February 10, 2026 | TRAVEL
an OPEN HOUSE in the HEART of LISBON
words Onur Baştürk
One of Lisbon’s most distinctive hotels, Verride Palácio Santa Catarina rises quietly above the city. Set within an 18th-century palace in the Chiado district, the building carries layers of Lisbon’s past—rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, reshaped over time, and eventually reimagined as a hotel by its owner, Kees Eijrond. From the beginning, Eijrond was clear that this would not be a conventional hotel. “For me, it was important that whoever entered the house would feel they were entering the palace of a noble family in Portugal,” he says. “We wanted to bring back the atmosphere of a private city palace. It’s not immense. It has its own proportions.”
SPACE, QUIETNESS, BEAUTY
Spread across 4,000 square metres, Verride Palácio contains just 18 rooms and suites—a decision that deliberately resists efficiency in favour of experience. “Some people strongly suggested dividing the spaces to create more rooms,” Eijrond recalls. “But I said, no. I don’t want numbers. I want beauty. You need space and quietness.”
This philosophy shapes the way the hotel is experienced. Circulation unfolds like a sequence of domestic rooms rather than a traditional hotel layout. There are living rooms instead of lounges, a breakfast room rather than a formal restaurant—spaces designed to be inhabited, not passed through. “I had no experience in making a hotel,” Eijrond admits, “but I understood that space itself had to be felt. Everything is space.”
ARCHITECTURE FIRST
The palace’s transformation was led by architect Teresa Nunes da Ponte, with interiors by Andrea Previ. Moorish arches, finely crafted stucco ceilings, and traditional Portuguese azulejos remain integral to the building, preserving the clarity and restraint of its Pombaline structure.
“I always respect architecture,” Eijrond says. “It’s essential that architecture leads, and decoration follows.” That balance became central to the project. Together, the team worked around three guiding principles: quiet, elegant, and local.
QUIET, ELEGANT, LOCAL
Much of the furniture was designed specifically for the hotel and produced in Lisbon. Art throughout the palace is by Portuguese artists, integrated naturally rather than presented as statements. “Whatever we chose—chairs, tables—I felt it should be made in Portugal,” Eijrond explains. “The level of craftsmanship here is immense.”
The interiors never compete with the building itself. Instead, proportion, material, and light work together to create an atmosphere of calm—one that feels increasingly rare in city hotels.
A PALACE, OPEN TO THE CITY
Verride Palácio Santa Catarina was never intended to be closed off. “Everyone who comes to Lisbon can enter,” Eijrond says. “You don’t have to stay. You can simply ask for a glass of water at reception, and enjoy the beauty.”
That gesture captures the spirit of the place. History here is not staged but lived. Luxury is defined not by excess, but by space, silence, and generosity. More than a hotel, Verride is an open house in the city—a reminder that when heritage is treated with care, it can remain intimate, human, and quietly contemporary.
