Tivoli Avenida Liberdade

One of the most historic grand hotels is now one of Lisbon’s most elegant hotels. After a 15 million euros renovation, the 85-year-old Tivoli Avenida Liberdade emerged as a well-located, stylish hotel that fits with the times.

The lobby has been opened up to allow more free space and natural light—as does the golden trellis-topped glass dome above. The new furnishings are richly textured and softly colored, with turquoise, mahogany and earth tones.

It has also become more of a social and experiential space, to use two buzzwords of the times, with plenty of gathering areas, afternoon tea, and a lobby bar serving coffees, snacks, and drinks. Every evening, a live jazz trio performs from 18:00 onward.

The 285 rooms were enlarged and updated. These include deluxe rooms for business or other solo travellers and family rooms and a range of suites for larger groups of leisure travellers.

The Sky Bar, one of the most beloved rooftop bars in the city, with its sweeping views over downtown and the river, didn’t need much in the way of improvements, though it got a few. Despite being closed during the winter season, from April to October it continues to serve excellent sushi and other snacks, to pour well-crafted cocktails, and to keep the party lively with DJ sets until 1am in the summer months. The scene is always a mix of locals and visitors—and the same is true at the other places for eating and drinking.

Indoors, and year-round, the big-night-out restaurant on the top floor took on new life as SEEN, a concept borrowed from this hotel’s sister in São Paulo, the Tivoli Mofarrej, and brought to life by local star chef Olivier da Costa and Brazilian big-names, award-winning chef William Ribeiro and head bartender Heitor Marin.

Catering to the current desire for the local and the authentic, Tivoli converted the former ground-floor French restaurant into an upscale seafood emporium. Cervejaria Liberdade celebrates the best of Portuguese seafood and other local products with its beguiling views over the tree-lined walkways of Avenida Liberdade.

The spa, already one of the most sophisticated in Lisbon, also got an upgrade. It is now the first Anantara Spa in Lisbon (and one of very few in Europe), and that Asian wellness brand’s influences shine through. Thai trainers came to instruct the therapists in the art of Thai massage and other Eastern therapies. The six treatment rooms include two designed for couples.