Indian Ocean and Africa
Middle East and the Americas
Every hotel we shortlist170 hotels, one listFilter by place, by what each hotel is best for, and by the judges behind it.Browse all hotelsJourneys
Rail · 5 trains
Luxury train journeys
Five great trains, from the Orient Express to the Andes.
Read the guide
Cities · 1 perfect day
One day in Rome
Sunrise to midnight: the walk, the tasting menus and a view of St Peter's.
Read the guide
Islands · 12 months
The Maldives, month by month
When the sea is glass, when the mantas come, and when the price halves.
Read the guide
Wild · Jul to Oct
The Great Migration
Where two million animals will be, and where you should be waiting.
Read the guide
Rail · London to Venice
The Orient Express
When it runs, what each cabin costs, and the best month to board.
Read the guide
Flights · Door to door
Emirates business class
From the car at your door in London to the lights of Dubai, in ten moments.
Read the guide
The Shortlist
Clifftop resorts on the Algarve, wine estates in the Alentejo and the Douro, and grand old hotels in Lisbon and Madeira: the Portuguese hotels independent judges rate highest, and who should book somewhere else.
Photo: Unsplash
The short answer
The best hotels in Portugal are as much about the land as the coast: clifftop resorts on the Algarve, wine estates and farmhouses in the Alentejo and the Douro Valley, and grand old addresses in Lisbon, Sintra and Madeira. Our 2026 shortlist has 18 hotels, each holding a MICHELIN Key in the 2026 selection, most of them two or three. The most decorated are Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, Bairro Alto Hotel and Vermelho Melides. Outside Lisbon and Porto, plan on a car.
Shortlisted means chosen on research: a Michelin Key or Forbes Travel Guide rating, or praise from two independent publications, each linked below. We have not stayed at these hotels yet. Read how we choose.
The capital and its hills
Lisbon is hills, trams and tiled facades above the Tagus, with the best food and nightlife in the country. Sintra, half an hour west, is palaces in the forest above the Atlantic, and the resort hotels sit in the national park between Sintra and Cascais.
Shortlisted 2026
A Ritz-Carlton resort in the hills of the natural park, with seven places to eat, two with a Michelin star, and Three MICHELIN Keys.
204 rooms and suites. Pools: several indoor and outdoor pools; no beach on site.
Shortlisted 2026
A grand city hotel, the only Forbes Five-Star hotel in Portugal, with Two MICHELIN Keys and CURA, a Michelin-starred restaurant.
282 rooms and suites. Pools: an 18-metre indoor pool and a seasonal outdoor pool.
Shortlisted 2026
A boutique hotel in the middle of old Lisbon, walkable to almost everything, with One MICHELIN Key.
87 rooms and suites. Pools: no pool.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Rice fields, wine estates and long lunches
South of Lisbon, Comporta and Melides are pine woods, rice fields and long, empty Atlantic beaches. Inland, the Alentejo is rolling cork-oak country, white villages and wine estates, where the best hotels are converted farms and quintas.
Shortlisted 2026
Christian Louboutin's own hotel, 13 rooms in his village, with Two MICHELIN Keys.
13 rooms. Pools: a heated outdoor pool, seasonal.
Shortlisted 2026
Rooms and villas among the pines and rice fields, with One MICHELIN Key and a place on the Condé Nast Traveller Gold List 2024.
Rooms, suites and villas. Pools: outdoor and indoor pools, plus a beach club.
Shortlisted 2026
A restored family farm village with rooms, suites and cottages, with One MICHELIN Key, voted the best hotel in Portugal by Condé Nast Traveller readers in 2026.
About 40 rooms, suites and cottages. Pools: pool with a pool bar.
Shortlisted 2026
A wine estate with its own vineyards and Alentejo cooking, with Two MICHELIN Keys.
About 19 rooms. Pools: indoor pool and a seasonal outdoor pool.
Shortlisted 2026
A wine estate in the deep Alentejo with three restaurants, with Two MICHELIN Keys.
About 20 rooms and suites. Pools: outdoor pool.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Golden cliffs and the best restaurants on the coast
The Algarve is Portugal's sunny south coast: golden cliffs, sea caves and sheltered coves, with the warmest sea in the country from June to September. It is also busy, so the best hotels are the ones with their own stretch of cliff or beach.
Shortlisted 2026
A clifftop resort with its own beach and Ocean, a restaurant with two Michelin stars, holding Three MICHELIN Keys and voted the best resort in the rest of Europe by Condé Nast Traveller readers in 2026.
