Mr & Mrs Smith

Areias do Seixo

Torres Vedras, Portugal

Areias do Seixo has the kind of futuristic concrete and glass eco-structure that makes architects go weak at the knees: it’s also relaxed, generous (expect just-baked cake and a nightly bonfire with wine), and as refreshing as its homemade lemongrass tea.

Need to know

• Rooms 11
• Rates Double rooms from $312.91 (€250), excluding tax at 6 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (€250), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Rates include buffet breakfast (organic produce from the vegetable patch, bread and cakes baked in a wood oven), access to the spa and cinema room, and plenty of extras, including local wine and a bicycle tour.
• Facilities Gardens, spa, cinema room, stash of DVDs, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: floating fireplace, fresh fruit, Damana bath products. Every room comes with a wooden patio: step out and enjoy the views.
• Poolside The adults-only emerald-green pool occupies a sunken position overlooking the gardens, where grapes, tea, fennel, cabbage and beans flourish in the fruit and vegetable patches.
• Check-out 12 noon, but flexible subject to availability. Check-in, from 4pm.
• Children The hotel is more suited to adults than bairns: the spa and swimming pool are reserved for adults. That said, little Smiths aged 11-plus won’t be frowned upon: the restaurant has a menu for tots, extra beds are €75, and babysitting can be arranged.
• Eco-friendly Sustainability issues shape the hotel, rather than being a secondary consideration. An abandoned chicken farm once occupied the hotel’s perch – when Areias was built, the farm was ground down and its materials reused. The hotel uses geothermal energy and solar power, and recycles as much as possible. Guests can even add green ‘experiences’ to their stay, including a compost circuit or an agricultural lesson with local farmers.
• Also Every night, the hotel hosts a Fire Circle, where guests mingle around a bonfire in the grounds (free red wine lubricates conversations). Nuts, nibbles and traditional Portuguese folk music are provided.

Food and drink at Areias do Seixo

• Hotel restaurant Lugar da Horta has multicoloured, mismatching chairs, chunky wooden tables, and an eye-catching piece of reformed copper hanging from the ceiling. All three meals are served here: relaxed, unfussy food that sings a love-song to the garden’s ingredients. Begin each day with glasses of pulpy just-squeezed juice; later on, sample pata negra (Iberian black pork).
  
• Dress code High-class hippie: ethereal Ghost layers in stone and putty hues, or gem-bright Matthew Williamson to spice up the neutral palette.
• Top table Every table has garden views, but we recommend sitting opposite the kitchen so you can watch the vegetables you picked earlier be dressed for your plates. For a romantic evening meal, stake out seats close to the terrace and gaze at the bonfire and stars.
• Last orders Mojito, morangoska, caipirinha and the ilk are mixed, muddled and drunk until 1am.
• Room service Staff will whip you up a snack or drink around the clock – just let them know what you have a yen for.
• Hotel bar Some artfully placed furniture distinguishes the bar from the dining area. Bosa Nova beats provide a background for conversations over rum-sloshed cocktails, and despite all the concrete, glass and stone, there’s plenty of comfy furniture to kick back on.
  

Also worth knowing

• Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...

Areias do Seixo Praceta do Atlantico - Mexilhoeira - Povoa de Penafirme, Santa Cruz, 2560-046 A-dos-Cunhados