbon since 1959.
The hotel holds 282 rooms and around 40 suites, many opening onto private terraces with views over the park, old Lisbon, and the river. Inside, it’s Art Deco meets Louis XVI, filled with one of the largest private Portuguese art collections in the country.
The spa has a large indoor pool, and the rooftop fitness center comes with an outdoor running track overlooking the entire city, which is the most extra gym amenity I’ve ever heard of and I respect it completely.
Book this if you want grand, classic, art-filled luxury and don’t mind a five-minute taxi to the historic center. Couples and art lovers, this one’s yours.
2. The One Palácio da Anunciada
Now for one I know intimately. The One Palácio da Anunciada is a restored 16th-century palace just off Avenida da Liberdade, and I stayed here and loved it so much I wrote a full honest review of The One Palácio da Anunciada.
This place sits steps from Restauradores and all the downtown action, yet inside it feels like a respite from the city. The original marble staircase, the restored painted ceilings, and the 2,500 square meters of gardens with a protected hundred-year-old dragon tree make it feel like you’ve been handed keys to an aristocrat’s house (which you kinda have).
The pool sits up above the garden courtyard with views over Lisbon’s red rooftops, and breakfast in that courtyard is worth the booking on its own.
The 82 rooms are done in soft neutrals with Egyptian cotton bedding and hand-painted Portuguese ceramics, and the Despacio Spa is small but excellent. I called it the best mom’s retreat in a literal Lisbon palace in my review, and I stand by every word.
3. Corinthia Lisbon
The Corinthia Lisbon is where I go when I need to disappear from my own life for 48 hours. I wrote about it in my luxury mom’s retreat at the Corinthia Hotel & Spa post, because that’s exactly what it is.
The headline here is the spa, the largest in Portugal, with 13 treatment rooms, an indoor lap pool, sauna, steam, and a full water therapy circuit. After that circuit I felt like a new woman, or at minimum a well-rested version of the old one.
The hotel sits in Campolide near Sete Rios, slightly outside the tourist core, but the metro is 250 meters away and there’s a free shuttle into the center of Lisbon.
You trade a little location for a lot of space, calm, and value.
There are 331 rooms plus 22 suites, with Skyline suites that include access to the 24th-floor Sky Lounge. Dining covers Erva for contemporary Portuguese, Soul Garden for outdoor cocktails and music, and Olivae for Italian, and some rooms sleep five with kids staying free, which makes it sneakily great for families too.
4. Martinhal Lisbon Oriente
If you’re traveling with kids, stop scrolling. Martinhal Lisbon Oriente is the best luxury family hotel in Lisbon, full stop, and I wrote a complete Martinhal Lisbon Oriente review after staying there with my own family.
This hotel was designed from the ground up for families. None of these adjoining rooms that make your vacation cost twice as much.
The 82 hotel apartments range from studios to 4-bedroom configurations, each with a full kitchen featuring Smeg and Miele appliances, plus a washing machine, because the founders are parents who actually get it.
There’s a staffed kids club for ages 6 months to 8 years, indoor and outdoor pools with baby wading pools, a sunken trampoline, and a 14th-floor spa with panoramic views over the river.
It sits in Parque das Nações, my own neighborhood, which is flat, riverside, and walkable to the Oceanarium.
The free Baby Concierge service means cots, high chairs, and bottle warmers are waiting in your apartment when you arrive.
This is the hotel that made me feel like I was on vacation instead of just parenting in a different city.
5. Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa
The Tivoli Avenida Liberdade has been holding court on Lisbon’s most glamorous avenue since 1933, and it remains the city’s answer to The Plaza.
You’re steps from the Cartier and Louis Vuitton stretch of Avenida da Liberdade, a short walk from Baixa and Chiado, and a two-minute walk from the Avenida metro stop.
The hotel has 264 rooms and suites, an Anantara Spa, and a garden courtyard pool that feels like a secret oasis in the middle of the city.
