FAQs

Growing up, we were fortunate to travel a fair bit around Portugal, and we've never stopped exploring. So, we know our beautiful country pretty well. When we started JO&SO, we first focused on the places we already knew and loved. We also talked to our friends and family to get as much inside info as possible. We mark the hotels where we've stayed as Visited, and we also feature the top places we want to visit – we call this our Watchlist .

Because we're from Porto. We grew up in Foz do Douro, the exact neighbourhood this guide covers. We launched JO&SO in 2016 because our friends kept asking for recommendations and there was no guide that reflected what we were looking for: hotels with beautiful design, real personality, and a story worth telling. We wanted to visit every property ourselves, get to know the people behind them, and tell their stories, including taking our own photos. Condé Nast Traveller called JO&SO "the most insider online guide to Portugal's coolest hotels." We published our first book - The 500 Hidden Secrets of Porto - in 2021. Every recommendation on joandso.com is one we'd make to a friend.

We don't provide bespoke travel advice or personal recommendations. Everything we recommend is already available for free on our website to help you plan your trip.

Foz do Douro is a seafront neighbourhood in Porto, sitting where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean, about 15–20 minutes west of the city centre. It has a completely different feel to downtown Porto: quieter, more residential, with 19th-century villas and wide avenues that lead to the sea. It's the part of Porto most visitors miss entirely. People go to Foz to relax: the beach, the beach bars, Serralves, and really good restaurants. No crowds, no tourist trail. Just the city at its most local.

We strictly don't let a place pay its way to be featured on our website. Everything we feature on joandso.com has to be 100% because we like it. We also review our lists regularly. On JO&SO, we only feature what we consider to be the best boutique hotels, guesthouses and holiday rentals in Portugal. You can submit your place for us to review here.

The most atmospheric way is the Number 1 tram, one of Porto's historic trams, running along the Douro riverbank from Infante (near São Francisco Church in Ribeira) all the way to Passeio Alegre in Foz. It takes about 20 minutes and the ride itself is worth it, with the river alongside you the whole way. If you'd rather walk, the riverside route is beautiful: allow around 60–75 minutes on foot at a leisurely pace, or considerably less by bike. Bus 500 is faster and runs more frequently than the tram, and Ubers are widely available across Porto if you'd prefer a direct ride.

Sure, you can submit a hotel here. 🙂

Yes, especially if you've already seen Porto's city centre and want to understand what the city actually feels like to live in. Foz isn't a neighbourhood built around tourists. It's where Porto's families have been going for generations: for Sunday lunch, for evening walks along the promenade, for the beach in summer. JO&SO, two sisters who grew up in Foz, were asked by Condé Nast Traveller to introduce the neighbourhood to their global readership in 2018.

Yes, here are some of the best boutique hotels in Portugal that are family-friendly.

It depends on what you’re looking for. Our favourite months to visit Portugal are May, June, September and October because it’s quieter and the weather is still great. Note that July and August are busy and hot. However, there are plenty of sunny and warm days in the winter in the Algarve which can be lovely especially if you come from colder countries.

JO&SO has personally visited and handpicked three places to stay in Foz do Douro.

Duas Portas is a family-run eight-bedroom boutique hotel in a beautifully renovated 19th-century townhouse, located directly in front of the mouth of the Douro, a stone's throw from the beach. The interiors are minimalist, mixing bespoke builds, vintage Portuguese pieces, and designer furniture.

Flattered to be in Porto offers five beautifully designed serviced apartments by the beach, renovated by local architects Barbosa & Guimarães. Design lovers will appreciate the bespoke bookcases, vintage furniture, and designer lighting, and some apartments have sea views.

Vila Foz Hotel & Spa is a five-star 19th-century manor house facing the Atlantic, with 68 rooms and suites, two restaurants by Chef Arnaldo Azevedo, and a spa with indoor pool. One of the most design-led stays in Foz.

See the full JO&SO guide to hotels in Foz do Douro.

