Hotel Praia do Sol
Bringing a local landmark back into local life.
Hotel Praia do Sol opened in 1934 on the coast of Costa da Caparica. For generations, it was part of the rhythm of summer there: before the area became the surf destination, Lisbon escape and increasingly international community it is today.
Roman Carel is part of the founding investor group behind the hotel’s redevelopment. The opportunity was not simply to refurbish an old property, but to rethink what a historic hotel could mean to Caparica now.
The new Praia do Sol is being built around the place rather than imported onto it. Its identity draws from the Atlantic, surf culture, the town’s fishing history, old travel imagery and the particular informality of Caparica. The brand system carries that thinking through a custom typeface, a visual language based around the movement of the sun, archival and contemporary photography, signage, merchandise and the small details of the guest experience.
The hospitality concept follows the same logic. The 51-room hotel includes a modern tasca built around reimagined Portuguese classics, a recovery area with pool, sauna and ice bath, a rooftop overlooking the coast, and a programme of surfing, movement, local culture and day trips.
Importantly, much of it is designed for people who are not staying at the hotel. The restaurant, bar and recovery spaces create reasons for locals and visitors from Lisbon to use the building too, making the hotel part of everyday Caparica rather than an enclave for guests.
That local relationship also informs the brand’s content: archive material sits alongside contemporary beach culture, while “People of Caparica” gives the people who actually know the place a role in telling its story. The graphic guidelines carry this thinking from social media through to room collateral, merchandise and the building’s signage.
The project is an exercise in repositioning without erasure: keeping the history and character that made the hotel and its surroundings worth preserving, while giving both a contemporary expression and a new commercial life.
Not a hotel that could be anywhere. One that makes more sense because it is here.