Between the plush hills of Sintra and the sun-drenched shores of Cascais lies a luxurious resort that captures Portugal’s most interesting parts into one outstanding vacation spot. The Ritz Carlton Penha Longa Resort captures the nation’s culinary prowess, wine excellence, charming landscapes, and historic heritage inside its historic 220-hectare property. Whereas the championship golf course, vacation spot spa, and 7 distinctive eating places may draw you initially, it’s the refined authenticity of the Portuguese welcome – refined but genuinely heat – that creates the will to return
Portugal has emerged with quiet confidence onto the worldwide stage. The nation is now justly recognised for its gastronomy, wines, pure magnificence, and barely reserved but profoundly genuine hospitality that continues to seduce guests in search of experiences with depth and character. Every go to to this compelling nation reveals one thing new for me, and my keep at Penha Longa proved no exception.
Location
The resort occupies a privileged place inside Sintra Pure Park, the place centuries of historical past mix seamlessly with up to date luxurious. The property’s 14th-century monastery and chapel stay on the coronary heart of the property, now thoughtfully reimagined as an occasions and weddings venue.
Adjoining to the monastery, with its lovely structure and historic adorned tiles, is the Penha Longa Spa & Wellness pavilion, making a sanctuary of rest with a contemplative backyard.
The property unfolds throughout manicured gardens and the fairways of the 27-hole championship golf course. Non-golfers can respect these verdant vistas from the infinity pool and daybeds. For these dedicated to health routines, a complete health club occupies area in the principle constructing.
A 15-minute drive delivers you to Sintra, the place fairytale palaces and Eden-like gardens create one in every of Portugal’s most extraordinary cultural and horticultural landscapes. This space, as soon as the popular retreat for Portuguese royalty, later grew to become the inventive playground for 18th-century aristocrats who expressed their inventive imaginative and prescient by means of magnificent residences and meticulously crafted gardens.
These drawn to coastal pleasures will discover the golden shores and complicated attraction of Cascais simply 20 minutes away, a seaside city that has established itself as Portugal’s most coveted coastal vacation spot.
Extra on each these sights later within the overview.
Gastronomy
Delicacies stands as a defining ingredient of Penha Longa’s enchantment, with seven distinct eating places providing tempting variety. Expertise revolutionary, Michelin-starred experiences at LAB by Sergi Arola and Japanese mastery at Michelin-starred Midori to the pan-Asian dishes at Spices and artistic tapas at Arola. Penha Longa Mercatto satisfies with Italian classics, whereas AQUA gives seasonal poolside eating. The B Lounge completes the gathering because the resort’s foyer bar with essentially the most educated and pleasant crew.
Every eating expertise is elevated by a crew that balances skilled experience with approachable heat. Cooks, sommeliers, and servers interact with real enthusiasm, sharing their data and fervour in a way that feels pure.
Past the common menus, particular experiences embody the Sunday Feast buffet at Penha Longa Mercatto with its a number of delicacies stations and the unique Chef’s Desk Expertise at Arola, the place famend cooks share their experience with simply 4 privileged company.
Lodging
Indulging in an distinctive suite stays one in every of journey’s most pleasant moments, and Penha Longa delivers this pleasure with understated confidence following its complete lodging redesign.
The resort’s latest renovation has refreshed the Government, Deluxe, Deluxe Pure Park View, and Junior Suite classes with a recent aesthetic that continues to be related to the pure environment, creating areas that really feel each trendy and tranquil.
I actually cherished my Government Suite and its sense of refined magnificence, with refined furnishings and impeccable finishes. The big furnished terrace positions you throughout the pure park, providing sweeping views from the manicured fairways to the pine-covered panorama past.
The welcome amenity demonstrated consideration to element and considerate personalisation. A handwritten be aware accompanies a inventive number of handcrafted treats from The Chocolate by Penha Longa – every creation referencing the property, from chocolate golf balls to tablets evoking the ornamental tiles of the 14th-century monastery. Port wine miniatures offered an ideal complement, subtly connecting to the property’s wine experiences.
The suite presents real area with two residing areas, a separate W.C., and an elegantly appointed in-room bar. The bed room encompasses a well-conceived dressing space with ample storage for baggage and clothes, together with considerate facilities.
The marble lavatory has beneficiant proportions, accommodating a separate W.C., bathe, soaking tub, and twin vanities. Diptyque facilities improve the sense of refined indulgence, whereas plentiful fluffy towels, along with robes, and slippers keep the five-star expertise.
The Government Suite, with its king-size mattress and personal balcony, can join to a different suite to create a Household Suite. Entrance desk, once they took me to the room, defined that youthful company obtain particular consideration by means of a variety of household actions and personalised experiences just like the “In-room Tenting” package deal, full with tent, pillows, and necessities for an indoor journey.
Wellbeing
The Penha Longa Spa & Wellness Membership occupies its personal devoted construction, creating a real retreat environment faraway from the principle resort’s constructing. The expertise displays extraordinary consideration to element, starting with a considerate handwritten welcome be aware and Natura Bissé reward awaiting me within the altering room locker.
The Penha Longa Signature therapy was supplied with precision {and professional} grace. It commenced with a ritualistic foot cleaning and scrub, adopted by a complete physique therapeutic massage that includes the unique Penha Longa Signature oil.
The Oriental Backyard gives a peaceable sanctuary with gazebo-covered sunbeds, a jacuzzi, and a personal pool for post-treatment rest. Inside the principle constructing, the wellness centre homes a completely geared up health club for these sustaining health routines.
