A SEXY DESIGN HOTEL ON PORTUGAL’S LISBON COAST

by YouShouldGoHere
February 13, 2017
in Eat Here, Go Here, Stay Here
0

[Outside Santa Cruz, Portugal] — It’s the smells that hit you first…

After pulling into a sparse car park, no sign of life. You walk up to the huge, heavy wood doors — all big and Asian-y and intimidating, makes you feel like a bible salesman at Larry Ellison’s house — and they’re locked.

Oh no, are they closed? Did I get the date wrong?

Then you notice the small buzzer. And buzz. A big clanking noise and the antique rusted door latch opens up for you and the big door swings open.

And that’s when the smells hit. Wood fire. Strong rosemary. A waft of lavender. A swirling stiff breeze of scents that coarse through the gap and wallop your nose with calm.

And that’s when the smells hit. Wood fire. Strong rosemary. A waft of lavender. A swirling stiff breeze of scents that coarse through the gap and wallop your nose with calm.

Okay, this is it.

And then you notice the small signs. Handwritten, in chalk, in that beautiful Euro cursive. Missives. All over. On posts. On tables. On the hunk of tree that serves as the Reception. Fresh, bright flowers buttonhole every nook and cranny. It’s like waking through Père Lachaise and following the “Jim —>” signs.

It’s sensory overload at first. The scents. The textures. The colors. The sweet voices. You have to focus just to gain balance. And start to notice things.

Okay, this is going to be good…

And then you turn around and the lobby looks like THIS:

Well, really, the lobby is a restaurant. Yep, this place is going to be juuuuust fine.

Areias do Seixo is the hotel name. I don’t know what that means, but I like it.

I think you’re going to like this place…

I’d never read anything about this part of Portugal, always have only heard about the beaches of the Algarve. I’ve seen it referred to as many things, never the same thing twice. But basically “the Lisbon Coast”. But when I walked outside for the first time and down the path to the beach, I ha-ha-ha’d out loud at this sight:

It’s nice, this.

Sexy is the operative word here. This places oozes Sexy. Layers and layers of textures and colors. Inside and out. With one of the most stunning interior designs I’ve ever seen. Concrete. Steel. Glass. Flowers. Wood. Furr. It’s like what New York City’s ABC Home would look like if they built a hotel. (please do @abccarpetandhome !)

: Let’s go see what magical things lie outside of Areias do Seixo hotel in Santa Cruz, Portugal.

: Busy.

: This sucks…there’s nobody there…

: Just stunning views of the crashing surf.

: This lousy pic doesn’t quite capture it, but I just love how they built these stairs down to the surf. Coulda been any old rusting metal contraption, instead a beautifully elegant white knife-slit, cleaved into the hillside. As if Christo were a mason, not a curtain-hanger.

: Okay, let’s go back and check out what’s happening at the hotel.

: This is in the midst of an agricultural area, so you’ll see all sorts of growing going on.

: The lower rooms look cool, with their own terraces and views of the sea. They were all sold out when I was there, so I had to get a townhouse in the back.

: Oooh look, they have a pool….

: More like a pool, table…

Yep, that’s where we want to go.

Okay, this was awkward… At first. A wine gathering around the campfire out back, nestled amidst the crops that we’d eat the next day. All the guests of the hotel. Free wine. Everyone teetering on tree stumps. Right before sunset, the roar of the ocean behind us. All these strange people thrown together for the first time. Not saying much, talking to their spouse in mumbled breath. Darting direct eye contact. Clearing of the throat. Cheese? And then something magical happened. Almost instantly, perhaps it was the sun setting, or the dark red wine, all of a sudden someone said something to the group, a burst of laughter. All barriers were dropped. Like someone had farted. From then on it was a grand old time. “Where are you from?” “Austria.” “And you?” “Have you seen the beach?” “Where have you been?” “Where to next?” “Oh you definitely must…” Everyone was from someplace else. All different nationalities and backgrounds and languages. Nothing in common, but everything. All right here. Soon, everyone had switched places, the laughter got louder. Exchanges of emails and promises of future meet ups. Such a cool thing, this. This, here. Lovely how magical travel is. And the warm glow of a campfire, melting the ice.

The Restaurant at Areias do Seixo

As you’d expect for a hotel with its own working farm, they celebrate food. And boy do they celebrate at Areias do Seixo.

The lobby is the center of everything, serving as a hangout, a restaurant, a gathering place. Even the staff have meetings to discuss activities of the day and other projects.