Serralves is one of Portugal's best contemporary art museums, located in Foz do Douro. The building was designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira and features rotating exhibitions of Portuguese and international contemporary art. What makes it special, especially with children, are the gardens. Before the museum opened, it was just the grounds, and we remember going there for walks as kids. It felt like a forest in the middle of the city. Give it a morning at least, and don't skip the sculptures in the grounds.

We genuinely love all of them. Lisbon and Porto are the cities where we spend most of our time, and they're both fantastic in different ways. We love the Algarve's beaches and laid-back nature; it smells wonderful too! But then we are also very passionate about sleepy Alentejo (South of Portugal) and the stunning Douro (North of Portugal). The Azores islands are magical, and Madeira is so beautiful too. It's hard to pick 🙂

Yes, many times.

Sure! To begin with check our book The 500 Hidden Secrets of Porto by JO&SO. It might be the best travel guidebook about Porto but we might be a little bit biased. 😉

We own and recommend the following guides:

Portugal: The Monocle Handbook: Your guide to the best hotels, restaurants, beaches and design, by Tyler Brûlé, Andrew Tuck, Joe Pickard

Lisbon (The Monocle Travel Guide Series) by Tyler Brûlé

The 500 Hidden Secrets of Lisbon by Miguel Júdice
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We did a video with the lovely folks at Condé Nast Traveller, where we talk about the neighbourhood where we grew up:

Foz do Douro, Porto, by JO&SO: Off the beaten track

We don't charge any booking fees when you book a hotel through our website. However, we may include affiliate partner links that allow us to earn a small commission from sales, without any extra cost to you. Rest assured that everything we recommend on our website is because we love it. By booking through us, you are also supporting what we do and helping us to maintain an ad-free with no paid content.

We sometimes accept hotel invitations but will only visit it and feature it if we love it. Our rule of thumb follows these two questions, 'Would we come back?' and 'Would we recommend it to a friend?'

On joandso.com we feature all kinds of places to stay in Portugal. It could be a luxury five-star hotel, a boutique hotel, a boutique guesthouse, a rural & farmhouse stay or even a tent in the middle of nowhere. We look for beautiful design, thoughtful service and good energy.

We (Joana and Sofia) personally try and test all the places marked as Visited. We want to experience everything first-hand to ensure that we only recommend hotels in Portugal that we would suggest to our friends. We also want to showcase the soul of the places, which could never happen if we didn’t stay there. We also feature the hotels in Portugal that are at the top of our Watchlist and that we look forward to visiting next.

Under each hotel review (the hotels marked as Visited), we sometimes recommend a couple of restaurants. Just scroll down or select 'Local Tips' from the sub-menu. Sometimes in our articles (in the Journal) we also mention our favourite places to eat. Also check out our Porto Travel Guide 'The 500 Hidden Secrets of Porto'.

On joandso.com we mostly feature boutique hotels in Portugal, but sometimes we also include villas. We have a selection of holiday homes, apartments and villas in Portugal — places chosen for their design, vibe and location. You can check it out here: Our Guide to Gorgeous Holiday Homes and Villas across Portugal.

We love travelling and between the two of us, we have visited over 30 countries. We always try to find special places to stay. Below are the hotels that hold a special place in our hearts:
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Papaya Playa Project – Tulum, Mexico

The Siam – Bangkok, Thailand

Zeavola – Phi Phi, Thailand

Bann Makok – Koh Kood, Thailand

Bambu Indah – Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Villa Jacaranda – Varkala, Kerala, India

HOSHINOYA Tokyo – Tokyo, Japan

Hudson Central Park – New York, USA

Soho Beach House – Miami, USA

Home Hotel – Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Soho Hotel – London, UK

Babington House – Somerset, UK

We think Portugal has an incredible amount of gorgeous boutique hotels and guesthouses, especially in proportion to the country's small size. We have yet to find other websites similar to JO&SO in other countries, but we like the selection of boutique hotels on Best Boutique Hotels Worldwide.

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