09-04-2025
What it's really like to stay at Europe's first museum-cum-luxury-hotel
I've never been particularly tempted by opportunities to spend a 'night at the museum' à la Ben Stiller.
Paying £200 to sleep on a camp bed, surrounded by strangers? I can sleep badly at home, thank you. For those, like me, who would rather combine being immersed in culture with easy access to a rainfall shower and a Nespresso machine, on the other hand, Lisbon's Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins (MACAM) proposes an intriguing – and altogether more luxurious – alternative.
Arriving in Portugal on a rainy spring day, I was unsure what to expect from what purports to be Europe's first museum and five-star hotel concept. It's not, after all, unusual for hotels to blur the boundaries between art and hospitality, with many boasting impressive art collections, and even installations interwoven with the design of the hotel itself. But I was assured by MACAM's director, Adelaide Ginga, this was no mere design hotel. Rather, it was a 'unique setting for experiencing art'.
It soon became abundantly clear what she meant, when I arrived in the lobby to find two desks – one for hotel guests and one for museum visitors. It is, very literally, a two-in-one hotel and museum. So far, so unique.
Set between Lisbon's Alcântara and Belém cultural districts within the restored 18th-century Palácio Condes da Ribeira Grande, MACAM – which opened at the end of March – comprises 64 guest rooms alongside 2,000 square metres of exhibition space.
Two permanent galleries, built to house part of the 600 work-strong collection of founder Armando Martins, are housed within the palace itself. Meanwhile a contemporary wing, with a striking 3D-tiled facade that plays on Portugal's tile-making heritage, hosts temporary exhibitions.
I found that I could step out of my room and be immediately immersed in the delights of Portuguese modernism, admiring the works of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso and Maria Helena Vieira da Silva. Many of the artists represented were, I must admit, a revelation to me, though a work by Dame Paula Rego, regarded among the foremost female artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, provided a welcome familiar name.
More followed in the second gallery, which showcased Portuguese and international contemporary works, where I welcomed the sight of Marina Abramović works inspired by erotic folk poetry and fantastical sculptures by Paloma Varga Weisz.
Naively, I'd expected the art here to be of the gentlest kind, more decoration than statement – but I soon realised my mistake. This is not just a bunch of pretty pictures: sections of the galleries explored trauma and the female body, oppression and resistance, while the temporary exhibitions examined our relationship with nature, and the fragility of life in the face of political, economic, and humanitarian crises.
This is entirely deliberate, playing into the intention that a stay at MACAM be an experience of deep interaction, rather than a gallery of convenient proximity. Visitors, Ginga told me, are encouraged to be 'not just observers but participants in the artistic experience'.
To this end, the artwork is complemented by curated experiences such as artist talks and workshops, as well as private tours around the galleries. It even extends into the bar, a restored, deconsecrated chapel, where frescoes of cherubs beneath a lofty dome provide a genteel contrast to Spanish artist Carlos Aires's rather more intense site-specific installation above the former altar space.
At the press of a button, a display of historical figures from Portuguese banknotes, including the explorer Bartolomeu Dias, gives way – as I realised slightly aghast, watching the sliding screen glide open – to a black sculpture of Christ, seemingly levitating against a backdrop of a fiery, apocalyptic sky. The sky is later swapped for video clips relating to various conflicts, both historical and contemporary.
I was captivated – and a little stunned – by it all. Here was yet more edginess, the like of which I'd expect to find at a gritty East London gallery, rather than at a five-star Lisbon hotel – and I wasn't sure I entirely believed Aires's claim that he did 'not want to be controversial' in this work (titled Trinity, named after the first atomic bomb test).
Can I imagine guests sipping their G&Ts while contemplating an impending apocalypse? It may not be the refined tone most upmarket hotel bars strive for – but then, perhaps that's the point.
The hotel-cum-museum is a peculiar concept, undoubtedly – but, despite my reservations, MACAM really does work. It strikes an admirable balance between the memorable and immersive, and it's an experience I'd be keen to repeat when the programme of workshops, talks and performances is in full swing.
Whether this hybrid concept will attract visitors beyond a niche market of collectors and fan-girling arts journalists (like me) remains to be seen, but there is something special about this concept: a hotel that isn't just a place to sleep, or a base from which to explore a city, but a deep cultural experience in itself.
I'm already poised to book my return trip – when I hope to experience the rooftop pool and bar, which open in May. All in the name of culture, naturally.
Elise Morton was a guest of MACAM, which offers doubles from €300/£250 and studios from €600/£500.
