Maxime Boutique Hotel Lisbon

Let’s be honest: Lisbon’s newest boutique hotel, the Maxime, is not a place where you stay with your mother. Or your kids. Or even your best friend. No, given its burlesque and even bordello inspirations, it’s a place you take your significant other. The place practically drips with sex appeal.

That doesn’t mean it’s sleazy or tacky. Quite the opposite. The theme and design by Real Hotel Group designers Vânia Gonçalves and Filipa Brás are very well executed.  The 75 rooms are comfortable as well as provocative, with racy artwork on the black walls, and pops of red in the curtains and rugs. Most of them are comparatively conservative, but the five theme suites really go for it, with concepts like the Burlesque Room (a corset on a bodice as decor, a neon-bright artwork reading “amour”), the Stage Room (theatrical lighting and a round bed on a raised platform beneath red velvet drapes), and even the Bondage Room (cage-like furnishings and ropes used as accents, although not as actual props).

The playful, slightly naughty vibe runs through to the restaurant.  The sensuous wall mural (with neon lips) is by noted artist Alexandra Prieto, with similar artistry adorning the handmade plates. There are cabaret shows on weekends and a cabaret spirit by day and night throughout the week. Franco-Italian chef Luca Bordino’s menu offers slightly irreverent, often decadent takes on Portuguese classics, like a duck empada with foie gras and mushrooms, served with truffle mashed potatoes, and a tiger prawn served with pear jelly and a sauce of “1,000 leaves of vegetables.”

By day the menu leans toward more everyday fare, heavy on salads and sandwiches, but even those get an indulgent twist: a pork belly bun served with kimchi, watercress, and soybean shoots, or Caesar salad with prawns, bacon, a soft-boiled egg, and Parmesan flakes. All served with a wink and a smile, of course.