Sublime Comporta is a hotel with an impressive legacy. When TAP Air pilot Gonçalo Pessoa ventured into the world of hotels — opening the doors of Sublime Comporta in 2014 with just 14 rooms — he also moved the dial for this coastal corner of Alentejo. The resort’s impact on its locale is on a par with other destination-defining stays: think Borgo Egnazia in Puglia, which paved the way for the Italian region’s romance with the jet-set; or La Mamounia, the arrival of which in the 1920s helped to transform Marrakech into the ‘Paris of the Sahara’.
With such a starred reputation, expectations are high as I travel to Alentejo to see how the next chapter for Sublime Comporta is unfolding. Its new 53-hectare site, called Sand, has opened across the road from the original, Terracotta. Hotel renovations come in all shapes and sizes — a pop-up restaurant here, a spa refresh there — but when you build a new wing that’s three times the size of the old, how do you retain the charm and character of the original? That’s the challenge facing this Portuguese pioneer.
New wing, new look
On arrival, one balmy June evening, the first thing that strikes me is how separate the two wings appear to be. I’ve inadvertently rocked up at Terracotta’s reception, so need to hop back into the car, drive out of one side of the resort, head a minute further up the road and take directions from the gate house at Sand to find the correct front desk.
Gravel tracks ribbon the campus, feathering off to various rows of villas. A chorus of crickets is audible through the car window and pine from the canopy above scents the air, as I drive to the Atrium, home to Sand’s reception. Cheery staff are there to greet me and, one golf-buggy-led convoy later, I’m at my quarters for the next two nights.
We draw up in the villa’s shared parking lot. Matching the configuration at Terracotta, my room (a Cabana Room Superior) sits within a multi-bedroom villa but has its own private entrance and furnished terrace. As I throw my bags on the bed, admiring my room’s generous proportions, first impressions reveal that the decor here follows the original’s rustic-but-luxe aesthetic — gone, however, are the bright whites and blue accents of Terracotta’s rooms, replaced with the cosy taupes and soft golds you’d expect from a wing called Sand.
Beefbar lands in Comporta
My first appointment on day one is with food, and the quest for eggs Florentine and coffee leads me to Beefbar, which hosts an à la carte breakfast for Sand guests, bolstered by fruit platters and ornate piles of pastries, and served in a window-walled space to the rear of the Atrium.
This is Portugal’s inaugural outpost of Riccardo Giraudi’s steakhouse empire — a coup for the hotel. You’ll come for the seared prime cuts, for sure; but the lure of the restaurant’s cosy ambience and DJ-soundtracked nights means you’ll likely stay for cocktails long after the last bite.
The Atrium is Sand’s beating heart, where as well as the reception you’ll also find concierge services and a couple of air-conditioned boutiques. A brief browse reveals that the resort has extended its repertoire beyond its fashion trove of labels (Latin American-inspired swimwear brand Agua Bendita, Grecian bohemian dresses from Devotion Twins, romantic womenswear by Fillyboo, playful jewellery by Solange and more) into desirable homewares, too — from locally sourced ceramics to handmade tableware and artisanal trinkets.
Family-friendly feel
Villa in the Sand Wing
Swimming rather than shopping feels more appropriate on this warm June day. And Sand’s pool complex, Aqua, is a spot you could easily lose a few hours to (if you didn’t have an article to research — sigh). Understandably, given the weather, the indoor pool is abandoned, but outdoors, bronzed couples are already installed under parasol-shaded loungers, and a devoted dad is coaxing his toddler into a dedicated shallow pool. It’s too blue-skied a day for the fitness centre to be busy, and although a lobby counter is primed and ready to dish coffees, I reckon ice-cream service this afternoon will prove much more popular.
Beyond ice cream, beside the pool casual eatery Davvero Blu whips up pizza, focaccia and light bites to parasol-shaded, terrace tables. And a nosey around neighbouring restaurant, Davvero Comporta, reveals Milan-worthy interiors and an Italian menu — unlike Terracotta, Sand has no adults-only dining. Plates range from the family-friendly (tagliatelle bolognese) to date-night dishes (tuna tartare, followed by veal escalope with lemon and truffle purée).
Your little Smiths, however, may be more interested in Sand’s Kids’ Club than they are in spaghettoni cacio e pepe, especially when they see its glut of toys, play areas, splash pool and football goal. An upstairs den, with table football and a pool table, is a refuge for teens and tweens. Having this facility close to your clan-friendly villa is sure to turn Sand into a family favourite for some.
Blueprint of dreams
As I pedal around the gravelled roads on my borrowed fat-bike, spying generously spaced-apart villas set among the tree-dotted, sandy grounds, I see gardeners everywhere, planting the shrubs that’ll grow to complement the wing’s established trees. Right now, Sand is still in its growing phase, less wild than Terracotta, but the new wing still delivers on canopy-shaded tranquillity, with plans to match the original site’s verdant peace well under way. Communal spaces at Sand, too, follow the blueprint, arranged conveniently around a central area featuring Aqua and the Atrium.
Terracotta for two?
Bio Pool Suite
No stay at Sand would be complete without exploring over the road at Terracotta. Sublime Comporta’s original campus is where you’ll find the adults-only spa, experiential dining at seasonal Food Circle (with a provenance-proud tasting menu served to just 12 counterside diners each night), and Sublime’s unique Bio-Pool Suites, set beside one long — sectioned-off — untreated pool, immersed in nature and accessed from your suite’s private deck. These look particularly picturesque, but I’m less sure about swimming where frogs and other assorted pond life, too, may dip.
Wellbeing at Terracotta feels more tangibly top-of-the-list than at Sand — perhaps because of the two-storey gym (alfresco boxing ring, anyone?) or the standalone yoga and Pilates centre; perhaps because of the spa and its adjoining rooms and suites.
It would be easy to neatly distinguish Terracotta as ‘for couples’ and Sand ‘for families’, but the truth is more nuanced. Even if I wasn’t travelling with children, I can see that the lure of Beefbar and Aqua would work just as effectively on me as it would on families. And Sand’s warmer-hued decor also stands to charm indiscriminately.
A serene sweep
Wherever you choose to stay, both wings share an ethos that promotes luxuriant downtime. Here, you have permission to unplug with days whiled away in-resort — the extent of each wing’s trappings (pools, fitness spaces, boutiques and spaces to lounge, indoors and out) encouraging you to stay put. Dining, especially, matches the quality of anything you’ll find beyond the gates, with restaurants at both Sand and Terracotta showcasing Alentejo’s larder with welcome variety.
I find there’s an ease to leaving the resort, too, thanks to Comporta’s simple-to-navigate layout. You can drive along the coast, wander the shops in Comporta village, or settle in for a day at the beach with a minimum of planning. Any help I require from the hotel’s staff — with taxis, restaurant reservations or advice to fine-tune my agenda — is delivered with poise and professionalism, a gold star for service that’s evident at both wings. Resort shuttles can ferry you between Sand and Terracotta or take you to the hotel’s surf-lapped beach club.
Deciding which wing to go for ultimately will come down to personal taste. Perhaps proximity to the spa, adults-only dining or the appeal of a Bio-Pool Suite will see you fall for Terracotta. Or maybe it’s the beach-hued bedrooms, kudos of Beefbar, abundance of pools and glorious scale of the site that’ll tip the scales towards Sand.
To me, it feels like deciding whether to shop new or vintage: both are valid choices, equally capable of delivering on comfort and style. And for the indecisive, well, there’s always your return trip to plan.
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