Need to know
Rooms
40, including two suites and 16 cottages.
Check–Out
Noon. Earliest check-in is 2pm.
More details
Rates usually include breakfast: a buffet stocked with some of the region’s best local produce, including artisanal bread, seasonal fruits, charcuterie and home-made cakes and jams.
Also
The descendant of a family with a longstanding connection to Alentejo, José is passionate about supporting the local community. As such, you'll find a range of regional handicrafts for sale in the onsite boutique, plus house wines and olive oils, artisanal breads and more fresh produce. Plus, around 80 per cent of the job openings here were filled by locals.
At the hotel
The 780-hectare estate has meadows, vineyards and a winery, centuries-old olive groves, stables, an orchard and walled gardens. Inside, there’s free WiFi throughout, a Susanne Kaufmann spa, a fitness studio, farm shop, concierge and laundry. In rooms: free WiFi, TV, air-conditioning, a minibar, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making facilities, free bottled water, a digital safe and Susanne Kaufmann bath products.
Our favourite rooms
We like the rooms that were once used to house the estate's farm machinery, tools and brick kiln, as they are slightly bigger than the rest (shhh). If it’s one of the cottages you’re after, we’d pick number 28 or 29 – in our opinion, they’ve got the best views.
Poolside
The 20-metre outdoor pool sits in a patch of fragrant meadow. A four-metre-tall granite rock is built into one corner – a tip of the hat to this ancient landscape. Instead of tiles, the pool has a dark, raw-cement finish, which helps it to blend in more naturally with the surrounding landscape. It’s flanked on one side by sun loungers with smart blue parasols. Close to the main pool is a 15-metre pool for families with a shallow area, where children can splash about and adults can watch from sunloungers around the side.
Spa
Each of the four treatment rooms at the hotel’s spa (open 9am till 8pm) is connected to a long, whitewashed corridor with a vaulted ceiling; inside, the rooms are very minimalist – you’ll find nothing that’ll distract your mind’s eye. There’s a hydrotherapy room with a cedarwood bath tub, seperate dry saunas for men and women, a relaxation room and four treatment rooms. All the spa products are by Susanne Kaufmann. There’s also a fully-equipped fitness studio; during the summer, you can join fitness, yoga and Pilates classes for an extra charge.
Packing tips
Bring something that you could ride one of the hotel's bikes or horses in. The hot air balloon ride also presents some seriously frame-worthy photo opportunities, so its worth packing your proper camera.
Also
Because of the estate's age, not all of the communal areas are wheelchair-accessible, but several of the ground-floor guest rooms are.
Pet‐friendly
Guests can have up to two pets, each weighing less than 15 kilogrammes, a room. Pets cost £75 a booking, and need be kept on a leash when outside guestrooms. They’re not allowed in the restaurant, pool, shop or spa area. See more pet-friendly hotels in Alentejo.
Children
Very welcome. Extra beds aren’t available, but there are a limited number of cots (free, on request) which are suitable for children up to four years old. For under-13s, a futon (€80 a night) can be added to the Farm Room or Meadow Cottage.
Recommended rooms
Most rooms can fit a baby cot (free for under-5s) on request, but the Farm Rooms and Meadow Cottages will fit an extra futon for under-13s (for €80 a night).
Activities
The hotel can arrange treasure hunts in the vast grounds, cookie-making sessions and horse-and-carriage rides through the countryside, and there's a 76sq m unsupervised playroom onsite filled with toys, books and films to watch for four to 11 year-olds. It's open from 10am to midnight, and while it's an ideal drop-off point for parental date nights, under-fives must be accompanied by a guardian. Bikes are also available to borrow for free.
Swimming pool
Kids aged nine and under can't go in the main pool, but there's a separate family pool with a shallow area and loungers for parents.
Meals
Kids eat remarkably well here from a menu of acorn-fed pork, sea bream fillets and chickpea hamburgers.
Sustainability efforts
Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, owner José is committed to living off the land; the wine, oils, olives and vegetables used at the hotel all come from the estate itself. Other ingredients are sourced locally wherever possible, minimising the hotel’s carbon footprint. São Lourenço also uses recycled products where they can, and recycle their own waste, including waste water.
