SUD Lisboa – Review

Lisbon’s riverfront venue, SUD Lisboa, has become the city’s most important stage for celebrations and events. Every city has a place that is the go-to place to celebrate moments that matter. In Lisbon, for the best part of a decade, that place has been SUD Lisboa. It sits on the Belém waterfront, overlooking the Tagus, with the striking architectural sweep of the 25 de Abril Bridge in front of you and the emblematic Cristo Rei statue rising on the far bank.

Opened in 2017 as the SANA Hotels group’s first project outside the hotel world, SUD Lisboa is a two-building complex designed by the Portuguese architect António Pinto and connected by a sky bridge. One side is the Terraza, a Mediterranean restaurant with a rooftop infinity pool that has become one of the most photographed spots in the city. The other is the Hall, a 1,600 square metre events space that can hold up to 1,500 people and which has established itself as the premium venue in the Portuguese capital. The OMEGA watch launch with Cindy Crawford happened here. HBO chose it for their Portuguese debut. Eight Michelin-starred chefs cooked on the same night here last summer. When something significant needs a stage in Lisbon, it tends to end up at SUD Lisboa.

The Terrazza

The Terrazza is the restaurant and bar side of SUD Lisboa. This is where dining out has a real sense of occasion. Striking design, live music, Mediterranean and handcrafted cocktails that create unforgettable evenings. Executive Chef Patrick Lefeuvre’s menu embraces the flavours of Italy and beyond, with pizza, risotto and seafood alongside a wine list that favours Portuguese producers. The rooftop Lounge, with its infinity pool looking out towards the bridge, draws the city’s stylish crowd.

SUD Lisboa Hall

The Hall is where things are taken to another level. Over 1,600 square metres across two floors, with floor-to-ceiling glass on the river side, it is the largest purpose-built premium events space in Lisbon and one of the most versatile. The architecture is contemporary and deliberately restrained, designed to disappear behind whatever is being staged rather than compete with it. Full AV, lighting, and sound infrastructure is built in. An in-house team manages everything from concept to execution, with catering by Executive Chef Angel Reyes.

What makes the Hall work is not just the technical spec but the fact that the Tagus, the bridge, and the Cristo Rei on the opposite bank are permanently present through those glass walls. No set designer can match that setting. It means a product launch, a seated dinner for 200 or a gala for over a thousand all share the same extraordinary backdrop.

Under the Stars

The event that best captures what SUD Lisboa Hall can do took place on 17 July 2025, when the venue marked its eighth anniversary with Under the Stars. Eight of Portugal’s most celebrated chefs, holding ten Michelin stars between them, cooked a single walking dinner on the same evening. Rui Silvestre of Fifty Seconds coordinated the kitchen. Vítor Matos, the most decorated chef in the country with five stars across his restaurants, brought gamba violeta with caviar. Alexandre Silva from Loco, Ljubomir Stanisic of 100 Maneiras, Diogo Formiga, Habner Gomes, Louis Anjos and Louise Bourrat, named Chef Revelation of the Year at the 2024 Mesa Marcada awards, each contributed a course. Marc Pinto, winner of the Michelin Sommelier Prize, selected the wines. Desserts moved to the rooftop for a sunset party with live music, DJ sets and a cooking show led by Lefeuvre. It was, by any reasonable measure, the most extraordinary assembly of Michelin talent ever staged in Lisbon for a single night. A more ambitious second edition is already planned for 2026.

The Wedding Club

Lisbon has become one of Europe’s most popular destination wedding cities, and SUD Lisboa Hall is making one of the strongest cases for being its best venue. The Wedding Club is a dedicated planning service for couples who want the river, the bridge, and the Lisbon light without the constraints of a hotel ballroom. The Hall can be dressed for ceremonies, receptions, and parties, and the Terrazza and Pool Lounge are available for welcome drinks or next-day brunches. Through the wider SANA collection, wedding guests get preferential rates at the group’s Lisbon hotels, and the Sayanna Spa manages bridal party treatments.

Salomé Gorgiladze, SANA’s Business Development Director and an Executive Board Member, has been one of the driving forces behind SUD Lisboa since its inception. Georgian-born, internationally educated, she is eager to position SUD Lisboa as a lifestyle and events destination with European relevance. The celebratory Under the Stars reflected the remarkable reputation of the venue. SUD Lisboa began as SANA’s experiment in doing something beyond hotels. Nearly a decade later, it has become one of the defining venues in the Portuguese capital.

You can read The Luxury Editor interview with Salomé Gorgiladze here.