Review of Lapa Palace, by Sue Carpenter

The luxury hotel Lapa Palace in Lisbon is set amid the quiet cobbled streets of the residential embassy district. This resplendent 1870 mansion was bought by the Orient-Express group in 1998 and revamped with the kind of glitz and gleam that appeals to European royalty, Rod Stewart, Sting, Cher, Bono, John Malkovich and Catherine Deneuve and Paul McCartney and family (who felt so at home that they stayed on an extra couple of nights).

The facilities

There's a buzz about the public spaces within the luxury hotel, which appeal to both residents and outside guests who like to feel in with the in crowd - the Cipriani has been voted by Zagat as best restaurant in Lisbon for its contemporary Italian and Portuguese cuisine, Bar Rio Tejo is akin to an English tea room specialising in 50 varieties of tea and summer tea cocktails, and there's a reading room with blackamoors and sofas for you to sink into with your glossy mag.

The luxury hotel's appeal spreads from businessmen and politicos, who enjoy the business center and meeting office, to well groomed tourists and their kids, who like the chic resort feel within a city setting. The lush gardens, complete with pond, waterfall and swimming pool, mean you can flop on a sun-lounger after a hard day's sightseeing - or alternatively head into the swanky new Wellness Centre for a massage, work-out, steam bath, sauna or beauty treatment with La Prairie products.

The rooms

The 109 rooms of the luxury hotel include 22 individually decorated rooms and suites in the original palace, 14 rooms in the Italianate villa (formerly the stables), some with their own mini gardens, and standard rooms in the 1992 garden wing. Basic rooms are, as you would expect from a luxury hotel, very comfortable and well appointed with terraces or balconies, while the deluxe rooms and suites are more romantic, many with restored antiques from the original palace. The Tower Room is the one honeymooners go for, with its pop-up TV at the end of the bed, Jacuzzi for two, and a private turret, where you can dine al fresco with a panorama of the city. The Royal Suite is the prettiest, in pastel rococo style.

All rooms within the luxury hotel come equipped with safes, two telephone lines, high-speed internet et al, while the marble bathrooms have double sinks, separate shower and bath and either Helleboro or La Prairie toiletries.