Luxury Travel
Vermelho: Christian Louboutin's luxury hotel in Melides
08.03.2023
Christian Louboutin's passion for Portugal is well-known (and long-standing). Like so many other foreign visitors, the French shoe designer began by spending his vacations in Sintra and Comporta and at a certain point couldn't resist staying longer. And even to have a place of his own where he could return whenever he wanted.
The French creator's signature color gave its name to a boutique charm hotel on the Alentejo coast. It has 13 rooms, with luxurious and eclectic decorations, and a restaurant with seating for 60 people.
"I've never designed a hotel before. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of friends that I stay within different places, so my aesthetic doesn't come from the hotel world. I only know how to design houses," the designer revealed to the Financial Times.
Reservations are already open on the Vermelho Hotel website, with the first dates available as of March 31st. After much anticipation, Christian Louboutin's project in the village of Melides is now operating in soft opening and welcoming friends and special guests of the fashion designer.
In fact, it was precisely in Melides, in the village he calls home, that Louboutin decided to build his first hotel which, of course, could only be called Red. With only 13 rooms, the three-story building was renovated and is practically a work of art. From the hand-painted murals, to the wooden, marble or tiled floors painted in bright colors, to the Portuguese and Spanish ceramics and tiles, to the African and European antiques, everything fits together perfectly in an incredible puzzle of good taste and creativity.
The essence of design with African antiques
This, his first boutique hotel, was designed by Madalena Caiado, whose mission was to combine the local rural environment with Louboutin's eclectic taste. Spanish Patricia Medina, antique dealer, restorer and design consultant, took care of the luxurious decoration, full of careful details and inspirations with Portuguese, Moroccan, Spanish, Egyptian and French influences.
It has 13 rooms, with prices starting at 342 euros per night for two people, always with breakfast included in the case of the Suite Vista Verde. Garden view and balcony are available options, and the Suite Matinha, the most expensive, can cost 1,200 euros per night.
The Vermelho Hotel will only open its doors in the spring of this year. Still, there are already plans to open two more nearby, reports the Financial Times, one in a renovated two-star property overlooking the lagoon (scheduled to open in 2024), and another in a pine forest, still to be built.
This house "encourages" to "live la vie en rouge", which can be read on the website, a pun with the theme of Edith Piaf, "La Vie en Rose". The creator's signature color gave the hotel its name, and there is no lack of notes on decorative elements scattered throughout the space, from tiles, antique furniture, frescoes, paintings, ceramics, doors and windows, and embroidered textiles.
They have created under the concept "a unique place, for unique people", the three-floor Vermelho Hotel has a garden designed by landscape architect Louis Benech, "to relax under the warm rays of the Melides sun" and a restaurant, the Xtian, "where the protagonists, the seasonal products from the Alentejo, accompany you at every step of the experience, along with local handcrafted dishes".
"I love Portugal because I love the Portuguese. You can't like a country without liking its people. I'm Breton, I was born on the coast and found the same here, but with better weather." Christian Louboutin to Expresso in 2016
After the hotel's official opening, Louboutin promises two new lodgings on the Alentejo coast.
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