The Largo opened its doors in Porto
The launch of a collection of travel and hospitality projects based in Copenhagen and Porto, Annassurra, aims to create hotels with deep connections to their surrounding cities. Co-founders and business partners Steen Bock and Per Enevoldsen have recently launched their first project, The Largo, which opened its doors in Porto in May 2023.
Per, who co-founded the jewellery brand Pandora in Copenhagen in 1982, first met Steen when he took over the franchise of Pandora in the Middle East. The pair continued to work together across a variety of industries, becoming firm friends in the process. Bonding over their shared love of travel, Per and Steen co-founded Annassurra in 2016 as an antidote to the homogeneity and inauthenticity they often experienced during their travels together.
“Per and I have visited so many places, with so many different hosts and in many different contexts, but one thing that consistently strikes us is feeling embraced and enveloped by the locals and their culture — those are the destinations which leave the biggest impact on us,” explains Steen. The philosophy behind Annassurra was to create considered spaces with meaningful connections to the local neighbourhood, and implement detailed service with an emphasis on hosting. Per and Steen spent years searching for a site for their first project, and found that with its intersection between craft, community, heritage, arts and food, Porto was the perfect spot.
Formed across five 16th-century buildings in the city’s Largo de São Domingos neighbourhood, the 18-room hotel is modelled on a traditional Portuguese house. The aim is for guests to leave The Largo, and indeed all Annassurra’s future projects, feeling like they spent time at the family home of a close friend.
The Largo features chef Nuno Mendes’ Cozinha das Flores, and a neighbouring bar named Flôr. The contemporary interiors were carefully designed by Space Copenhagen to spotlight regional artisans and local materials.
The article The Largo opened its doors in Porto first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.