BELA VISTA HOTEL RESTAURANT AND SPA, THE ALGARVE

When I stumbled across the Bela Vista hotel whilst hunting for special places to stay in the Algarve, I saw photos of the most incredible hexagonal stained glass bathroom. I didn’t quite make the booking on just the basis of this one room but it was a factor…  As was the dreamy pool!

Quite random, I am rarely impulsive when it comes to holidays or splashing cash!

As luck would have it, on check in we were given that very room. In the photo our bathroom is in the turret! With the bathroom being so unique the rest of the hotel was going to be special!

On arrival one has to drive through the town of Portimão. It isn’t exactly picture postcard… Especially the direct surroundings of the hotel – the main beach and tourist strip lined with bars. A real juxtaposition. The Bela Vista does however have prime position and looks out to sea. The location doesn’t take away from the hotel, but it is worth expecting!

I adore staying in a hotel that retains and enhances its history. Relais & Châteaux are masters of this, just visit Cliveden or the Chewton Glen. The Bela Vista was once a private home. A palace. In the 1900s it became the first hotel on the Algarve. The palace is full of unique and original features and so many beautiful original azulejos from the property.

The bar, restaurant and lounge areas are all beautiful, one almost wants a rainy day to relax into the big chairs. In the last decade the hotel shut for a few years for refurbishment and a modern hotel wing was added, increasing capacity to around 40 rooms. The mix of history and modern reminds me of Casa Branca that we so loved in Funchal.

We decided to splurge on this special trip and booked a ‘character’ room in the palace. I have made you wait to see the bathroom, and here it is…

Pretty epic, definitely one of a kind. And stunning too – when the sun shines, which it does a lot, the room comes alive with coloured light! It’s also airy and practical. Although I wouldn’t want to be the person keeping that shower so sparkly!

The bedroom thankfully wasn’t surrounded in glass and shiny things. Instead it was stunning and comfortable in a very elegant and Portuguese way. Spacious and with a super bed as you’d expect. Thankfully the excellent double glazing totally blocks the outside (karaoke) noise. We slept like logs and woke up each day to sunshine creeping round the side of the building! I loved our little view over the pool and out to sea.

Something we really enjoyed at the Bela Vista was the Michelin starred Vista restaurant. What a feast we had. We rarely photograph our food but we had to here! I suspect in mid-summer one dines outside of an evening, but for us all tables were in front of the windows looking across the terrace and out to sea.

There’s a ten course tasting menu, however even the smaller three course one that we opted for (you can have wine pairing) was a theatrical, artistic and culinary treat. Plenty of extra courses came alongside our three main dishes. Everything was incredibly detailed with plenty of ocean influence.

A real intricacy to everything we ate and the chef did a sterling job dealing with my dietary requirements. There is also a superb lunch and dinner bar menu to either eat inside or on the terrace looking over the beach.

Breakfast is also in Vista so you are assured good things here too! The eggs benedict that Mr P enjoyed each day was incredible, as were the homemade pastel de nata! I dined out on all the fruit and honey and really it couldn’t have been fresher. With things like whole poached pears and whole passion fruits it was such a treat. Each morning we enjoyed a leisurely start on the terrace overlooking the sea, the perfect way to wake up!

We especially loved our time at the pool, one of the other key factors for us booking this hotel. There’s lounger-bagging going on but since we are always up early we beat them at their game, whilst I rolled my eyes! The pool is situated perfectly – sea and beach views and a lovely sea breeze, pristine palm trees, attentive bar staff and all guests relaxing peacefully!

We treated ourselves to some time in the spa. Both of us opted for 60 minute treatments and we felt like new people afterwards. I had such achey legs and my treatment dispensed with these. L’Occitane products are rich – I have not been to one of their spas before and I approved. We loved the Turkish bath area that we had use of after our treatments.

Service was the excellence that one would expect from Relais & Châteaux. I was impressed how many languages the staff had command of and how attentive they were. We were well looked after and remembered from day to day.

I did have a few niggles. Minor things like no complimentary water at turn down and car parking an extra 15 Euro/day. Things that cost a hotel nothing, which normally are included but weren’t, so are noticed. Odd.

We revelled in our stay here. It was a truly unique and special place to spend three days. We don’t often treat ourselves to a stay somewhere like the Bela Vista. However we are both agreed that we chose the right place for a memorable stay.

Most important to us was being able to truly relax and be comfortable doing very little. Those wishes were met!

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