Sao Lourenco do Barrocal

Hotel review

An hour and a half away from Lisbon, towards the Spanish border, the ancient farm of São Lourenço de Barrocal, which has remained in the same family for eight generations, has had new life breathed into it by one of Portugal’s most respected architects, Eduardo Souto de Moura. He refashioned the buildings to create 22 spacious rooms, two suites and 16 separate cottages, as well as a spa, a restaurant, a shop and a bar. The impressive interiors were done by Lisbon designers Anahory Almeida, drawing on old manuscripts, old photographs and local curiosities. They tracked down vintage furniture to restore and commissioned rugs in soft blues and greens for the bedrooms bringing to the whole a feel of rustic simplicity, which perfectly echoes the white washed exteriors and rural landscape beyond.

Beyond these lie a vegetable garden, much drawn on by the kitchen, a swimming pool for the hot summers that this region has, olive groves and ancient dolmens and menhirs. There is a shop selling regional products from wine to embroidered linens and a Suzanne Kauffmann spa. Step inside the latter and the silence which hangs heavy under the domed ceilings immerses you in calmness even before healing hands treat you to a massage or a facial.

The restaurant, which spills out onto the garden in summer, and provides a crackling log fire in winter, serves regional cuisine. Think game dishes of wild boar and partridge or the traditional roasted black pork cheeks. Do explore the local hams from the region and the cheeses like Nisa and Serpa, which you will find on the breakfast table.

Mary Lussiana Review published: 21/12/2023