The newest luxury boutique hotel in the Azores is also the oldest. The parents of Joana Damião opened their hotel in 1994, on a seven-acre farm that has been in the family for generations. It didn’t survive Portugal’s last financial crisis, and it sat empty for nine years. Finally, Damião has been able to buy it back and turn it into the gorgeous Senhora da Rosa, Tradition & Nature Hotel.
Named for the street on which it lies, the hotel still has beautiful grounds, full of hydrangeas, azaleas, and all of the Azores’ other crazy flowers, a pineapple greenhouse, and lush forest. There’s an inviting swimming pool on top of the spa (which has the only Pilates studio on the island), and a small, warm one inside that greenhouse.
Damião worked with her mother, Lili, a professional interior designer, to create the new environments. The walls are jade green, and the objects are layered in. Family heirlooms, from baby bonnets and embroidered pillowcases to vintage suitcases and globes, are on display throughout.
The 33 good-size rooms in this building are handsome and comfortable, but the accommodations to book are the two forest cabins called cafuões (grain storehouses). They’re romantic and fragrant with cedar, and their terraces are so private and sheltered that you can sit out there in a rain storm.
For more information, visit the Senhora da Rosa website.
Senhora da Rosa, Tradition & Nature Hotel
Rua Senhora da Rosa 3
Ponta Delgada
São Miguel Island
Azores
Phone: +351 296 100 900
Email: sales@senhoradarosa.com
