As the old saying goes, many hands make light work, and that old chestnut holds very true at Pensão Favorita, which is a collaboration between owners Ema Xavier and Filipe Maia, architect Nuno Sottomayor and French designers Sam Baron and Isabel Abreu, who have put their creative heads together to produce something very harmonious indeed.
Although blessed with an abundance of imaginative quality, the Porto hotel doesn’t go overboard on decoration; objects within the traditional Portuguese property are often painted the same colour as their surroundings, the subtle embellishments hiding in plain sight, such as the wall ornaments and the turned wooden bedside tables. Occasionally when they are designed to stand out they do so very effectively – a carved black clock, an equally intricate light fitting and the tiled floor of the dining area are a few examples, but aside from these sparing moments of ornament, everything is clean, precise and unfussy.
The group’s selective discretion makes for a light and airy little hotel – the Favorita is just 12 rooms – and it’s perfectly placed in the city’s historical centre to boot.
