Visiting a city during the colder and rainy season means spending less time outside. Tourists tend to go to more museums than they would on warm and sunny days, and also end up retreating back to their hotels earlier. For that reason, making the most appropriate hotel choice at this time of the year is even more important. The perfect “winter hotel” is one that is itself a destination, that is also a cultural or sightseeing attraction. It should be in a central location, within a short walking distance to major sights and transportation so you don’t spend too much time running in the rain. In Lisbon, these are the choices to consider:

ALTIS BELÉM
With rooms overlooking the river between two of the city’s icons (the Discoveries Monument and Belém Tower), you’re experiencing Lisbon right from your bed. You won’t get too wet if it rains, as those monuments are just steps away, as is a number of museums across the street. The hotel also has some of the city’s best dining options, meaning you don’t even have to go far for memorable meals.

JERONIMOS 8
Facing the city’s must-see monument (Jeronimos Monastery), this hotel places you right by many of Lisbon’s main attractions. The free Berardo Museum or the popular Coaches Museum are just around the corner, and you may also spend a rainy afternoon enjoying the famous custard tarts at the café Antiga Confeitaria de Belém nearby.

AS JANELAS VERDES
The former home of 19th-century novelist Eça de Queiroz is now this charming boutique hotel which includes a library, perfect for rainy days. One of the city’s most important cultural attractions is just down the street, the Ancient Art Museum.

HOTEL DO CHIADO
It’s one of the city’s most central hotels, within walking distance to the best shops, cafés and restaurants. A metro station is also just around the corner. Even better is that the rooftop bar and many of the rooms offer city views which means you may still admire Lisbon even if bad weather keeps you inside.

PALACIO BELMONTE
At this hotel you’re at the doorstep of the city’s castle and you’ll have a privileged view of almost the entire old town all for yourself. Many of the suites come with breathtaking vistas, making you actually want to spend a lot of time indoors.

THERE’S A LOT GOING ON
After months at the beach Lisbon gets ready to enjoy city life again in the fall. There are the regular events that happen every year at this time (most of them film festivals), but 2011 is also a year of ExperimentaDesign, the city’s design biennale. It’s already happening throughout the city and will continue until November 27.
Also related to contemporary creativity is the upcoming Lisbon Fashion Week, taking place from the 6th to the 9th of October. Then come the film festivals, with the first one being DocLisboa dedicated to documentaries, from October 20th to 30th. Then in November is the Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival, taking place in the capital and in the seaside suburb of Estoril from November 4th to the 13th. At the end of that month is the annual contemporary art fair Arte Lisboa, from the 23rd to the 27th.

THE PRICES ARE INVITING
As soon as August is over, the prices for accommodation in Lisbon go down. September is still considered medium-high season, but after October you can even find a few 5-star hotels for around 100 euros. You may also find some special deals when booking online, and even more incredibly affordable are the many apartments in the center of the city which through GoLisbon are available for as little as €21.25 per person.

IT’S STILL WARM
It can be rainy in late October and November but may still be warm enough for a t-shirt. The forecast for the first two weeks of October show sun and temperatures in the mid-80s to high-70sF (25 to 30C). They won’t drop so drastically in the days after that, so expect mild weather until December when the rest of Europe will already be freezing.

If not booked early enough, it may be hard to find a hotel room in Lisbon during the high seasons or whenever there’s a major festival or conference in town. If you find yourself looking for reasonably-priced accommodation in the city when there are no more hotel rooms available, you shouldn’t give up on your trip and instead consider other options — and Lisbon offers plenty of them. The city’s central districts are still home to literally hundreds of decaying buildings, but many of them have now been renovated, others were completely rebuilt, and several are now rented out to tourists. With so many hotels found in the soulless business districts, these apartments really offer the best central and charming locations and, needless to say, much more space and privacy.
Another option is to consider staying in a hostel. In Lisbon a hostel doesn’t necessarily mean shared rooms and loud 20-somethings. The city has repeatedly been recognized as having the world’s best hostels, and many of them offer private rooms and welcome all age groups. Two of them just opened recently, and both are in excellent locations. Rossio Patio is housed in the landmark Rossio Station (meaning you can go straight from your bed to the train to Sintra), and The Independente faces one of the city’s most romantic sites, the viewpoint São Pedro de Alcântara.

