Celebrating the Holidays at Casa das Lérias: Travel Insider Top 25 Historic Hotel

Source: Traveler Insider 

Historic Hotels Worldwide represents more than 350 of the most authentic historic hotels in more than 47 countries. In December and January, these historic hotels, inns, chateaus, castles and haciendas are illuminated according to local customs for the holiday season, creating beautiful spaces for guests to celebrate one or more of the festive holidays and observances that take place during this time of the year. Now it may be too late to book them this year, but you can plan a great holiday for your clients next year.

The historic hotels featured in the 2024 Top 25 Historic Hotels Worldwide Holiday Traditions and Spectacular Displays list host parties, cultural performances, religious services, charitable campaigns, and festive afternoon teas for December holidays including the Winter Solstice, Hanukkah and Christmas, and/or January holidays, including New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

These hotels feature spectacular displays of Christmas or holiday trees, light exhibitions, magnificent gingerbread houses or chocolate sculptures, and greenery. Many historic hotels featured on the 2024 list incorporate charitable giving into their holiday programming: organizing food drives, collecting monetary donations and gifts for less fortunate children and families.

A historic boutique hotel with a sweet past, Casa das Lérias was founded in the 1930s as a bakery famous for rediscovering the lost recipe for Amarante’s famous pastry, the Lérias. Paying homage to its sweet history, the hotel focuses its holiday celebration on sweet treats. Guests from all over Portugal and around the world visit Casa das Lérias to buy the regional confections that are so iconic and loved.

During holidays throughout the year, the hotel offers its guests homemade cookies. As is the custom in Portugal, the Christmas holiday season lasts from Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) through Jan. 6 (Three Kings Day). The hotel serves a beautiful and delicious Tronco de Natal (Christmas yule log) cake in December and January. Another Portuguese tradition that guests will experience while staying at Casa das Lérias on Three Kings Day is groups of people singing As Janeiras, announcing the birth of the new year in January, and the arrival of Jesus.

Like caroling in other Christian traditions, this ancient tradition is defined by groups of people walking through the villages singing to celebrate the new year and to announce the birth of Jesus Christ. A key part of this tradition is for the homes that the singers visit to give the singers small tokens of thanks, from nuts and candy to cash. Christmas in Amarante is cozy and intimate, with the scent of woodfire wafting through the streets and colorful lights illuminating the town’s monuments. Next door to the hotel, a magnificent Christmas tree is displayed and is a favorite holiday attraction for visitors. Casa das Lérias was inducted into Historic Hotels Worldwide in 2023 and dates to the 1930s.

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