Lisbon through the looking glass

Visit The Ivens just for its remarkable washroom in the basement

04 Aug 2026

The best reason to leave your table at Rocco awaits you further downstairs. Tropical animals and foliage cover the tiles around a sculpted stone basin, approached through a staircase lined with floral carpet, wallpaper and mirrors. It brings to mind Alice in Wonderland, particularly the strange changes of scale and setting that make an ordinary journey feel improbable. I’m in the basement washroom at The Ivens in Lisbon. While I could make a case just for the bathroom, all of The Ivens is like an illustrated storybook. At the entrance, pictures, specimens and animal references compete for attention among timber surfaces, mirrors and upholstered seating. The reception resembles a cabinet of curiosities, with enough detail to keep you occupied while someone locates my reservation. I notice a bird, then a botanical drawing, then something reflected ahead of where I stand.

Photography courtesy of The Ivens

An illustrated storybook

The hotel occupies the corner of Rua Ivens and Rua Capelo in Chiado, streets named after Roberto Ivens and Hermenegildo Capelo. Their nineteenth-century expeditions through southern Africa inspired the maps, drawings and natural-history imagery used throughout the interiors. It is an interpretation of the explorers’ world, assembled by Portuguese designer Cristina Matos and Spanish designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán. Matos designed the reception and guestrooms; Rosa-Violán’s work includes Rocco and its adjoining bars.

The nineteenth-century building previously housed the Armazéns Alcobia department store and, from 1937, Rádio Renascença. It opened as The Ivens in fall of 2021. These earlier uses place it within the commercial and cultural history of Chiado, a neighbourhood where shops, theatres, cafés and institutions have long occupied adjoining streets. The hotel retains that connection to the neighbourhood through Rocco’s separate street entrance, which brings diners directly into the restaurant.

Photography courtesy of The Ivens

Upstairs, the bedrooms are cosy in pale colours, timber, soft upholstery and abundant daylight. The 87 rooms offer a comfortable place to spend time between walks through Lisbon, with views to match. But Rocco warrants a reservation even if you are sleeping elsewhere. The oval marble-topped bar is surrounded by red leather and floral stools; the Crudo Bar has blue walls and pictures hung closely together. In the main dining room, red banquettes sit beneath coffered ceilings, with an open kitchen providing a view of dinner being prepared. There is a great deal of decoration, but the seating and warm lighting make it easy to settle in.

The Italian food is excellent. Seafood features prominently, with lobster linguine, crab ravioli and sea bass alla Ligure among the restaurant’s dishes. It is the sort of menu that requires a little negotiation across the table before anyone orders. Give dinner time: have an aperitif, look around, eat well. Rocco is as much a reason to stay at The Ivens as the rooms upstairs.

Just remember to visit the basement before you leave.

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