A large resort of rooms, suites and villas. Pools: several pools, and the clifftop villas have their own infinity pools.
Shortlisted 2026
A 13-room villa hotel built around its own restaurant with two Michelin stars, with Two MICHELIN Keys.
13 rooms and suites. Pools: indoor and outdoor pools.
Shortlisted 2026
A historic house above the beach with Vista, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and Two MICHELIN Keys.
38 rooms, plus 20 in the Garden House. Pools: a seasonal outdoor pool.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Port, vinho verde and river valleys
Porto is the north's handsome old city on the Douro, with the port lodges across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia. Upstream, the Douro Valley is terraced vineyards and quintas, at its best for the September harvest, and the green hills of the Minho make vinho verde.
Shortlisted 2026
A hillside estate among the vines above the Douro, with Two MICHELIN Keys and a top-three place among resorts in Spain and Portugal in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards 2025.
71 rooms, suites and villas. Pools: heated indoor and outdoor pools.
Shortlisted 2026
A manor house above the river that makes its own vinho verde, new to Two MICHELIN Keys in 2026, with Largo do Paço, a Michelin-starred restaurant.
35 rooms. Pools: indoor pool and a seasonal garden pool.
Shortlisted 2026
A boutique hotel with Vinha, Henrique Sá Pessoa's Michelin-starred restaurant, and Two MICHELIN Keys.
38 rooms. Pools: a large indoor pool and a seasonal outdoor pool.
Shortlisted 2026
A converted convent above the town with Oculto, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and Two MICHELIN Keys.
87 rooms. Pools: a seasonal outdoor infinity pool and an indoor pool.
Shortlisted 2026
A grand old palace hotel with its own 18-hole golf course, with Two MICHELIN Keys.
About 70 rooms. Pools: an indoor pool and a seasonal outdoor pool.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Year-round sun in the Atlantic
Madeira is an Atlantic island of cliffs, levada walks and gardens, mild all year, with Funchal's old hotels built on the cliffs above the sea. It is the one place on this list that works well in winter.
Shortlisted 2026
Madeira's famous grand hotel on the cliffs above the sea, with William, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and Two MICHELIN Keys.
158 rooms and suites. Pools: three outdoor pools, and access to the sea from the cliffs.
Shortlisted 2026
A hotel within a hotel, with its own infinity pool and pool suites, and Two MICHELIN Keys.
43 rooms and suites. Pools: infinity pool and an indoor pool; pool suites have their own plunge pools.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Coming in 2027
None of the hotels above carries our second stamp yet. Hotels we stay at earn the Stayed and verified stamp, with what we found written down and any hosted stay disclosed. Run a hotel on this list? See how verification works.
If you want one beach, one pool and nothing to organise, Portugal's best hotels will make you drive: the wine estates and the Alentejo farmhouses are an hour or two from the nearest city, and the Algarve's top resorts sit in busy holiday towns. If you won't hire a car, base yourself in Lisbon, Porto or Funchal. Pick your month first with our guide to the best time to visit Portugal.
Questions people ask
Our 2026 shortlist has 18 hotels, each with a MICHELIN Key. The two Three Key hotels in Portugal are both on it: Vila Vita Parc in the Algarve and Penha Longa Resort near Sintra. Casa da Calçada in Amarante is new to Two Keys this year.
Two or three nights in Lisbon, with a day in Sintra, then either the beach or the wine. For the beach, the Algarve from June to September, or Comporta for something quieter. For wine, the Douro Valley in September for the harvest, or the Alentejo for open country and long lunches.
Vila Vita Parc and Vila Joya in the Algarve both have restaurants with two Michelin stars. Penha Longa has two one-star restaurants, and Bela Vista, Casa da Calçada, The Lince, Vinha and Reid's Palace each have one, as does the Four Seasons Ritz in Lisbon.
For most of them, yes. The Alentejo estates, the Douro hotels and Comporta all assume you have a car or a driver. In Lisbon, Porto's riverside and Funchal you can manage without one, and the Algarve resorts run shuttles to their beaches.
The Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, which also holds Two MICHELIN Keys. It is a grand city hotel rather than a resort, with an indoor pool and a seasonal outdoor one.
Not yet. Every hotel on the 2026 list is Shortlisted on research. Hotels we stay at will carry the Stayed and verified stamp, and any hosted stay will be disclosed on the page.
When to goPortugal, month by monthAt its best: Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct.
Pair it withMorocco, month by monthAt its best: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov.
Pair it withCroatia, month by monthAt its best: Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct.
Where to stayCroatia: the shortlist12 hotels, each one recognised by named judges.