They knew it so much that no one visited Portugal without first asking him for the addresses of places to visit, good restaurants, good houses and hotels to stay. And he was asked so many questions, that Ludovic ended up creating his own addresses, even though pushed by a slight discomfort that began to appear every time he stayed in small boutique hotels, after having a child.
This is how The Addresses (in Portuguese “the addresses”) was born, a tourist project aimed at the intersection of the pampering and comfort of a luxury boutique hotel with the protection and privacy of a holiday home. From an old agricultural farm built in the 19th century in Estiramantens, near Tavira, Ludovic and the wine partners created Casa Um. From the architecture project at Atlier Rua, interior design by the Belgian Studio Stories, a modern kitchen living room emerged, with large windows overlooking the garden and interior patio, which reinterprets the original construction. The four bedrooms were added from scratch, giving this house that does not lack a heated outdoor pool, concierge service or a refrigerated wine cellar and a refrigerated and always topped up wine cellar – capacity to accommodate up to eight people. Take it and be on your own or you can ask Mário, who is our guide and receptionist, to arrange massages, dinners, yoga classes, Algarve cuisine, whatever you want”, explains Ludovic, who continues to live in Belgium.
“They can have a hotel experience or be isolated in the house.” The stay costs from €1600 per week (theaddresses.com).
This was followed by Casa Dois, in a pedestrian area of Olhão, for four people, and Casa Três, in Vila Real de Santo António, for six (both from €1200 per week). Always with the same record, so that the experience is similar regardless of the house. We bought ruins to rebuild an old fishermen’s or shepherds’ house, something that reflects a little the history of Portugal, giving space for contemporary Portuguese design and architecture to show itself. For the beginning of 2023, the inauguration of Casa Quatro is scheduled, in São Brás de Alportel, and awaiting a building permit, there are already Casa Cinco, in Fábrica, and Casa Seis, in Cabanas de Tavira – always in the eastern Algarve.
For the former communication professional in the creative industries, daughter of an interior designer, it was imperative that the overnight stays took place in places with certain aesthetic, design, comfort and quiet predicates. What she found, the places where she slept, from boutique hotels, to guest houses and holiday homes, led her to start a website where she gathers the ones that most impressed her, Design Escapes (design escapes.com).
Emma gives the example of a space “that has just opened”, the Pateos. Built by a Portuguese couple, with an architectural project by Aires Mateus, the Pateos are four houses overlooking the Lagoa de Melides, separated, but with an element of sharing that is the landscape of cork oaks, olive trees and pine trees that surrounds it (from from €550 per night, in pateos.pt).
Other like-minded properties are featured on design-escapes.com. Such as those of the Silent Living project, a brand that includes Cabanas in Rio and Casas na Areia, in Comporta, Casas na Terra e no Tempo, in Alentejo, and the Santa Clara 1728 hotel, in Lisbon. “It was one of the first concepts of hospitality in design houses to emerge in Portugal”, advances the British woman, who also distinguishes Villa Lage, near Fuseta beach, in the Algarve (from €11,000 per week).
“There are international agencies specialised in this type of tourism for which Portugal does not even count, because they consider that there is no quality offer for their customers”, says António Homem de Melo, former director of SIC and Portugal Telecom, who with a friend – João Libano Monteiro, founder of the communication consultancy JLM & Associados – created in 2021 an agency that brings together some of the finest houses in the country, The Little Orange. “João, who is from Alentejo, built Casa do Xão in Melides (from €7,000 a week), while I, with a more northern rib, have one in the Douro (Quinta de Cima, from €1,100 a night) ”, says Antonio.
The Little Orange ended up finding him three cabins with a saltwater pool on a private property of 11 hectares in Comporta, Casa Ella (from €12,500 per week).
“He left amazed, he even started a newsletter recommending Portugal to his customers.” Entering the house proved to be more complicated given the demands and, above all, the customer’s distrust. “When I found out that the outdoor pool wasn’t heated, I didn’t want to come anymore. We had to take the temperature to reassure him.”
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