But the best alternative to a hotel really is an apartment, and the ones rented out to tourists in Lisbon are all conformably-furnished and fully equipped. The difference between each one is therefore just the number of guests they can accommodate and the location. The neighborhood you choose will depend on the experience you’d like to have. Apartments in Chiado are perfect for those who want to stay in the center of the action, in the city’s liveliest neighborhood, for shopping and cafés. The apartments in Bairro Alto are best for night owls, or young people who don’t get much sleep at night, preferring to stay in bed until later in the morning after a night of drinking in the many neighborhood bars.
Those who choose one of the apartments in Alfama will be experiencing life as a local, in a neighborhood where life goes on as it has for centuries, where neighbors all greet each other in the morning, in a medieval atmosphere now gone from most other big cities in Europe.
The apartments in Baixa will probably be perfect for those who need complete silence at night, as although this is the city’s downtown, it becomes deserted at night when all the businesses close.
Finally, the apartments in Parque das Nações probably offer the most modern spaces, although guests will have to take the metro to reach most of the attractions downtown. Still, Parque das Nações itself offers a number of sights to see, including the Oceanarium.
So whether you choose a hostel or an apartment, you can be sure to find the perfect roof over your head for your nights in Lisbon at any time of the year.

After suggesting 10 romantic spots for romance in Lisbon, we can now recommend five romantic places to stay in the city if you choose it as your destination for Valentine’s Day or honeymoon:

PESTANA PALACE HOTEL
The favorite celebrity hotel in Lisbon is found halfway between the district of Belém where the main landmarks and museums are found and downtown‘s shopping and restaurants. However, you’ll likely end up staying in the hotel for a large part of the day, thanks to its beautiful gardens, fantastic spa and swimming pool (there’s also a heated indoor pool for the winter).

YORK HOUSE HOTEL
This hotel’s restaurant is one of the city’s favorite thanks to its fine cuisine and lovely garden, and it offers a special menu for Valentine’s Day. It’s just one more excuse to also book a stay in the hotel, whether in the more contemporary or more classic rooms.

SOLAR DO CASTELO
Sleep surrounded by thousand-year-old walls at this hotel inside Lisbon’s ancient castle. The building itself dates from the 18th century and has a beautiful tiled terrace, often visited by peacocks from the castle. The rooms offer old-world elegance and the city’s most romantic viewpoints are just a very short walk away.

AS JANELAS VERDES HOTEL
The location is ideal for a romantic stay: in a central but tranquil neighborhood, and just a few feet away from one of the city’s biggest cultural attractions, the Ancient Art Museum. It’s the former home of acclaimed Portuguese novelist Eça de Queiroz, offering intimate rooms and a romantic patio garden.

LAPA PALACE HOTEL
It’s perhaps the most popular honeymoon hotel in Lisbon, thanks to its romantic rooms, and especially the suite with its own private terrace with spectacular views of the city and river. The restaurant serves excellent international cuisine in a palatial dining room.

Found in a 19th century building in the Chiado district, Lisb’On is Lisbon’s newest hostel and at least judging from its living room, it’s quite possibly the most beautiful in the city. That spacious room has a beautiful stucco ceiling with an enormous chandelier, and is tastefully decorated. At the center is a pool table and against one of the walls are four computers offering internet access.
The rest of the interior is divided into multiple-guest dormitories, double rooms, and a suite, as well as a kitchen and terrace offering views of the river and 25 de Abril Bridge.
The rooms are air-conditioned (quite rare in low-budget accommodation in the city) and are named after local icons and personalities.
There is also laundry service available.
For full details and booking information see here: Lisb’On Hostel

Located in one of Lisbon’s most charming and tranquil neighborhoods (that is surprisingly without any hotels), Hotel da Estrela has just opened. It has 13 rooms, six suites and three meeting rooms, as well as a bar and a restaurant. It’s a very unique hotel because it’s part of a tourism school, although it’s run by professionals offering 4-star service (it’s also part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World brand).
The interior is by one of Portugal’s most renowned designers, Miguel Câncio Martins, who’s worked on several high-profile hotels, bars and restaurants around the world.
Guests will see Estrela park and the dome of Estrela Basilica down the street from the hotel, and the famous tram 28 passes right by.
You can get complete hotel information and booking details here: Hotel da Estrela
For all other hotel choices in Lisbon, see our Lisbon hotels guide.

Lisbon has had three new hotels opening in the last couple of months, all of them located in the center of the city and at reasonable prices. One of them is even a new concept, a “low cost” hotel that’s somewhere between a standard hotel and a hostel:

INSPIRA SANTA MARTA HOTEL

The just-opened Inspira Santa Marta is a stylish hotel just a short walk from Avenida da Liberdade in central Lisbon. Although it’s opened with only the superior rooms available, all the others will open by next month, also when the spa and gym become ready to receive guests.
Each room was designed following Feng Shui concepts and have a contemporary look.  You get free wireless internet service, but (unusually for Lisbon) no breakfast (that’s 7.50 per person). There is also a lounge and a restaurant serving Mediterranean cuisine.
Complete details and booking: INSPIRA SANTA MARTA HOTEL

