Built from a 500-year-old small palace, the façade keeps the large wooden doors, the large windows surmounted by triangular pediments, wrought iron balconies and stonework emblazoned with a 16th-century coat of arms; Samuel Torres de Carvalho, the hotel’s architect, sought out to protect the origins of the building while also "contemporizing" it.
The old stables have been transformed into the hotel entrance. The floor and staircase have been revived and the original granite slabs remain. The hotel is adorned with other odes to the past including tiles, windows, original stone decorative motifs and an old kitchen oven that connects the mansion building to the hotel's new wing. Accommodations include 55 rooms in the new building and 11 in the old mansion. Seven room types are available for different experiences, offering beds (most over six-feet wide), and all the PortoBay amenities. Large windows and balconies available on the upper floors offer views of restored houses, including Porto Cathedral, which extends down to the Douro River.
