We arrived in Porto from Lisbon via a train trip that took 2.5 hours and discovered an enchanting UNESCO World Heritage City at the mouth of the Douro River. The city dates back 2,000 years, and for the last three centuries it’s been the home of British wine shippers who transport the wine by river through a rugged, verdant valley studded with grand port wine estates to the Atlantic.

Today, Porto is a bucket-list destination for wine lovers who flock to The Yeatman, a luxurious wine hotel and Relais & Chateaux affiliate opened in 2010. The hotel was a project Adrian Bridge, CEO, The Fladgate Partnership, envisioned and continues to enhance. Its location near established Port wine lodges, including its own newly transformed Taylor’s Visitor Center, faces the historic center across the river and was built to take advantage of the extraordinary panorama.

The hotel is situated on a hillside with floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase the view from public spaces, 83 guestrooms and the hotel’s spa. From my terrace, the hotel pools, restaurants and bars, I savored the vista of the historic Monastery of Serra do Pilar; Maria Pia Bridge, the city’s oldest bridge, built by Gustave Eiffel in 1877; and the Don Luis, built in 1886.

The grand lobby introduces a light and airy, contemporary yet classic interior design. The lobby circles a stunning stairwell that leads to elevators with walls personalized with 360-degree vinyl photos of wine regions, a humidor stocked library, a computer room, a boutique stocked with Port wines and olive oils, and Dick’s Bar where the wine list draws from the hotel’s 25,000-bottle cellar. The restaurant at the Yeatman, where Chef Ricardo Costa offers a pairing from a wine list named “The Best Wine List in Portugal,” was awarded two Michelin stars in 2016.

The enormous guestrooms and suites are named for and decorated by an affiliate winemaker representing all 11 Portuguese wine regions. Our room included a king-sized bed, library, entertainment center, desk, complimentary WiFi and doors leading to a furnished terrace with a gate that led to the pool.

The wine experience is integrated in the Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa. Products and services, such as the wine barrel bath, follow the protocol of the first Caudalie spa in Bordeaux, which discovered the anti-aging properties of grape skins. The two-story spa incorporates a large indoor swimming pool and is linked via a unique spiral staircase within a large wine cask.

Meeting and convention attendees will find the 10 meeting rooms conveniently close to the convention center in the Old Customs House, several Port wine lodges, the Porto Airport and the Estela Golf Course. Taxis and the hotel’s Douro River Taxi are available to visit the ancient city, with its Romanesque architecture, the Portuguese Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara, the Neoclassical Stock Exchange, the azulejo-tiled railroad station and the historic Lello bookshop.

On my next trip, I’ll fly TAP Portugal non-stop from Newark.

The Yeatman, Porto

Rua do Choupelo, 4400-088
Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
tel 351 22 013 3100

By Irvina Lew
Global Traveler