Hospitality Experience Review
Written by Kaitlyn Skov
Take a trip into Portugal’s era of exploration…
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​RATING 5.0 / 5 *’s
Since its opening in 2021, The Ivens has held the title of Lisbon’s grandest boutique hotel and one of Europe’s hottest new hospitality concepts. Amidst Lisbon’s rapid real estate and urban development, The Ivens stands apart from other new market entrants, offering guests a local, culturally-informed hospitality experience with eye-catching design and exceptional service.
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The Ivens hotel is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, a growing portfolio of independent, experience-centric hotels. While many soft brand hotel collections promise the delivery of extraordinary hospitality experiences, few come through with authenticity or depth. But in this case, Marriott and The Ivens deliver on their promise.
While my experience reviews tend to focus on purely independent brands and concepts, The Ivens demands an exception… because, quite frankly, it is exceptional. Its design is immersive and captivating with Portuguese hospitality spilling out of every programmatic touchpoint. The warmth and welcome offered from the staff gives you the feeling of arriving home, not to a hotel. It’s impossible not to fall in love with The Ivens.​​
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Bringing Heritage to the Forefront.
When choosing a storyline for the project’s brand and experience, Marriott and its design partners turned to Portugal’s rich, storied past of exploration.
The birthplace of many infamous explorers like Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus, Portugal’s history has become synonymous with exploration and discovery. With so many narratives and figures you may ask, how does a brand incorporate such history into the guest experience? Instead of taking a broad stroke approach to such an exciting and extensive cultural theme, The Ivens strategically anchored itself around a unique yet related storyline; the great African expedition of Ivens and Capelo.
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The Ivens offers its guests a layered experience journey to venture into through the real story of two great Portuguese explorers, Ivens and Capelo, alongside greater themes of Portuguese heritage. If you look closely, you’ll discover their story…
Namesake Narrative : Ivens & Capelo.
Located in the heart of buzzy Chiado amongst boutique-lined avenues peppered with early 18th century churches and monuments, The Ivens sits at the doorstep of Lisbon’s cultural core. While close to everything, the hotel lies discreetly tucked away from the traffic and crowds of Chiado’s central “Ruas'' (or streets) at the intersection of Ivens & Capelo; the source of the hotel’s name and primary storyline.
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Renowned for their pioneering expedition across Central Africa in 1884, Roberto Ivens and Hermenegildo Capelo are two of Portugal’s great modern explorers. Traveling 4,500 miles from the Angolan Coast to Mozambique, Ivens and Capelo explored previously uncharted areas of the African continent. The team’s discoveries spanned from new geographic, linguistic, ethnographic and zoologic findings, further exposing the modern world to the continent of Africa.
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From exciting tales of exploration to the duo’s plethora of discoveries, The Ivens immerses guests into the wild and visually enchanting story of Ivens and Capelo’s African expedition. If you look close enough, you’ll find your own discoveries here…
Bringing the Narrative to Life.
Exploration Encouraged.
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Visitors are encouraged and rewarded to explore at The Ivens.​
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Filled with lush greenery, modern art and richly layered design, the hotel’s lobby lounge allows visitors to transition away from the fast-paced outside world into one of nostalgia and discovery. Programming is focused around providing visitors with a taste of Portuguese hospitality; an approachable atmosphere of warmth and welcome balanced with autonomy.
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The Ivens’ doormen and concierge staff serve as visitors' first point of contact in their journey. Unobtrusively floating throughout the space, staff offer visitors a warm “bon dia” as they pass by, acting as present yet casual hosts. With reception positioned on the upper mezzanine, guests and locals are welcomed to wander and explore the ground floor unencumbered by check-in formalities or the expectation of a reservation.
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The relaxed and welcoming staff presence and unrestricted environment allows visitors to freely explore the space and drop into the experience naturally, creating a deeper sense of discovery. As a curious passerby, this atmosphere allowed me to immerse into the space on my own personal journey, providing me the opportunity to peer through swinging doors, circle down staircases and flip through opened books. I was quickly swept into The Ivens’ narrative…
Truly Transportive Design.
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Like chapters of a novel, The Ivens transports visitors into various storylines of its master narrative through immersive environments and programmatic outlets.
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Every element of The Ivens’ design is intriguing, authentic and purposeful. Every room, doorway and design element causes visitors to stop, think and take pictures - just like explorers visiting a new world. Subtle, intricate incorporation of Portuguese heritage and authentic expedition elements brings the narrative to life and prompts guests to look closer.
Staff uniforms alone demonstrate the dedication to the experience narrative. As you look closely, original discovery drawings of Ivens’ and Capelo’s expedition can be seen printed on the pale yellow concierge dresses and soft handmade Portuguese leather footwear accenting their staff’s feet.
The Ivens’ dedication to detail through design is unwavering.
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​Without being dated or too thematic, the physical environment balances historical storylines with modern relativity. The interior design is glamorous, with a maximalist flavor, speaking to the grand age of Portuguese power and prosperity, incorporating walls of mirrors, brushed gold finishes and rich textiles. Modern art dresses the walls with shelves of thoughtful books and artifacts to balance the narrative with a sense of sophistication.
