Meaningful travel: Annassurra offers a deep sense of time and place

With its playful intersection between craft, community, heritage, arts and gastronomy, founders Per Enevoldsen – who co-founded jewellery brand Pandora and Steen Bock – who established Pandora in the Middle East – sensed that Porto was the perfect location for their inaugural project, The Largo, which opened its doors in May 2023.

The Largo is an eighteen-room hotel sat across five heritage buildings in the city’s Largo de São Domingos neighbourhood. The design ethos marries heritage and innovation; channelling a homely, “hygge” atmosphere with communal areas modelled directly on the living areas one would find in a typical northern-Portuguese residence.

Creative direction of the food and beverage offering across The Largo and its sister projects, the street-facing restaurant Cozinha das Flores and cocktail bar Flôr, is headed by internationally acclaimed Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes. Mendes is equally known for his restaurants’ emphasis on conviviality and connection as he is for his Michelin-star awarded food; something which shines through both the menus and the design of the projects’ dining areas.

Praised in the short time since opening for its “more than a hotel” approach to art, both in its collection of works and for involvement in the local community of creatives and craftspeople, The Largo further embodies Annassurra’s core ideals of celebrating heritage whilst embracing innovation. The project includes pieces from established names such as Álvaro Siza Vieira and Rui Chafes, but The Largo also champions emerging artists from the local region, including works resulting from an open call grant given to students from the Fine Arts University of Porto.