The springtime Lisbon is a good place for a stroll, and the drizzle brought some surprising romance to this always sunny city. If you do not want to encounter too many tourists in the Alfama district, the Príncipe Real in Bairro Alto is very ideal. This area is covered with lush green plants, exotic designs and chic and sophisticated restaurants, and more quietude can be expected after the rain.

After going uphill to the top of the hill, a limestone paved road leads people down again, just when you think that this is the end of the road, a greyish white building awaits when you walk down again. The lines are sharp and clean, and on the other side, there is no shelter; blending with the Lisbon scenery, it is just like floating in the air. This white, square building is the frst fvestar hotel in the Príncipe Real area, Memmo Príncipe Real.

The area Of Príncipe Real is part of the Bairro Alto district.It was named after the first son of Queen Maria II of Portugal who once lived here. The Portuguese hotel brand Memmo, famous for its extraordinary design and exquisite details, also named after the Prince Royal, built the brand‘s third hotel on the top of Príncipe Real‘s southern hilltop.

Rodrigo Machaz, founder of Memmo, said: ”We are in a dream industry, not a sleeping industry.” Fascinated by the
scenery on top of the mountain, Rodrigo joined forces with architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho, pushed down an old
equestrians riding centre, and a modern hotel full of traditional craftsmanship was built on top of this, and Portugal‘s spirit of handmade craftsmanship is also duly verified.

The architect Samuel is famous for his presentation of modern design. He is from Portugal and familiar with the
changes of Portugal, and he also delicately combined the modern and the traditional in the design of the hotel. The
hotel‘s fourstory building is covered with white gypsum, while the middle floor uses bright floortoceiling windows and a black structure of industrial style to balance the gypsum‘s rough texture and achieve the overall transparency and visual clarity. In turn, the designers used limestone, an ancient Portuguese building material, to pave the way into the modern building.

A portrait of the Royal Prince welcomes the guests in the lobby and it represents the unique symbol of this area. It is a re creation of the original 19th century Royal Prince portrait by contemporary artist Carlos Barahona Possollo from Portugal.Interestingly, the painting changed the necklace worn by the Royal Prince and the contents of the document into Memmo‘s Logo a chameleon. The place where the Royal Prince looked at also transformed into Lisbon landscape from the outside of the hotel. Choosing such a painting as a business card shows that the unique combination of different elements in the hotel.

The ground floor of the lobby is also paved with limestone and pays tribute to the Portuguese traditional stone industry. Looking up, you can see a gigantic plaster carving artwork on the front wall, commissioned by the hotel‘s ceramic artist Iva Viana. Iva is inspired by the most famous gardens and jasmines in the Royal Princes Garden area, and uses techniques from Portugal‘s 19thcentury palace‘s ceiling plaster molding. She says: ”The fascination with ‘handcrafts‘ and the collision of modern industrial materials and traditional lime casting techniques inspired me to integrate the past and the future.”

The Chameleon is a bit bizarre and lovely as a Hotel Logo. In fact, the Chameleon indicates that the hotel can perfectly integrate into the local site. It also implies the rich and varied colors of Lisbon. If you look closely, Memmo‘s chameleon is filled with multiple thin lines of circles. After staying at Memmo Príncipe Real, we found this Logo is indeed the best representative of the hotel, because it really is deep in local style, colorful, and full of details.

The modernity and coldness of the exterior of the hotel was eased when passing through the curved oakstriped vestibule. From the stairs up, upon arriving at the room, the coldness and fierceness at the beginning turned into a gentle and pleasant tone. The 41 rooms are in line with the overall modern minimalist style of the hotel. Gray green, light green, yellow, light brown, the use of natural colors creates a soothing atmosphere, but also doesn‘t destroy its elegant modern tone by overwarmth. The use of oak strips throughout the room, from the headboard to custom furniture, to the sliding door separating the space, adds a touch of oriental charm to the room. The floortoceiling windows framed by black lines echo the exterior of the hotel and capture all of Lisbon‘s cityscape and Tagus River scenery.

The interior of the room also exhibits a unique craftsmanship.The lamps come from the glass artisans of the seaside town of Marinha Grande. The hotel made a final order before it was completely shut down to commemorate Portugal‘s once proud glass manufacturing industry. The tiles in the washroom all come from an old house, and the hotel reassembles them, preserving the traces of time.

Toiletries in the room were from Armani. Handmade soaps and custom soap boxes on the washstand were small gifts the hotel prepared for the guests. There is a more mysterious gift in the room hidden under a green felt hat on the sofa. The hotel will keep Lisbon‘s event recommendations and tickets at the bottom of the hat, extending an ”invitation” to the guests to go to other good places in Lisbon to better understand the city. Such details are new and affectionate.

”Memmo” means ”memory”. As a brand name, the hotel hopes that guests will be able to bring back the special atmosphere,sound, pictures and feelings when they leave and have a beautiful memory. The memories brought to us by the Memmo Príncipe Real are multidimensional, rich and profound, and we have already begun to wonder, what memories will be created in the other two hotels in Memmo