One of the Douro's most arresting riverfront compositions belongs to an eighteenth-century baroque palace that spent much of its life as a royal hunting retreat before Pestana Palácio do Freixo claimed it as the anchor of a 90-room hotel. The Palácio do Freixo itself, attributed to the Italian-trained architect Nicolau Nasoni — who also gave Porto the Torre dos Clérigos — presents a white-rendered baroque facade of considerable confidence, its ornate stonework and formal terraced gardens stepping down to the river's edge. Alongside it, a converted industrial flour mill, its salmon-pink rendered walls and surviving brick chimney stack visible from the opposite bank, provides a counterpoint that is less jarring than it sounds: the two structures are joined by the logic of adaptive reuse rather than stylistic harmony. Inside the palace, the dining room makes the sharpest impression: Nasoni's plasterwork ceiling medallions and painted oval panels survive intact overhead, while a boldly striped parquet floor in deep burgundy and honey tones — a contemporary intervention — runs the length of the room beneath white leather tub chairs and lacquered black tables. The guest rooms in the mill wing, by contrast, are crisply contemporary, their palette built from olive-green bed bases, burgundy lacquered desks, and warm sand carpeting. An infinity pool cantilevered over the Douro terrace, framed by the palace's original balustrade, completes the picture — baroque stonework and river traffic sharing the same sightline.

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Located in the city of Porto, 3 km from the centre of one of Portugal’s most vibrant regions, the Palácio do Freixo, classified in 1910 as a National Monument, is a unique example of Baroque architecture, with about 10 thousand m2 of gardens and green spaces offering breathtaking views of the River Douro. The setting of an excellent Urban Resort, it is a member of the exclusive consortium The Leading Hotels of the World and provides you with an unparalleled experience that marries traditional values with contemporary comfort. The Pestana Palácio do Freixo is characterised by its sumptuous eighteenth century architecture. It was built by Nicolau Nasoni, one of the most important architects that helped Porto become a World Heritage Site.