If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR403.30), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Urban design and rural serenity marry beautifully at Independente Comporta. Cabernet-red fireside sofas, retro pool furniture and art-adorned rooms are set to attract a creative crowd, with family-size villas and cosseting rooms for stays à deux. After countryside or coastal outings – or lo-fi days around the pool – revellers converge at the indulgent Portuguese restaurant and poolside pizza bar for sociable soirees under the stars. As marriages go, this one is sure to last.
Noon. Check-in, 3pm, but both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £242.09 (€284), including tax at 6 per cent.
More details
Rates at Independente Comporta include a buffet breakfast with cakes, cheese, fruit, fresh bread and local meats. There’s an à la carte menu with hot dishes, plus dairy- and gluten-free options.
Also
Unfortunately, this rural retreat is not suitable for guests with reduced mobility.
At the hotel
Fire pits, electric bikes to rent, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, yoga mat, ponchos, bathrobes and slippers, and local bath products.
Our favourite rooms
All of Independente Comporta’s rooms and villas showcase local craftsmanship, such as ceramic work from Melides, handwoven lamps from Évora, and handmade rugs from Alentejo. The terrace-toting Pool Side Rooms are within diving distance from the main pool, and bigger clans can sprawl out in one of the villas; the Two and Three Bedroom Villas have their own private gardens and swimming pools.
Poolside
The sun-dappled saltwater pool is accessorised with retro touches such as stripy fringed umbrellas, inflatable pool rings and fluffy towels in Neapolitan ice-cream shades. Sink into a sunlounger, doze off on a day-bed, or head to poolside Bóia for drinks and snacks between dips.
Spa
Sea salt, olive oil, seaweed, rice… No, this isn’t a dish at the hotel’s restaurant, but the ingredients used at the all-natural Aura Spa. After a soothing massage, facial or body wrap, the indoor pool and relaxation area will ease your transition from treatment to reality. You could also go the whole wellness hog with a personal trainer, osteopathy session or Tibetan sound bath.
Packing tips
A sociable spirit for the convivial poolside table and fireside gatherings, plus Lululemon leggings for the hotel’s active offerings.
Also
There’s an air of starry-eyed romance at the two Seventies-inspired fire pits, where lovebirds sidle up on the berry-red sofas, nurse nightcaps or whisper sweet nothings to each other while the flames flicker...
Children
Welcome; the Family Rooms, Studios or One Bedroom Villas are best for young children, and free cots and extra beds are available on request. There’s free babysitting (subject to availability) and daily afternoon activities for kids aged three to 12.
Best for
Little Smiths over three.
Recommended rooms
Free baby cots and extra beds can be added on request to all rooms, but the Family Rooms, Studios and One Bedroom Villas are best for families with small children.
Activities
There are free activities, such as baking classes, treasure hunts, movie nights and painting workshops, every day from 3.15pm to 10.45pm for young ‘uns aged three to 12 to enjoy. Over-sevens can also join you for a family-friendly massage.
Swimming pool
The pool has a shallow end, plus lots of inflatable rings to play with.
Meals
There’s a small children’s menu at Maroto.
Babysitting
The hotel offers free babysitting on request and subject to availability.
Sustainability efforts
Independente Comporta prides itself on its Earth-kind initiatives: the hotel is single-use-plastic-free and only uses products with biodegradable packaging; all water bottles are reusable, and the hotel grounds are cultivated with endemic plants. Local community is as valued as the surrounding environment, and so Independente’s suppliers are sourced close to home and the hotel is adorned with artisanal pieces, including rugs made from recycled plastic bottles.
Nab a table on Maroto’s enchanting terrace; from here, you can eye up the firepit for your after-dinner digestif.
Dress Code
Eye-catching prints and block colours are on-brand for Maroto; salty and still-wet from the pool is encouraged at Bóia.
