Review: Arts Hotel Porto, part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection

This is our review of the Arts Hotel Porto, part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection.

Porto, and Portugal in general, has seen an upward trend in tourism, but until recently the number of hotel beds from the big chains was fairly limited.

They are catching up. The last few years has seen a number of new properties open in both Porto, Lisbon and the Algarve as Hilton, Marriott, IHG et al race to increase capacity. The Arts Hotel Porto is one of these and opened in Spring 2023, about a year after another Tapestry Collection hotel called Se Catedral.

Hilton’s Tapestry Collection is basically a three-star version of Hilton’s four- and five-star Curio Collection, allowing mid-market independent hotels to become part of the Hilton ‘system’. The difference between Tapestry and Curio is minor and likely dependent on how many additional facilities a hotel has (pool, gym, etc etc). In my experience, Tapestry hotels make excellent city centre choices as you can see from my review of the Hotel Resonance in Taipei.

Hilton arranged my stay for review purposes. The hotel website is here.

Where is Arts Hotel Porto?

The Arts Hotel Porto is located on the Westerly edges of the main city centre area, not far from Praca de Batalha. The hotel is in good company and you’ll find several other options in the area.

Sao Bento station, the main train station in the city centre, is about 10 minutes walk; it’s a little further to the cathedral and the edge of the plateau where the city drops down to the Douro River.

Depending on traffic, it’s about 30 minutes in a taxi from Porto International Airport. Don’t make the same mistake I did and select the first ‘Tapestry Collection’ hotel that pops up on Uber because it might take you to the wrong one! Fortunately the two hotels are only about 10 minutes walk apart and the friendly receptionist at Se Catedral said it happens fairly often ….

Inside Arts Hotel Porto

Like many hotels in Porto, the Arts Hotel is a conversion of a historic residential building and therefore on the smaller size, with just 53 rooms on six floors. The facade has been beautifully restored with new red tiles as you can see above.

You won’t find much of a lobby here. Instead, what you get is a small reception desk flanked by the hotel’s bar and restaurant:

Check-in was quick and easy and I was pleased to find the room was ready even though I arrived early at around 11am.

Rooms at Arts Hotel Porto

The size of the hotel means there are just three room types and no suites. These include a twin room, queen room and (at the top end) queen room with balcony. All the rooms are advertised as being 22 square meters, so the only real differences are the type of bed, balcony and view, which really only comes down to which floor you’re on.

Each floor has a differently coloured corridor. On the fifth floor it’s a zingy yellow:

Whilst it’s fun in the corridor, you’ll be pleased to hear the rooms are slightly less saturated and feature a more grown-up palette of neutrals including wood. I was given a queen room with balcony:

22 sqm is on the cosy side but I still found the bedroom a decent size thanks to the clever configuration of built in wardrobe and small desk. I managed to tuck my carry-on suitcase underneath the desk which kept it out of the way but still easily accessible.

Inside the wardrobe are some hangers as well as a hybrid iron-steamer:

On the other side of the desk was the coffee station with a Nespresso machine and four pods. An empty mini fridge was underneath.

The bed was comfortable although the hotel could have offered a bit of choice with its pillows by supplying two firm and two soft rather than four identical ones.

Small marble-topped tables acted as night stands. On the right hand side of the bed you have a mains socket as well as two USB-A ports, whilst on the left you only get a mains socket. I’ve never understood why hotels don’t just maximise ports on both sides but there you are ….

The balcony was long but narrow:

…. and overlooked the outdoor plunge pool, which retains the sun from the mid-morning right until evening.

The bathroom, meanwhile, is a very compact space with a concrete limewash finish. A marble countertop adds a touch of style:

It is a small space, but you can just about fit two people in. The shower features a rainfall head as well as separate handheld hose.

Toiletries are the hotel’s own brand but smelled pleasant and did the job!

Arts Hotel Porto pool

Despite its size, the architects managed to squeeze in a pool as well as a relatively large garden area.

Getting to the pool is a bit of a challenge, as it’s on a mezzanine floor and requires walking through the guest room corridor on the first floor. This is a plunge pool – I think it maxes out at around 1m depth – but it had full sun for most of the day:

The sunken garden, accessible from the restaurant / bar, also gets some sun although not quite as much:

Arts Hotel Porto breakfast

Breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant on the ground floor. It is largely a continental-style buffet, although you can order hot items for an additional charge.

Hot items are limited to scrambled egg, bacon and sauteed vegetables, the latter of which were very good.

Pastries included, of course, Pastel de Nata as well as croissants, pain aux chocolat, waffles and folded crepes:

There were a handful of cereals:

…. as well as some cold boiled eggs, ham and cheese:

Also on offer was some cut fruit and yoghurt, as well as fresh juices. Additional items from the made-to-order menu varied from two fried eggs for €4 to eggs benedict for €8. Given the hotel charges just €15 for breakfast this didn’t seem bad, although it would’ve been nice to have one a la carte option thrown in for free.

Outside of breakfast, the restaurant and bar don’t seem particularly busy and food in the evenings appears to be fairly basic – don’t expect a full restaurant menu here.

Conclusion

The Arts Hotel Porto is perfect if you plan to spend most of the day exploring and is good value. Whilst the facilities are limited, the rooms are modern and more than comfortable enough.

The plunge pool is a welcome addition and I can imagine it is a lovely place to spend an hour or two after walking around the city in the summer.

Rates at the Arts Hotel Porto start at around €130 per night in June or 30,000 Hilton Honors points. You can find out more, and book on the hotel website here.

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