EVIDÊNCIA LIGHT SANTA CATARINA HOTEL

The low-cost airline concept has been applied to accommodation at this new hotel. That means how much you pay depends on what you want to get. Located at the doorstep of the popular Bairro Alto district next to the Santa Catarina viewpoint, Evidência Light Santa Catarina is like a transition between a standard hotel and a hostel, offering 13 double rooms with private bathroom, 3 triple rooms with private bathroom, and a dorm with 14 beds and separate bathrooms (one for each gender). That last room accommodates individuals or groups and it works just like a hostel.
Each room has a colorful design, and you get a bed, linen, and a towel, but not breakfast. Not serving a free breakfast allows it to be “low cost” accommodation, and you only get a new towel and linen every 3 days (you pay if you’d like extras before that). If you feel like an early morning or midnight snack, there are some available 24 hours a day on a vending machine.
There is also a lounge area with free wireless internet, a bar, a wonderful courtyard to catch some sun, and a “mini library.”
Complete details and booking: EVIDÊNCIA LIGHT SANTA CATARINA HOTEL

CS VINTAGE LISBOA HOTEL

This new 56-room hotel just opened not far from Avenida da Liberdade, Lisbon’s main, central avenue. It also offers a restaurant and two bars, and soon it will include a spa with different treatment rooms, gym, and indoor heated pool. Wireless internet and a breakfast buffet is included in the price.
This is 5-star accommodation but prices for a double room are as low as 100 euros. Each room is elegantly decorated with a certain classic/vintage look.
Complete details and booking: CS VINTAGE LISBOA HOTEL

It’s been widely reported that Lisbon has the world’s best hostels and just a couple of days ago a new one opened as a strong contender to one of the top spots in the “world’s best” list. It has the rather pompous name of “Royal Lisbon Hostel” and it does automatically score points for its location on Largo do Camões, one of the city’s most central squares connecting its two most popular neighborhoods, Chiado and Bairro Alto.
Inside you’ll find everything you expect from a modern hostel, from spacious lockers for your belongings to comfortable beds. As at most other hostels, the bathrooms are shared but divided by gender. Prices are of course quite affordable, and it also allows you to save further by letting you prepare your own meals in the kitchen. You can enjoy them in the dining room before moving to the lounge area with views over the square, watching over the cafés and busy life of the surroundings. That’s also where you can access the wireless internet before stepping right into Lisbon’s vibrant street life.
This is no 5-star accommodation, but its privileged location, brand-new facilities, relaxed ambience, and affordability make it a luxury option for budget travelers.
Complete details and booking information here: Royal Lisbon Hostel

Portugal’s Madeira Island is known as “the garden of the Atlantic,” but that idyllic subtropical paradise was last February 20 the victim of a major storm (perhaps the worst on record) that left over forty people dead and much infrastructure damaged. However, the area where most of the hotels are located was left largely unaffected, and the island has been cleaned up and is picking itself up to continue to share its beautiful setting and serene atmosphere with the world. It therefore continues to be the perfect place for a rejuvenating getaway right now, with wonderful hotels offering breathtaking views and special pampering services. Here are a few of the best which include special rooms, views, and spa:

QUINTA SPLENDIDA
With views of the Atlantic and a botanical garden, this hotel has a contemporary, Asian-inspired ambience. Its spa offers special services for couples, or you can enjoy a massage or luxurious treatment all by yourself. The hotel also has a small golf course and 25 spa suites for a truly splendid stay.

CHOUPANA HILLS
This nature-inspired design hotel has a health and beauty spa with hot stone massages and aromatherapy among other treatments. It also includes a Turkish bath, sauna and heated indoor pool, as well as yoga classes, all at prices starting at 40 euros. The hotel overlooks the city of Funchal and the Atlantic, and is surrounded by a subtropical garden with over 200 plant species.

CS MADEIRA ATLANTIC
You can say that the Atlantic that surrounds the island is the inspiration for this spa hotel. All of its treatments are water-based, allowing their healing powers to do their magic on your mind and body. There are 14 treatment rooms and four outdoor pools, so you’ll always find space to relax in peace.

Downtown Lisbon has a new hotel. It’s the third to open in the past year, after Vincci Baixa and Gat Rossio. This one is called Altis Avenida and is also a 4-star boutique-style hotel. It has one of the best locations in the city, facing Restauradores Square and therefore also just around the corner from the bustling Rossio, with most of the rooms offering beautiful views. Some of them face Restauradores, while others look over Rossio all the way to the river.
The building was built in the 1940s and has been fully renovated. While the interior is contemporary, it is slightly inspired by 1940s glamour when Lisbon was a neutral safe haven for exiled nobility during WWII.
In total there are 72 rooms, with the top floor reserved for a restaurant and a terrace bar overlooking all of downtown.
The hotel is perfect for both leisure and business travelers, with a meeting room, business center, and free wifi throughout the building.
You may get more information and book it here: Altis Avenida Hotel