Heritage

I didn’t imagine I’d be blogging about the hotels we are staying in, but the boutique hotels of the Back Roads tours are worth a mention.

The first is the Heritage Hotel Avenida Liberdade, Lisbon.

The hotel has been tastefully restored and refurbished. The staff are wonderful. There’s a doorman in a red jacket.

Rather grand rooms:

Chunky bathroom ware:

Bathrobes behind the door:

In the lobby a greyhound sits by a spiral staircase

which leads to a mezzanine library – with board games you can play.

In the lobby, you can relax and enjoy, free of charge, coffee, tea, juice, snacks (including the famous Portuguese custard tarts), and a choice of Muscatel or Port wine.

These drawers behind the reception desk remain from the days the building was a herbalist’s.

Here’s a cosy corner of the lobby:

The wall tiles are original.

On the theme of “travelling light”, I noticed this discrepancy in luggage sizes as we checked out:

Yes, that’s my wee suitcase, hidden behind the others! At least there are only eight people on our tour, so we have room to spread out in the minibus.