If you just want a comfortable hotel in Coimbra, with an excellent central location - adjacent to the downtown shopping district and close to the famous university and all the historic monuments - and...
If you just want a comfortable hotel in Coimbra, with an excellent central location - adjacent to the downtown shopping district and close to the famous university and all the historic monuments - and with great river views, the Astória is an excellent choice.
If, in addition, you like architecture, this hotel is a dream come true : it was built in the 1920s and although it has some modern comfort, the style, interior and exterior, was kept intact. The furniture, decoration, even the elevator, are gloriously original. Entering the hotel is entering a bygone era: a fascinating experience .The marble lobby is amazing and so is the grand paneled restaurant and the charming living room left from the front desk and the elevator. Everything is so original that you have the feeling that you have the feeling that you arrived in a scene from the Great Gatsby and that is awesome! It occupies an Art Nouveau building, which is one of the citys architectural symbols, and has welcomed guests since 1926, in a perfect period environment that preserves as its main characteristic. It has 62 rooms with magnificent views over the river and the Santa Clara Convent or over the picturesque houses of Alta.
Its imposing façade and its public areas, highlighting the lobby with its marbles, its wrought irons and its modernist windows, to the refined living room “Anos 20”, to its majestic restaurant with its beautiful wood panels , for the original elevator, also made of wood and still in operation, constitute a journey into a bygone era. In the rooms, the furniture from the beginning of the hotel, the high ceilings, the decorative radiators and the ancient and deep bathtubs, are also excellent examples of the period.
Everything is so original and so painstakingly preserved that it gives us the feeling of stepping back in time and stepping into the Great Gatsby setting, which makes Astória the place to lodge lovers of something other than the boring hotels that can be found anywhere in the world – but if you dont appreciate antiques, this is certainly not the hotel for you.
The place recalls a bygone era and is perfect for a nostalgic escape in this charming city, so if you appreciate the “old world”, enjoy this journey back in time and let yourself fall in love with Coimbra!