What’s the coolest is that it’s a hotel wrapped around a restaurant wrapped around a farm. You’ve heard of farm-to-table, but this is like bringing the table-to-farm (beds, too!). All situated on a stunning cliff overlooking the crashing Lisbon Coast.

“This isn’t a farm-to-table restaurant, this a bringing-table-to-farm restaurant.”

After the glorious breakfast — of fresh eggs laid rightthere — the chefs trickle in. Stocks begin to simmer, filling the whole lobby with intense flavors. Menus are planned, plucked right from the garden. The chopping of the daily prep echoes throughout the lobby.

You know something good is about to happen when you’re having breakfast and you see the chef sprinting out to the greenhouse to pull up something fresh.

Service begins. And the call-and-response chorus of “Yes, chef!” sing-songs you into anticipation of the first course.

I loved sitting at the bar and watching all the action. “Yes Chef!!”

Grown here. Cooked here. Eaten here. Kinda cuts the whole farm to table thing down to just feet.

: Just….

: Grown here. Flowers on the inside, from the outside. This special little half square foot, so meticulously done. Now imagine that all throughout the hotel. Little surprises tucked into ever comer. Nook. Cranny. Never done the same way twice. Whatever was in bloom, captured in time for each room. The concrete walls, floors and ceilings might be grey, the skies, too, but inside the world is full of color. Areias do Seixo is like one big flower stand, but nothing is for sale. It’s just for you.

: Someone hadta have said: “This one will be just fine all by itself.”

: This is the prettiest glass of iced tea I’ve ever had.

: Let’s go see what magical things lie outside of Areias do Seixo hotel in Santa Cruz, Portugal.

: The flowers, plants and veggies have a view as good as the rooms at Areias do Seixo. You can see how the greenhouse sucks in the sun and moist ocean air like a vacuum and puts it to good use. No wonder so much of Europe’s food is grown along the west coast of Portugal. But this luscious homegrown stuff they use just right here in a nearly closed loop, sustainable cycle of love.

: Room Service.

: They’re looking over the menu; looking at what looks good for dinner.

: The whole place is just a mixup of modern and natural. Harsh and warm.

It has to be a pretty short list, the number of hotels with their own greenhouse. Count this one at Areias do Seixo. Has to be about the prettiest greenhouse ever built. Set high on a cliff, catching the cool, moist breeze that comes off the ocean roaring below, the sun doing its job year ’round. I think I see lunch growing in there… dinner, too

The Rooms at Areias do Seixo

The rooms are all stacked up the hill. Definitely spend to have the ocean view. I tried, but everything was booked. But I really wanted to stay so rented one of their townhouses in the back for not much more money. They are privately owned, but the hotel manages them. They are great for a family — sleeping in many bedrooms and floors — but they have a completely different feel than they other hotel rooms in the main building — you HAVE to check out the website and links below. The rooms are even cooler looking than the lobby.

The great boutique hotel website Mr & Mrs Smith listed Areias do Seixo as one of the Top Ten Sexiest Hotel Rooms in the world. I will book more in advance next time.

For those wondering, here’s what the Areias do Seixo hotel looks like. Sitting high on a hill, each room ingeniously stacked and set back so you look over the gardens, the chickens and the crashing surf below… and not your neighbor. Like an ’79 Lincoln Continental with one-way tinted windows, you can see out, ain’t nobody seein’ in.

: The lower rooms look cool, with their own terraces and views of the sea. They were all sold out when I was there, so I had to get a townhouse in the back.

: A view of the grounds from the main building. What you can’t feel is the ocean breeze and comforting roar of waves.

: This is the townhouse I rented. It’s super cool and modern. But very modern and nothing like the rooms in the main building. I’d rent again though, perfect for a large group,

: Has just about everything you’d ever need. This place would be perfect with kids.

: The townhouse has everything you’d need to live for weeks. Including washer and dryer, full kitchen and plates and cooking goods.

: Love how this whole house opens up to the sea air.

: It even has a full-on grill and outdoor dining area.

Last visited April 2015.

Areias do Seixo is about 35 minutes north of Lisbon, so easy to get to if you land and want to get to the beach. This is a destination hotel, so there’s not much going on around the nearby area, although I hear Peniche is awesome and the coast of Sintra is supposed to be great with an amazing restaurant right on the water. But three or four days here, you never really want to leave.