Alentejo: Rest Between Mountains and the Sea ♦ From cork stools to local ingredients that feed the kitchen, Craveiral Farmhouse breathes the Alentejo coast into everything. The pet-friendly gite that opened a year ago near São Teotónio is the right answer when looking for rest surrounded by nature in the south. With plain, mountains and sea next door. Halfway between the countryside and the sea, a few kilometres from Zambujeira do Mar this hotel is the perfect combination between the connection to nature and the comfort of modern life. Discover the charm of our studios, 1 or 2 bedroom houses and our best-kept secret: the farm lots! Secrets From Portugal is thrilled to let you know all about this hotel in Alentejo, keep reading to see why.
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This hotel is the best of both worlds: the fusion of nature with simple luxury, artisan with contemporary. In a total of nine hectares, there are 38 houses that accommodate and welcome us, among different types, but not overlapping. Space, moreover, is not lacking there. In this tourism that wants nature, the vegetation is – pass the redundancy – as natural as possible, as are the other proposals, between a small garden and orchard that provide the restaurant – so the menu is adjusted according to growing vegetables and fruits – a teaching farm with animals or a Nature Interpretation Center. There is still an outdoor pool – more than used in those days – and an indoor pool with heated water, a wellness centre with sauna, hammam, jacuzzi and gym and a small shop.
There are 9 hectares of pure air and good life, where four nuclei of houses in different typologies are inserted, from the studio to the house with 2 bedrooms. Three swimming pools, one indoor, one restaurant with garden products and organic food, a nature interpretation centre, an orchard, a farm with animals, and all the space of the world, between countryside and sea. The best of all? they have farm animals ready to make you fall in love: The Carnation and Horseshoe donkeys are as inseparable as they are friendly, as are the Mint and Cinnamon goats. Were not the names obvious enough? The Quinoa horse delights the young and is always photogenic. But it is the little bitch Pica, full of life and ready for the treat, that makes us feel welcomed upon arrival. After all, this is a pet-friendly place.
The result is best perceived in numbers. Here, evenings fall quietly in one of 30 villas for two to four people, or in one of eight studios for two. Some have kitchens and an inviting porch with sun loungers where you feel like sitting. Thinking, reading, drinking refreshments, talking. When you are in the quiet of the Alentejo plain, the verb goes to the background. More numbers: Hot days call for a swim in the three pools, one inland, or in the shade of the orchard and the trail of meditative plants that wear the green. In all, more than half a thousand trees were planted, among lemon, pear, quince or loquat trees.
The rooms bring in the surrounding country setting, with straw hats serving as lamps, cork fruit trees, and reused trunks as benches, but there is also plenty to explore outside Craveiral Farmhouse: the hills and sea are clear. nearby, with the beaches of Carvalhal and Odeceixe just minutes away. Cycling there on one of Craveiral’s bikes is just minutes away.
Other activities that can be done include horse riding, skateboarding, pottery workshops, gym, sauna, Turkish bath or visits to the Nature Interpretation Center. Without forgetting, of course, the restaurant that serves lunch and dinner, where the regional product is given priority, inspired by traditional Alentejo recipes, dishes such as rosemary-baked wild boar or oyster and partridge bread. In the countryside and in the Alentejo, the only time I want to keep, after all, is this: when the hunger clock gives hours. The summer brought a new organic pizzeria to Craveiral, with fresh from the garden and ingredients from small Alentejo producers. This is a partnership with In Bocca al Lupo and the Vila Com Vida association, providing employment for young adults with intellectual disabilities.
