Our story
One townhouse, then four more
Aurelle began in 2009 with a run-down house in Alfama and a plan to keep it small.
2009
Lisbon first
Our founders bought a merchant's house in Alfama that had stood empty for a decade. They opened it with twelve rooms and a kitchen that cooked whatever the market had.
- 5 hotels, 138 rooms in total
- Founded in Lisbon in 2009
- Every kitchen buys locally
Since then
Four more, one at a time
Marrakech came in 2013, Zanzibar in 2016, Queenstown in 2017 and Kyoto in 2019. Each time we looked for an old building or a piece of land with a story, and a local partner to run it.
Under fifty rooms
Our largest hotel has 42 villas. Our smallest has 16 rooms.
Cooked nearby
Our chefs buy from markets and farms close to each hotel.
Run by locals
Each hotel is managed by someone from its own town.
How we work
Small on purpose
We cap every hotel at fifty rooms. Small enough that the manager knows guests by name, and that the kitchen can buy from the market.
