On the morning of November 1^st, 1755 an earthquake like never before hit the City of Lisbon. Forty minutes later a tsunami followed, obliterating much of the city. Ironically it was All Saints Day and Lisbon’s strong Catholic community meant candles were lit in most households. So the homes high enough to avoid the tsunami were still ravaged by fire. When the great rebuilding of Lisbon began, The Baron of Porto Covo built his house upon a hill on the northern banks of the Tagus River. Other nobles and merchants followed, creating the Lapa District. It is now the capital’s most affluent residential quarter and home to Lisbon’s most distinguished hotel, the Olissippo Lapa Palace.

Lisbon, like Rome, was built upon seven hills. This means an undulating topography with many viewpoints offering impressive vistas of the city amongst steep and narrow cobblestone streets weaved between high-rise townhouses. The Lapa District is home to most of Lisbon’s embassies and diplomats; giant flags overhang handsome buildings and shiny chauffeur driven cars regularly line the cobble stoned streets. Built in 1870 and later transformed into a palace by the Count of Valenças, the Lapa Palace was decorated by some of the best artists from that era, including Columbano, the greatest portrait painter of his time and Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, one of the most celebrated ceramists of the nineteenth century.

If Lisbon is a ‘Hollywood of Hotels’ the Olissippo Lapa Palace has the timeless star quality of Grace Kelly. Guests are treated to mesmerising views of the Tagus River in an unequivocally opulent setting. Walk into a lobby and you are greeted by a cream, pink and black stone floor complemented by the loud clip-clopping of high heels and polished shoes. The warm and neutral hues of the floor are echoed in the ceiling, walls and furnishings; a style elegance that emulates many hotels on the French Riviera in 1950. Corridors are tempered with carved wooden panelling and fabrics adorn the windows in regal amounts.

The Olissippo Lapa Palace now consists of three wings. Housed in the original palace are 21 bedrooms along with five rooms on the ‘noble floor’, which are the epitome of sizeable luxury suites. Portuguese style fabrics and furniture reclaimed from the original palace and Vista Alegre porcelain decorate the rooms which take on different themes such as Art-deco, Algarvian and Neo-Classical. If you have the opportunity to book the Tower Room, the Count’s old dressing room, you will be treated to an unparalleled cityscape of Lisbon and the river. All bathrooms feature Portuguese ceramics or stone and the pièces de resistance can be found in the ostentatious décor of the function rooms, most notably The Columbano Room with murals by his namesake on the ceiling using the theme, Dancing through the Times. It was once after all, a ballroom. Most rooms in the hotel have a view of the garden, a special bonus for guests of Lapa Palace.

The outdoor pool sits behind the hotel in a tranquil and immaculately kept garden. This deep bowl-shaped space with an emerald green lawn surrounded by sub-tropical trees, features a stream populated by Koi carp and terrapins. In this botanical arcadia, you will see bird of paradise flowers next to roses and evergreen trees juxtaposed with enormous palms. Some trees stand even taller than the hotel itself – one of which is a favourite of Sting(the musician, no less), who has been seen meditating in it’s shade, every time he has visited Lapa Palace. In the heat of the Summer, this is the perfect place to take cool respite, sipping on a cocktail from Le Pavillion, the poolside restaurant.

The indoor pool is a tranquil centrepiece for the Olissippo Lapa Palace’s cherished spa. After a session at the well-equipped gym, snuggle up in a bounteous white bathrobe on one of the loungers by the pool. The glass roof creates a conservatory feel and enables guests to enjoy the sunrise and sunsets as they swim or relax in the warmth during the cooler months. There are single sex saunas with a temperature high enough that even Finnish guests would find satisfactory; the steam room cleverly conjoins the male and female bathrooms, ideal for those sharing the experience with a friend or loved one. The rich, nostalgic smell of L’Occitane’s most popular scents angelica and vervain permeate the changing rooms. These products are also at your disposal in the bedrooms: no brand better encapsulates a dependable, timeless quality which so aptly reflects the venue. There are three treatment rooms where a plentiful of therapies are available for every possible mood; from reflexology, to deep tissue, to anti-stress.

From the moment guests arrive, the Olissippo Lapa Palace is the pinnacle of attention to detail embodied in ultimate five-star service. Invoking a feeling of the good old days, gentlemen in long tail coats and top hats are on hand for your every need and all requests are carried out with a pride and total ease. Staff take care of guests as well as one presumes a movie star would be treated – it’s no wonder, Robert di Niro, Lenny Kravitz, President Bush and King Charles are amongst its guest alumni. The décor, history and unparalleled atmosphere are ageless. All this, together with the rarest of settings, will see that this hotel will stand the test of time. The last bastion of grandeur in an evolving city, the Olissippo Lapa Palace is a one-of-a-kind stay; a place to relish the luxury of opulence within a venue which is a living celebrity.