Spatia Comporta

The name is a promise about space, and the property keeps it. Spatia sits just outside Comporta on a private estate among umbrella pines and rice fields, a few minutes inland from the beaches, and it is built around the idea that you should not be able to see or hear anyone else.

The accommodation is organised as villas rather than a single building. Each is divided into rooms that can be taken individually, or combined so that a family or a group has an entire villa to themselves. Every room runs to more than 40 square metres, with high ceilings, warm white and cream tones, structural timber left exposed, and full-length glass that opens the rooms onto their terraces. It is a simple palette handled with care, and it works better in this landscape than anything more decorated would.

Two outdoor pools sit at the centre of the estate, one for children and one reserved for adults, which is a small decision that makes a large difference to how the place feels in August.

Breakfast is generous and the restaurant serves dinner from Friday to Sunday. On other nights you eat in Comporta or Carvalhal, which is no hardship. A beach club and a spa have been added since opening, and the staff will arrange surfing lessons or golf.

Comporta is about an hour and a half from Lisbon, and this sits far enough outside the village to be quiet while remaining close to the beaches at Pego and Carvalhal.

It holds one Michelin Key. Note that published room counts vary depending on whether villas or individual rooms are being counted, so confirm the configuration when you book.