Cervejaria Liberdade handles the seafood, and the rooftop Seen Lisboa bar handles your sunset cocktails with one of the best skyline views in town.
If you want classic Lisbon luxury where you can walk everywhere, this is the easy answer.
6. Olissippo Lapa Palace
The Olissippo Lapa Palace is a 19th-century palace on a hilltop in Lapa, the leafy diplomatic quarter.
The 109 rooms spread across the Palace Wing, Garden Wing, and Villa Lapa, each in a different style, with Vista Alegre porcelain and marble bathrooms throughout.
The Tower Suite comes with two private balconies overlooking the Tagus.
The gardens are the real magic here. There’s a heated indoor pool plus an outdoor pool surrounded by subtropical greenery, an Elemis spa with sauna and Turkish bath, a children’s pool, and a playground, which makes this palace surprisingly family-friendly for honeymooners and parents alike.
It’s a taxi ride from the center, but that quiet hilltop seclusion is the entire point. This is a vacation inside the city.
7. Pestana Palace Lisboa
The Pestana Palace Lisboa is an actual national monument: a restored 19th-century palace between central Lisbon and Belém, surrounded by gardens so lush some of the plants themselves are classified as national monuments.
Let that sink in. The shrubbery has protected status.
The 175 rooms and 30 suites include four royal suites in the original palace once used by actual marquesses. There’s an outdoor pool tucked into the subtropical gardens, an indoor pool and spa, the gourmet Valle Flor restaurant, free parking, and a shuttle into central Lisbon.
This is a Leading Hotels of the World member with a tranquil, resort-within-a-city feel, and it’s one of the most romantic properties in town.
History lovers, garden people, and anyone who wants their hotel to double as a museum should book here, and its position makes it the most convenient palace stay for exploring Belém’s monuments.
8. Altis Belém Hotel & Spa
I absolutely love Belem because it sits on the water outside of the chaos of the city center. The Altis Belém Hotel & Spa is the boutique design hotel of this list, with just 45 rooms and 5 suites sitting directly on the waterfront at Doca do Bom Sucesso in Belém. You’re a few minutes’ walk from the Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery, in the most monument-dense corner of the city.
The rooftop pool and sundeck hang right over the Tagus, and the spa includes an indoor pool with Karin Herzog treatments. But the headline act is Feitoria, the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant serving contemporary Portuguese cuisine that justifies the trip on its own.
A Michelin star, a rooftop pool over the river, and 50 rooms total: this is the intimate, food-obsessed pick.
It’s the one I recommend to couples who care more about what’s on their plate and outside their window than about being walking distance from nightlife.
9. MYRIAD by SANA Hotels
The MYRIAD by SANA is the futuristic one: a sail-shaped glass tower rising straight out of the Tagus in Parque das Nações, connected to the iconic Vasco da Gama Tower.
Every one of its 186 rooms has floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic water views, and waking up suspended over the river never gets old.
At the top of the tower sits Fifty Seconds, a Michelin-starred restaurant from Chef Rui Silvestre, plus the Babylon 360º bar with full-circle city views. I love this place for a drink before dinner.
The Sayanna Wellness spa on the 23rd floor faces the river with an indoor pool, vitality circuit, and hammam.
The view is absolutely insane. I went for a birthday spa day when we first moved. The best part of the day was sitting in a robe, next to the pool overlooking the water.
Since I love this neighborhood, I’ll vouch for the area personally: flat, modern, riverside, eight minutes from the airport, and home to the Oceanarium. It is perfect for anyone who wants Lisbon with a side of skyline.
10. Bairro Alto Hotel
The Bairro Alto Hotel is Lisbon’s original boutique icon, sitting right where Chiado meets Bairro Alto. It is truly in the center of it all and only 200 meters from the Baixa-Chiado metro.
If you want to step out the front door directly into the best of old Lisbon, this is the most central pick on this entire list.
