Only ten make the cut. Lisbon rewards choosing the right hill. These are the ten hotels we would put our own money on, from a Chiado landmark to a palace above the river.
9.7/10
3,100+ Expedia guest reviews of the 9 hotels we list
Average of the guest scores Expedia publishes, weighted by review count; read 22 October 2026.
Lisbon, PortugalBetter Fit
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Editor’s note
Lisbon rewards the right neighbourhood more than the right hotel, so this edit starts from where you will wake up. We favoured places with a real rooftop or garden, because the city is loud and steep and a quiet place to sit at six o’clock changes the whole trip.
The Better Trip Editorial Team · Travel industry experts
What changed
Not a rankingTen hotels, one at a time.
The Lisbon hotel that gets location, character and a rooftop right all at once.
Why go. Souto de Moura rebuild, calm rooms with real Portuguese character.
The catch. Rooms facing the square hear Bairro Alto nightlife and the tram until late. Read it →
€€€€From about €525 a night
A twenty-odd-room palace with a garden and pool where the owners' taste sets the tone.
Why go. Owner-led service that guests mention by name.
The catch. Rates now sit firmly in the upper band for a small hotel whose spa is two treatment rooms. Read it →
€€€€From about €550 a night
A small, independent house on a quiet square that most visitors never find.
Why go. A courtyard with a centenary olive tree, rare at this price.
The catch. Not central: Chiado is downhill and the return is a climb, a taxi or the 758 bus. Read it →
€€From about €250 a night
The grand hotel of Lisbon: full service, a serious spa and a rooftop running track.
Why go. Michelin-starred Cura and the famous Varanda buffet.
The catch. The location is grand rather than atmospheric; old Lisbon is a walk or a taxi away. Read it →
€€€€From about €1,085 a night
A contemporary hotel with the best terrace view in Príncipe Real, at a fair price.
Why go. Café Príncipe Real, a restaurant locals actually use.
The catch. Not every room has the view; the entry category is sold without one. Read it →
€€From about €250 a night
The Comporta group's city house: residential, discreet and away from the crowds.
Why go. Courtyards and terraces in a residential quarter.
The catch. Not central; expect taxis or a long walk to the old town. Read it →
€€€From about €350 a night
Nineteen rooms inside a 15th-century palace on the cobbles of Alfama, below the castle.
Why go. Steps from the castle and the Santa Luzia viewpoint.
The catch. No parking in the old quarter; without the hotel's paid transfer, luggage goes up cobbled lanes. Read it →
€€From about €285 a night
An 18th-century palace at the top of the Glória funicular, with wine as the house theme.
Why go. Chiado, Bairro Alto and Príncipe Real all on foot.
The catch. Bairro Alto nightlife brings noise to street-facing rooms, especially at weekends. Read it →
€€From about €235 a night
Eighteen rooms in a palace above the river, with a rooftop that settles the argument.
Why go. Beside the most loved sunset viewpoint in the city.
The catch. The miradouro crowd below is loud on summer evenings; ask about room position. Read it →
€€€€From about €660 a night
Hand-picked: only the best, one version of each, researched so you don’t have to.
Questions people ask
None of the ten is "the best". Each is the best for a different reason, and that reason is the tag on its card. Answer three questions in Better Fit and it will pick the one for you.
None of our ten is built for that; Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon comes closest.
Hotel das Amoreiras. A small, independent house on a quiet square that most visitors never find.
Chiado and Príncipe Real are the sensible default: central, walkable, close to the best restaurants and served by the metro. Chiado holds the Bairro Alto Hotel and The Ivens; Príncipe Real, fourteen minutes uphill, is quieter and greener, with Palácio Príncipe Real and Memmo Príncipe Real. Verride Palácio Santa Catarina and Palácio Ludovice take the viewpoints above both, trading a harder walk home for the river. Alfama is the postcard, and the trade is real. You get the old city at dawn and after dark, and you lose the car, the flat streets and the easy evening options; Santiago de Alfama is the address here that takes it on. Avenida da Liberdade and the Parque Eduardo VII end of town is flatter, calmer and a taxi ride from most of what you came for; it suits grand-hotel trips more than first visits, and the Four Seasons Ritz is its landmark. Amoreiras, west again, is residential and unhurried: Hotel das Amoreiras, Sublime Lisboa.
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
Chiado and Príncipe Real are the sensible default: central, walkable, close to the best restaurants and served by the metro. Chiado holds the Bairro Alto Hotel and The Ivens; Príncipe Real, fourteen minutes uphill, is quieter and greener, with Palácio Príncipe Real and Memmo Príncipe Real. Verride Palácio Santa Catarina and Palácio Ludovice take the viewpoints above both, trading a harder walk home for the river. Alfama is the postcard, and the trade is real. You get the old city at dawn and after dark, and you lose the car, the flat streets and the easy evening options; Santiago de Alfama is the address here that takes it on. Avenida da Liberdade and the Parque Eduardo VII end of town is flatter, calmer and a taxi ride from most of what you came for; it suits grand-hotel trips more than first visits, and the Four Seasons Ritz is its landmark. Amoreiras, west again, is residential and unhurried: Hotel das Amoreiras, Sublime Lisboa.
Humberto Delgado is seven kilometres out, so arrival is rarely the problem. The red metro line starts at the terminal and reaches Baixa-Chiado in 20 to 30 minutes with one change, and a single is 1.72 euros on a navegante card. A taxi takes the same time, and from 15 October 2026 the arrivals rank is due to charge fixed fares: 19 euros by day on weekdays and 23 at night, at weekends and on national holidays to eight of these hotels, or 16 and 20 to the Four Seasons and Sublime Lisboa. In town a 24-hour Carris and metro ticket is 7.25 euros and covers the trams. Do not hire a car: parking is scarce, the lanes in Alfama and Bairro Alto were not built for one, and everything is walkable or a short ride away.
May, June, September and October are the months to aim for. August is hot and thin, highs near 28 degrees; January is mild rather than cold, about 15 degrees, with roughly fourteen wet days, and November is wetter still. Two dates have a reputation for pushing prices up. The Festas de Lisboa peak on the night of 12 to 13 June, when the Marchas Populares come down Avenida da Liberdade and Alfama, Mouraria and Graça become street parties until dawn, so book months out or avoid it. Web Summit, 9 to 12 November in 2026, is the autumn one, though it moves hotel rates less than its reputation suggests.
Three nights is the least that does not feel rushed, four is better, and five lets you leave town twice. Sintra is 40 minutes by train from Rossio and deserves a full day, not a morning. Cascais is 40 minutes from Cais do Sodré, with trains every 20 minutes through the day. Given a week, split rather than stretch: four nights here, then Comporta or the Alentejo.
The honest part. Lisbon is steep, and wherever you sleep a hill stands between you and something. The Glória funicular up to Bairro Alto has been out of service since September 2025 and will not be replaced before 2029. Noise is the recurring theme in feedback across Bairro Alto and Alfama, nightlife on one side and trams on the other, so ask about room position before you ask about anything else. Tram 28 is a working tram before it is an attraction, and in season you will queue and stand. And prices have climbed hard since 2019. What was a 180-euro boutique is now 300 in shoulder season, so the from figures here are low-season entry rates and the summer reality is higher.
Image credits: Expedia Group Creator Toolbox · Palácio Príncipe Real
