Tripas-Coração

The beginning

Born and raised in Porto, we first met when we were 10 years old and we’re friends ever since.

Porto at heart

Tripas-Coração was founded during a summer evening in 2015 by Melo, Nuno and João. After many lively discussions about the future of tourism in Porto, we decided to design a project that aimed at greeting people like we would like to be greeted; in homes where we would like to live in; and show the places in our city where the real Porto culture still prevails.

We wanted somehow to show the honest and authentic side of Porto and contribute to not just preserving but leveraging our existing culture.

All our apartments are selected not just for their central location but because these are locations worth knowing and living in. We tend to look for buildings that have been carefully renovated but still show an overall genuine Porto architecture, the high ceilings, the tiles, the skylights….

Before committing to an apartment, we always ask the same question
“Would I live here?”. Hell yeah!

The brand

Tripas-Coração is a Portuguese metaphor meaning we work our guts out, spit blood or bend over backwards to get you a sense of what Porto really is.

Tripas is Porto’s main dish and Tripeiro is the name for Porto’s locals. So, what better name than tripas- coração to express the unique character of Porto’s hospitality? In Porto, everyone does their best to make you feel at home.

The name contains Tripeiros’s character: their courage (guts — tripas) to speak their mind, as well as their generosity and kindness (heart — coração). In many ways, it stands for the serendipitous but always deep way we want you to engage with Porto, to get a sense of its true character — you have to follow your instincts and your heart.

Supporting the local economy

After plotting all kinds of plans to come up with a cost-effective way of designing the interior of our first apartment — the Clérigos studio— using furniture from existing stocks; we gave up the idea and decided to find someone that could help us. Three months later, we met Fabric, Catarina and Pedro Graça Moura, a young couple that designs and produces Portuguese furniture and everything started to make sense. It was clear for us at the time that the route forward was to design and stock our homes with locally sourced products and support small scale entrepreneurs.

Now, every piece of furniture is produced by Paços de Ferreira wood artisans. In your beds and bathrooms, you will find some of the best Portuguese fabrics. The honesty bar is packed with Portuguese wines and craft beers. People often ask us “where did you get those towels and sheets, I want to take them home”. Comments like these make our day.

A collective of friends with whom you can and feel at home

A few years on and our team has grown. Filipe, Sara, Tiago and João II, our longtime friends, all born and raised in Porto, have joined the team. Together we share the same passion for Porto and the same relaxed attitude towards life.

Filipe, Sara, Tiago, Joao or Francisco will probably welcome you at the apartment and give you their perspective of the city, what’s happening that’s worth doing and how best to take advantage of the city. They will take their time with you if you feel like it, just giving you the basics for getting properly lost in and around Porto. If you are tired and in no mood to talk that’s also ok, we know the feeling!

And now, what? The future.

We have an apartments’ network, in different locations, that show some of our favourite parts of Porto city centre. We really don’t want to get any bigger than this. We want to still be able to memorize our guests’ friends’ names when we welcome them back! In the future, we may eventually wonder into further supporting local entrepreneurs and artisans to promote their crafts. Who knows!