It’s intimate at 88 rooms and 12 suites, with bohemian-chic interiors and a ground-floor pâtisserie looking onto Camões Square. The rooftop terrace at BAHR delivers panoramic city and river views that regularly make best-rooftop lists, and the modern Portuguese restaurant holds its own against the city’s top tables.
This is the hotel for urban culture lovers, romantic city-breakers, and anyone who measures a trip by how little time they spend in taxis.
Fair warning: Bairro Alto comes alive at night, which is either the selling point or the dealbreaker depending on who you are. When I say alive, I mean ALIVE!
Think cherry liquor out of chocolate shot glasses at 2:00 in the morning ALIVE.
How to Choose the Right Hotel for Your Trip
Eleven excellent options is lovely until you actually have to pick one, so let me make this easier based on what kind of trip you’re planning.
For a romantic escape, book the Four Seasons Ritz, the Olissippo Lapa Palace, or the Altis Belém. All three give you intimate atmosphere, river views, serious spas, and high-end dining where you can linger over a second bottle.
For the best views, it’s the MYRIAD hanging over the Tagus, the Lapa Palace from its hilltop, or the Bairro Alto Hotel’s rooftop. For food-first travelers, the Michelin stars live at Altis Belém’s Feitoria and MYRIAD’s Fifty Seconds, with the Bairro Alto Hotel and Corinthia’s Erva close behind.
Families should look at Martinhal Lisbon Oriente first and then the Lapa Palace, both of which have pools and genuine space for kids. And if you’re chasing value within the 5 star tier, the Tivoli consistently delivers the most luxury per euro.e within the 5 star tier, the Tivoli consistently delivers the most luxury per euro.
My personal shortcut: palace lovers go to Lapa, families come to Parque das Nações, and first-timers stay near Avenida da Liberdade or Chiado.
Planning More Than Just a Hotel Stay?
Looking for Things to Do In Lisbon?
Picking where you sleep is only half the trip. Lisbon will fill your days faster than you expect, between the miradouros, the tile museums, the tuk tuk rides, and the food you’ll still be thinking about on the flight home.
I keep a running list of my favorite things to do in Lisbon, written from years of living here. Start there once your hotel is booked, because a few of those experiences sell out in summer too.
Adding Porto to Your Trip?
If you’re flying all the way to Portugal, there’s a good chance Porto is on your radar, and it should be. It’s a three-hour train ride north of Lisbon and feels like a completely different vibe, moodier, a bit more picturesque in my opinion, and absolutely dripping in port wine.
I’ve written a full guide to the best luxury hotels in Porto if you want to keep the 5 star streak going up north.
Then check out my list of things to see in Porto and my honest take on how many days you actually need in Porto before you commit to a split itinerary. And then once you do, here is a 3 day itinerary for Porto to help you plan!
Heading South to the Algarve?
A Lisbon-then-Algarve itinerary is one of my favorite ways to do Portugal, and it’s the route I send most visiting friends on. This is how I split my first time in Portugal.
The south coast gives you golden cliffs, beach days, and resort life that feels nothing like the city.
I’ve done in-depth reviews of two Algarve properties I’ve stayed at with my own family.
Vila Vita Parc is the clifftop icon where we celebrated my early retirement, complete with a two-Michelin-star restaurant and a Sisley spa carved out like a sea cave. It is one of the most luxurious resorts in Portugal. I cannot wait to go back.
Another top tier luxury resort is the Martinhal Sagres. It is its barefoot, family-first counterpart at the wild western tip of the coast, from the same brand behind Martinhal Lisbon Oriente above.
And if you’re still mapping out where in the country to base yourself, two more guides will help. My roundup of the best luxury hotels in Portugal covers every region worth staying in, and if your trip is more about resetting than sightseeing, the best luxury wellness retreats in Portugal has you covered.
One last thing before you book those flights: if you’re flying TAP Air Portugal and debating the business class upgrade, read my honest TAP business class review first. I break down exactly what you get and when the upgrade is worth the money.
