Leave the urban sprawl behind at Amaria, a boutique Algarve getaway

A stay at Amaria, a hotel three hours’ drive south of Lisbon, is soundtracked by crashing waves, with views that open onto a tapestry of pines and ancient olive trees. The untamed character of the Costa Vicentina Natural Park was what drew Nuno Oliveira, the founder of Amaria, to this place. “There’s a strong connection here to the sea and to the underlying wilderness,” he says.

Oliveira had been visiting this patch of the Algarve, between the villages of Odeceixe and Aljezur, since he was 18 years old. He initially came for fishing trips but it wasn’t until 2016 that he imagined putting down roots here.

With his mother, Maria – from whom the hotel takes its name, which also nods to the Portuguese verb amar (to love) – he bought two neighbouring plots in the natural park and made a secondary base for himself in one of the ruins that stood on the property. In 2021 he quit his engineering job in Lisbon in search of a slower pace of life and Amaria started to take shape.

The hotel’s design is faithful to the region’s whitewashed vernacular, though there are modern flourishes. Wide glass doors are positioned to catch the light at every turn. The interiors, meanwhile, are less decorated, more assembled: iron chairs found in an atelier in France, an antique cabinet passed down through generations and unique glassware sourced in Morocco.

While Oliveira had always been drawn to architecture, working on Amaria uncovered an affinity his for landscape design. Beyond the grounds, the vegetation grows denser. “We planted more than 1,500 trees, studying the native species with care for the regeneration of the soil,” he says.

His British wife, former stylist Phoebe Arnold, applied her skills to the project. A self-taught cook, she now oversees the unpretentious food served at the hotel. Breakfast is a spread of homemade granola, Portuguese cheeses and red berries from a neighbouring grower, while lunch and dinner, available on request, are shaped by her daily trips to the market in Aljezur, complemented by supplies from the hotel’s vegetable and herb garden and fruit groves. Nothing here resembles fine dining. Instead, Arnold moves through the open kitchen in the living room, serving guests as though hosting friends at home.

Beyond the hotel, it’s worth exploring Aljezur and Odeceixe, where traditional Portuguese spots serving fresh Atlantic seafood sit alongside contemporary cafés. Prefer to stay put? Try Amaria’s saltwater pool in the summer and cylindrical wood-fired sauna in the winter. Perched above the valley, the view from the latter opens onto the surf breaking below.
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