Hotel restaurant
They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but we can’t help but consider a restaurant for its bread and butter… And at Maroto, the fresh sourdough with romesco is something to write home about. Named after the Portuguese word for ‘naughty’, Maroto lives up to its moniker with playful and indulgent dishes, such as Alentejo black pork presa with a browned butter emulsion, and chef Bruno Antunes sources his fresh ingredients from regional suppliers. The space is as vibrant as the food – light streams in from the plant-lined terrace, local artwork dots the limewashed walls and the hanging lamps resemble Tutti Frutti sweets. Your willpower will be tested as you lounge by the pool with the smell of freshly baked pizzas wafting past… Should you succumb, Bóia dishes out sourdough pizzas, snacks and salads.
Hotel bar
Poolside Bóia serves punchy cocktails and local wines: perch at the tangerine tiled bar, cosy up at the convivial table or flop on a sunlounger with your order of choice.
Last orders
At Maroto, breakfast is 8am to 11am, and dinner is from 7pm until 11pm. Bóia serves from noon until 7pm.
Room service
You can order from a separate menu to your room or villa between 8am and midnight.
N-261-1 Estrada das Bicas
Marco da Saibreira
Bicas
Grândola
7570-337
Portugal
You’ll find Independente Comporta in the pine-carpeted countryside between Comporta and Melides, near Alentejo’s sun-kissed coastline.
Planes
Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport is less than a 90-minute drive away; staff can arrange transfers on request.
Trains
Grândola train station is a 20-minute drive; the hotel can organise transfers for €50 each way. Alfa Pendular rail services from Lisbon take just over an hour; Faro is two hours away by train.
Automobiles
You’ll want your own set of wheels to cruise around – it’s a 15-minute drive to the beach, Comporta and Melides are a few minutes further, and Lisbon is 90 minutes away by road. There’s free parking at the hotel, plus the villas have their own spaces.
Worth getting out of bed for
Back-to-nature adventures delight at Independente Comporta. Staff can arrange horse-riding along the sand dunes and rice fields, kayaking or paddle-boarding in a nearby lagoon, and surf lessons to perfect your pop-up. Limber up for a yoga or pilates class, before borrowing an electric bike to wind through the surrounding countryside or zip down to the sea – dune-dotted Praia do Pego and Praia do Carvalhal are your closest beaches for surfing, swimming and sunbathing. Or swap countryside for cosmopolitan: characterful Lisbon is within day-tripping distance.
Local restaurants
Tuck into caviar-topped sushi, crispy tacos and fresh ceviche on Comporta Café’s sea- and sunset-facing terrace. Come hungry to O Fadista in Melides – their hearty portions of fuss-free Portuguese fare, like grilled catch of the day and fragrant baked rice, are served in a tile-clad dining room. Your camera will eat first at Cavalariça, where local produce is transformed into delicately presented sharing plates and set menus.
Local cafés
The vegetarian fare and specialty coffee at Anguilla Surf Café are all the fuel you need for tackling the frothy wave breaks. There’s fruit-crowned pancakes, zingy poké bowls and nutty sweet treats, which are best washed down with a matcha latte or fresh juice.
Local bars
While away an afternoon at boho-chic Sublime Comporta Beach Club, which pours signature cocktails, generous jugs of sangria and an extensive wine list.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this creative outpost in Alentejo and unpacked their local vintages and artisan-woven fabrics, a full account of their back-to-nature break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Independente Comporta in Portugal…
As colourful as Independente Comporta is, the overriding theme is green: this bucolic bolthole sits on a 30-acre estate, with a saltwater pool framed by Hulk-like prickly pears and gardens brimming with native plants. The camera-ready restaurant has its own take on green, too, using locally sourced produce and eschewing single-use plastics. During your morning – spent either surfing, horse-riding across the dunes or e-biking past verdant fields, you’ll come into close contact with some of the spa’s organic ingredients, such as sea salt, sand and rice. See them in ayurvedic action with a detoxifying body wrap or rejuvenating facial; even little Smiths can get a taste for wellness with a mini massage (an afternoon of nature-based activities tires all ages, after all). Recentre with a Tibetan sound bath or stretch out with a yoga class, before balancing your new-found virtuosity with a freshly baked pizza, polished Alentejan plates at Maroto or a fireside glass of vinho tinto…