When to Book and How to Save
Lisbon’s peak season runs June through September, and the best 5 star hotels in Lisbon sell out absurdly far in advance for those months. If you’re coming in summer, book 6 to 12 months ahead, and I am not exaggerating for dramatic effect.
The shoulder seasons are the smart play. April, May, and October give you warm weather, thinner crowds, and rates that drop meaningfully below summer pricing.
Before I moved to Lisbon, I visited three times, twice in October and once in April. They were all magical trips.
Winter from November through February brings the lowest rates of the year, and Lisbon winters are mild enough that you’ll still eat lunch outside most days.
Room requests matter too.
Ask for high floors at the Four Seasons and MYRIAD for the views, request the Tower Suite at Lapa Palace if it’s a special occasion, and at Martinhal, the river-view apartments with balconies are the ones you want.
Final Thoughts
Two years of living in Lisbon has taught me that this city rewards staying somewhere special. The hills are steep, the days are full, and coming back to a garden pool or a rooftop with a glass of vinho verde is what turns a packed itinerary into an actual vacation.
Every hotel on this list earns its five stars in a different way, from the palace gardens of Lapa to the glass towers of my own neighborhood.
The three I’ve reviewed in full, The One Palácio da Anunciada, The Corinthia, and Martinhal Lisbon Oriente, are the ones I can personally vouch for down to the thread count, so start with those reviews if you want the unfiltered details.
Trust me when I say Lisbon is worth doing properly.
Book the nice hotel. Order the second pastel de nata. You can thank me from the rooftop bar.
If you are looking for things to do while in Lisbon, I have a curated list of the top things to see and do while you are here.
Portugal Travel Planning Guide
🚑 Should I buy travel insurance for Portugal?
It is strongly recommended. Non residents do not automatically receive free public healthcare, although private healthcare is available. Travel insurance covers emergencies, delays, and medical visits. If you require a Schengen visa, insurance is mandatory. Visitors Coverage is a highly trusted and recommended choice.
💳 Will my debit card or credit card work in Portugal, and do I need cash?
Most major credit and debit cards work in Portugal, including Visa, Mastercard, and many travel cards from US and UK banks. Some smaller cafés, markets, and rural spots still prefer cash, so carry a little on hand. To avoid foreign transaction fees, cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve are excellent options. For ATM withdrawals and currency exchange, use a Wise card. Wise usually provides better exchange rates than traditional banks and is widely accepted at Portuguese ATMs and anywhere debit and credit cards are accepted.
📲 Will my phone work in Portugal?
Many major carriers offer roaming plans, but costs vary. For affordable data, purchase a local SIM from Vodafone or MEO or use an eSIM like Airalo. Public wifi exists but is not always reliable, so a local data plan is ideal.
🚙💨 Is it safe to rent a car in Portugal?
Yes. Renting a car is one of the best ways to explore Portugal. Roads are well maintained. Expect toll highways and narrow streets in older villages. Automatic cars are limited, so book early. I recommend using Discover Cars to find the most reputable rental car company. Just filter for the company with the best reviews.
💧 Can you drink tap water in Portugal?
Yes. Tap water is safe throughout Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, and most populated regions. In remote rural areas water systems may vary, so check locally if you are unsure. Many visitors prefer a filtered bottle because the mineral taste can be stronger in some areas, though generally safe.
🏩 Best way to book accommodations in Portugal
I use Booking.com and Hotels.com for hotels. Mostly Hotels.com because I love a rewards program! For unforgettable, luxury stays, I highly recommend Plum Guide for your stay. VRBO also works incredibly well for luxury stays, especially for families.
✈️ Best site to search for flights to Portugal
Skyscanner and Google Flights provide reliable fare tracking for Lisbon, Porto, and Faro. Prices vary significantly by season, with summer being the highest.
🎫 Do I need a visa for Portugal?
US, UK, and most EU passport holders do not need a visa for short tourist stays within the 90-day Schengen limit. Stays longer than 90 days require a visa arranged before arrival.
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