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Beyond visual design, each space offers its own unique experiential atmosphere, making the transition between spaces a rich sensory experience. For example, even though restaurant and bar venues are connected through series of steps and enclaves, each atmosphere is uniquely designed with its own sound, lighting, ceiling height and even temperature point. Off the lobby, behind double wood doors lies the Gastro Bar, a vibrant space enlivened by nightly live music sets, full day culinary programming and a diverse mix of guests.
The space is filled with warm lighting, rich patterned bar seating, heavy ceiling fixtures and walls lined with glowing bottles of spirits creating a romantic and slightly nostalgic atmosphere. Only a hundred feet away, Crudo Bar is noticeably cooler in temperature, fresh and airy with tall open ceilings lines. And around the other corner, down 5 steps, Ristorante sits warmly nestled by a heritage meat kitchen with white linen-dressed tables, low table lighting and modern art-dressed wallscapes. The experiential flow and design, both individually and collectively, engages the imagination making guests feel as if they were walking through independent stage sets of a classic Hollywood film.
The Ivens demonstrates the highest level of experience environment design, masterfully coordinating alignment between brand, space and experience vision.
It’s nothing short of remarkable…
Portuguese Hospitality.
Portuguese hospitality is powerfully positive. Traveling to most major cities and regions during my four-week expedition across Portugal, I experienced a common authentic warmth with its people and their hospitality culture. Whether I was dropping into small towns in Alentejo or hanging around my local Lisbon neighborhood of Alfama, I was met with consistent warmth.One of these memorable individuals was The Ivens’ concierge, Elsa Santos.
A local Lisboan and hospitality veteran, Elsa encapsulated the spirit of Portuguese hospitality, emitting passion, pride and a genuine desire to connect with new people. Elsa transformed my experience of walking into The Ivens into one akin to walking into a friend’s home. I felt not only welcome in the space but welcomed to be there. Every element of the hospitality experience was intentionally curated to emit cultural character through personal touch.
Offering to personally take me around the property, Elsa narrated the story and intention behind concept elements that brought her pride and meaning as a local and as an Ivens employee. From her list, programmatic details like staff-curated “tip of the day” letters in guest rooms and the leather-bound shared experience guestbook out in the lobby stuck out to me. These personal touch points elevated the guest experience beyond that of a standard hotel stay, transforming it into a connective, personal hospitality experience between guests and staff.Thoughtful programming and people like Elsa are the secret behind The Ivens’ delivery of the characteristic openness and geniality within Portuguese culture.
The depth of my experience was made possible by Elsa’s stewardship and personal extension of hospitality. Hospitality is nothing without passionate people who are proud to be part of the experience. (Thank you Elsa xx)
Experience Takeaways
Transportive, Evocative, Mysterious, Immersive…
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After three hours of exploration, I find myself back on busy Bow Street watching Covent Garden crowds stream by and taxi cabs zip past the Royal Opera out front. NoMad London’s doors feel like a portal between worlds, taking me from one story to another within this great city.
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What I leave feeling is a sense of authenticity. The genuine nature of the stories it tells, the people it brings together and the the food it puts in front of you, the NoMad brand is built on a commitment to authenticity in its experiences from start to finish. Something that sets them apart in London’s competitive luxury space; a component of experience that more or us are seeking when we travel; to explore and connect, authentically.
Building Remarkable Concepts & HX : 3 Things we can learn from The Ivens, Lisbon
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Driven by Multidimensional Experience Design : The Ivens’ approach to experience design captures both depth and dimension, bringing together multiple narratives and experience elements that actively immerse guests into the brand journey. Leveraging intricately designed experience touchpoints with unique yet complimentary experience narratives, The Ivens creates a multidimensional program, platform and experience journey that brings their concept’s local heritage and brand to life. To deliver a complex and cohesive experience journey like The Ivens, experience design must drive the development and delivery process.
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Supercharging a Concept with Sustainability : Sustainability is a greater concept than its popular environmental component. Sustainability in hospitality and development extends to people, culture, place and the organization itself. In this case, The Ivens is contributing to the sustainability of Portuguese culture and history. This foucs adds to the guest experience, brigs pride and engagement to staff and helps gain the supporting promotion of the community making it possible.
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Right Place, Right Time : Great concepts can only be successful if launched in the right place and at the right time. Portugal’s tourism resurgence coupled with a boom in international investment interest in its major cities created the right opportunity for The Ivens to launch in Lisbon’s hospitality space. If launched a decade ago, the concept likely would not be as successful as it is today. In this case, understanding the market, the competitive landscape and trends all are aligning for The Ivens’ success. Following these fundamentals of development are never out-of-style.
Experience Review
The Ivens Lisbon. 5.0 / 5 Memorable
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"The Ivens sets the standard for Lisbon’s rapidly growing hospitality market and others around the world seeking to embrace heritage and operational excellence with a human touch.”
The Great Narratives of Portugal
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Exploration
Knowledge Prosperity