With its eclectic world of antiques, curious objects and artworks, Vermelho feels more like an extraordinary gallery—one where every day reveals another detail worth noticing. Each of the hotel's 13 rooms has its own distinct character, and the story behind Vermelho is every bit as compelling as its interiors.

 

Interestingly, Christian Louboutin never intended to open a hotel. It all began when Louboutin left Comporta—where he had bought a house nearly twenty years earlier—and settled in nearby Melides. In Comporta, he had a favourite restaurant he returned to regularly, but in Melides he couldn't find a place that felt the same. A man who enjoys his routines, Louboutin arrived at a simple conclusion: "If it doesn't exist, I'll open one myself."

After buying a plot in the centre of the village for the restaurant, the mayor pointed out that it seemed too large for the project and asked why he wasn't considering a hotel instead.

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That conversation marked the beginning of Vermelho.

 

HOW VERMELHO'S LAYERED WORLD CAME TO LIFE

 

Meaning "red" in Portuguese, Vermelho presents itself from the outside as a restrained building that sits comfortably within Alentejo's architectural tradition. Inside, the hotel unfolds as a richly layered world where different eras, cultures and artistic influences coexist.

 

Louboutin drew on the antiques and objects he had spent years collecting, while inviting many of the artists and craftspeople he has long admired to contribute. To shape the interiors, he reunited with architect Madalena Caiado, who had previously designed his Lisbon home.

 

The result is a natural extension of Louboutin's long-standing eclectic and maximalist sensibility, where periods, styles, materials and colours come together with remarkable freedom. As much of the project took shape during the pandemic, the artists and artisans involved were also able to work without the usual time pressures.

 

A few of them deserve a closer introduction.

 

GIUSEPPE DUCROT'S BESPOKE FAÇADE

 

Among Vermelho's key collaborators is Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ducrot.

 

After seeing the remarkable ceramic fountains Ducrot had created for Le Sirenuse in Positano and La Galerie du Passage in Paris, Louboutin gave him complete creative freedom to design Vermelho's entrance façade.

 

For the hotel, Ducrot conceived a monumental site-specific work integrated directly into the building's architecture. Evoking a stroll through a Baroque or Renaissance garden, the composition is populated with imagined goddesses, caryatids and fresco-like ornamentation.

 

A LONGSTANDING FRIENDSHIP

 

Another key contributor is Konstantin Kakanias, whose friendship with Christian Louboutin spans several decades. Kakanias painted the walls of the Matinha and Bagas suites on the hotel's second floor.

 

"Working with Christian on Vermelho means learning and creating at the same time," he says. "While the hotel is rooted in classical Portuguese architecture, Christian constantly pushes beyond those boundaries, bringing together references from different periods and cultures around the world. The suite I created for Vermelho was largely inspired by Villa Kérylos in the South of France."