With all due respect to Ibiza, Portofino, St. Tropez, and Mykonos, it’s difficult to beat Portugal these days, especially when travelers combine a hedonistic beach escape with an immersion into one of Europe’s greatest cities.
My partner, David, and I began with the former. When we arrived at Vila Joya, a hotel in the coastal Algarve region of southern Portugal, the owner, Joy Jung, explained that a new moon was sending unusually large waves crashing onto the long, sandy beach below the hotel.
It’s the kind of out-of-this-world place where the lunar cycles seem as relevant as the extraordinarily imaginative cuisine at the hotel’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant. The combination makes it a very special place to stay in an area better known for large resorts that cater to golfers.
Vila Joya is described as a boutique hotel, but that is like describing a vintage Dom Pérignon as a sparkling wine. Its 17 rooms and suites, spa, pools, and restaurant are set in a tropical garden where spectacular palm trees wave in the Atlantic gusts as the scents of thyme and mint waft along the paths. Each room has a wide terrace, and some overlook the sea; there’s no better place to watch the Algarve’s spectacular sunsets.
A palette of predominantly white is interrupted only by small vases of luscious pink and red roses. The design is softened with artisanal touches like hand-painted tiles, pendant lights made from shells, and locally sourced cork flooring.
Throughout, there is a sensation of space, open doors and vistas from the bar, where the staff are dressed in Moroccan-style trousers and smocks tied with a cummerbund. They serve an array of exotic cocktails, and the basil-yuzu mocktail is not to be missed.
At the restaurant, chef Dieter Koschina’s menu of exquisite and perfectly formed taste bombs changes every day. It would take a book to list all of the ingredients, which are rich in flavor but never oppressively heavy. The emphasis is on local seafood—lobster, sea bass, and prawns—as well as Iberico pork and duck. The wine list is filled with memorable bottles to match the dishes.
To work off the serious task of eating, there is a large cold-water pool. A small, heated pool is adjacent to a more casual grill, where the rosé is always perfectly chilled.
But for us, the biggest delight was Vila Joya Sea, which redefines the notion of a beach shack. Its open kitchen serves Japanese food that is twinned with another cuisine—this summer, it was an assortment of dishes and techniques from all over Asia. It was not such a rough deal to choose between sashimi and mushroom or crispy duck with citrus-marinated melon. Every dish is served in a paper-lantern-strewn oasis, where you can observe the surfers out at sea.
Although we planned to explore the nearby hill towns and nature reserves, the lure of Vila Joya kept us rooted apart from one excursion to Austa, a wonderful restaurant in the nearby town of Amancil. There, Emma and David Campus (escapees from London) have created an airy, informal spot to showcase delicious, sustainably sourced cuisine that makes the most of the area’s produce.
If you require a change of scenery, a three-and-a-half-hour train ride to Lisbon will deposit you in a different world, where the steep hills are lined with ancient tiled buildings painted in dusty ice-cream shades of pink, pale blue, and yellow.
The Palácio Principe Real, a 25-room hotel owned by Gail and Miles Curley, is one of the most desirable spots in town. Its central location—near many galleries, independent shops, and small restaurants—is among its virtues. But our favorite of them was the spacious, relaxing garden, where a large pool and terrace are situated under the branches of a magnificent jacaranda tree.
The Curleys bought the palace on a whim, and their attention to detail is exceptional. Our suite included a deep Drummonds roll-top bath, an endless supply of Byredo products, plush white towels and gowns, and even a towel headband. The Curleys understand that their guests don’t want to wrestle with complicated light switches and QR codes. Instead, we used our free time delving into the Smeg mini-fridge, whose complimentary provisions included homemade cookies and white wine.
The restaurant, which is open only to hotel guests, focuses on plant-based food. My carpaccio of cucumber and avocado with feta and dill sauce was nutritious and tasty, and the chocolate mousse made with olive oil rates as one of my all-time favorite desserts.
By the pool, we indulged in a substantial snack of beetroot hummus and a large bowl of guacamole. At cocktail hour, we enjoyed both the Virgin Marys made with fresh tomato juice and the sweet-white-port-and-tonic cocktail, which is a Portuguese specialty.
But comfort aside, the most delightful aspect of the Palácio Principe Real is the exceptional staff, who provided a list of vintage stores to explore, whipped up any dish we might possibly want, and suggested low-key, authentic restaurants that revealed Lisbon as the locals experience it. At one point, when a storm shower broke out, one of the staffers even ran up the road to bring us an umbrella.
With spots like these two, Portugal is becoming very hard to beat.
The writer was a guest of Vila Joya and the Palácio Principe Real, where rates begin at $1,100 and $650 a night, respectively
Alexandra Shulman, the longest-serving editor of British Vogue, is a columnist at The Mail on Sunday and the author of the memoir Clothes … and Other Things That Matter
