Room With A View

IN 1994, EX-BRITISH Army and City worker Adrian Bridge was asked by his father-in-law to come over to Porto and work in the family business – Taylor’s Port Wine Cellars. In 1998, he took over as Managing Director. Since then, the brand has not only bought up various other Port houses but has also expanded into hospitality on a grand scale.

The land behind the cellars in Porto was once woodland. Now 7 acres of it have been expertly crafted into a 5* Luxury spa and wine hotel with a Michelin starred restaurant, indoor and outdoor pool, terraces and sloping garden. Built to reflect the vineyard terraces of the Douro valley, the hotel is on five levels, with each of the 82 rooms and suites offering a panoramic view across the river to the historic city centre. The premium Bacchus suite even offers a remote control bed, which rotates to offer differing views as and when you want.

Bridge works with the motto Defining a Destination. He did not set out to take business from other hotels – Porto was already over-served on this level. Instead, he wanted to create a new market, claiming that he’d recognise his success when the number of private jets landing at the airport increased. And, indeed, he has succeeded.

The project was always about promoting Porto as a destination, not just the Yeatman brand. Yeatman is the name of one of the early families involved in the Fladgate Partnership, which runs the Taylor’s Port Wine Cellars. The theme of the hotel is luxury wine and its aim is to promote Portugal’s table wines, which are less well known than its Ports. The hotel has established partnerships with 78 of Portugal’s finest wine producers who actively participate in a varied programme of tastings, seminars and weekly wine dinners. They also sponsor the rooms, selecting decoration pieces to render each one unique.

Beatriz Machado, Wine Director of The Yeatman, describes wine as ‘the core of the hotel’. With 27,000 bottles and 1300 bins, this is no overstatement. 95% of these wines are Portuguese. In additional, all staff who work at the hotel for more than six months undertake a wine course, so knowledge abounds.

The spa is served by the Parisian company, Caudalie, whose products derive from grapes and thus echo the wine theme. Within the spa area, The Yeatman offers a choice of wellbeing and relaxation facilities, including a Roman bath, tepidarium and hammam. 

The library offers not only books, but top of the range cigars, which, thanks to special extractors, may be enjoyed right there. The bar is open 24 hours.

This really is a luxury destination – one which you won’t want to leave.