Gay Porto Porto City Guide

Let’s begin our Porto gay travel guide with a roundup of the best hotels in Porto. While our first choice is technically not in Porto, located on the other side of the Douro River, the panoramic vistas of the city offered at The Yeatman are truly something to behold. This luxury wine hotel and spa was founded by the Yeatmans, a family of British wine merchants who began trading Port wine in the early 1800s and never stopped loving the city. As well as owning an unprecedented collection of Portuguese wine, the hotel also hosts a luxurious spa that uses wine extracts in its treatments. Those travellers wanting to stay in the heart of the city should consider PortoBay Hotel Teatro, just five minutes from the main Porto points of interest, such as Porto Coliseum. Contemporary and refined with a bohemian twang, this hotel also offers theatrical heritage, as it is actually based in a 19th-century theatre. The stage and audience areas are now home to the restaurant and bar, with an adjacent inner courtyard and a fitness centre on the top floor.

Also based from the historical centre is Casa do Cativo guesthouse, a cute little 19th-century offering run by a Franco-Portuguese couple, with a family feel and all the comforts of a hotel. Added bonuses include an outdoor pool, garden and shared lounge and kitchen areas. Next up is Charm Palace, a romantic boutique retreat in the city, popular among gay couples for its upscale interiors and bourgeois 20th-century architecture. The ‘Palacio Fenizia’ room, in particular, has us wanting to stay for the year! Torel Avantgarde is another boutique worth browsing, based on a hillside less than a kilometre from Baixa downtown area and boasting brilliant views of the city and riverside in a secluded spot. Inside Torel Avantgarde, guests can revel in the bold colours and warm décor, with each room celebrating artists, writers, designers and musicians, all with locally-made furniture. The on-site bar and restaurant also radiate sophisticated cosiness through and through.