Golf
Whereas I don’t play, the 27-hole course at Penha Longa enjoys appreciable status, ranked among the many prime 30 programs in Continental Europe and inside Portugal’s prime 10. This Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design, which has hosted the Portuguese Open, guarantees a rewarding problem for golf lovers.
Visitor Experiences
Penha Longa has crafted a number of distinctive vacation spot experiences, from Personal Monastery Excursions revealing the legends and historical past of this outstanding construction to revolutionary Port Wine and Chocolate Tasting Experiences.
The latter proved significantly memorable. Hosted within the elegant boutique of The Chocolate by Penha Longa, this expertise pairs emblematic Portuguese port wines with artisanal sweets. Head Sommelier Gonçalo Mota gives fascinating historic context and demonstrates the dramatic custom of opening classic port with heated tongs – an 18th-century method developed to cleanly decapitate bottles whose aged corks may in any other case disintegrate. Government Pastry Chef Francisco Siopa then guides members by means of Azerbaijan extraordinary flavour combos, from daring to refined, that completely complement Portugal’s iconic fortified wines.
Past the resort itself, the wonders of Sintra and Cascais await exploration, every providing distinctive insights into Portugal’s cultural and coastal heritage.
Seduced by Sintra
That is the place goals take architectural kind. Sintra captivates guests as a lush retreat overlooking the Atlantic, the place historical past and fantasy intertwine on this UNESCO World Heritage web site only a quick drive from Penha Longa Resort. The verdant panorama reveals itself progressively as you ascend the Serra de Sintra, showcasing elaborate mansions and palaces the place Portuguese royalty and rich 18th and nineteenth century Europeans indulged their most lavish architectural ambitions.
My day started with Portuguese treats on the historic Casa Piriquita, established in 1862. The long-lasting pastry store presents the proper introduction to Sintra’s sensory pleasures by means of its handmade creations: the Travesseiro, a mushy almond-filled pastry referred to as a ‘pillow’ with hints of cinnamon; the crumbly Queijadas; the golden-topped Noz Dourada; and the fragile Pastel de Sintra.
Partaking an expert information proved invaluable, reworking lovely buildings into understandable tales of their proprietor’s ambition and architect’s artistry. Whereas Pena Palace sometimes receives essentially the most consideration with its vibrant façade, I discovered the Palace of Monserrate supplied a extra intimate expertise. This Gothic residence, as soon as the summer season residence of English textile magnate Sir Francis Cook dinner, combines architectural grandeur with the household’s private expression.
The palace reveals extraordinary craftsmanship at each flip. The plasterwork captures botanical themes with outstanding element, whereas the carved wood door to the library is a masterpiece. The stonework creates a sequence of areas related by the outstanding central hall.
Monserrate’s gardens deserve equal consideration. Representing one of many nineteenth century’s most formidable horticultural tasks, they showcase crops from 5 continents thriving in Sintra’s distinctive microclimate. The cautious backyard design consists of strategic water options that keep humidity ranges for unique species, creating microzones the place Mexican, Australian, Center Japanese, and Asian crops flourish facet by facet.
Arranging this tour by means of the resort’s concierge is strongly advisable. The properties require timed entry tickets, and customer numbers are managed. A educated information gives important context that transforms Sintra from a reasonably vacation spot right into a significant exploration.
Discovering Cascais
Whereas Sintra captivates with romantic grandeur, Cascais presents coastal sophistication, the place aristocratic heritage meets maritime attraction. Only a scenic drive from Penha Longa Resort, this former fishing village reworked right into a royal retreat when King Luís I established his summer season residence right here within the late nineteenth century, bringing with him Portugal’s the Aristocracy and altering the city’s trajectory endlessly.
The city epitomises relaxed refinement, with elegant, white-washed buildings with terracotta roofs, and superbly preserved mansions line streets that result in seashores sheltered between dramatic rock formations.
Cascais Marina is a recent haven of upscale boutiques and gleaming yachts towards the backdrop of the Sixteenth-century Cidadela fortress, now housing an distinctive artwork centre and luxurious lodging.
The historic centre rewards unhurried wandering by means of slender cobblestone streets opening onto charming squares. Right here, native life continues amid the guests, significantly on the day by day produce and fish market the place restaurateurs and residents alike choose the freshest substances and the catch of the day. Right here I loved a culinary spotlight of my go to: Marisca na Praca set proper throughout the fish market. The restaurant presents an intensive ice market of recent fish and seafood that you choose your self, have weighed, after which ready to your liking. Devouring these treasures whereas seated at easy wood tables coated in brown paper tablecloths creates an expertise that’s genuine, mesmerising, and actually scrumptious. This direct connection between sea and plate exemplifies the real coastal character that distinguishes Cascais.
With steering from the exceptionally educated assets offered by Go to Cascais, I additionally found the city’s outstanding cultural wealth. The Casa das Histórias Paula Rego museum, designed by architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, homes the provocative work of one in every of Portugal’s most vital up to date artists. Equally spectacular is the Museum Quarter, the place the museums in former mansions of rich retailers now showcase collections starting from sea-inspired ornamental arts on the Casa de Santa Maria to the fascinating regional artifacts on the Museu do Mar, telling the story of Cascais’ deep relationship with the ocean.
A personal information organized by means of the resort’s concierge service illuminated facets of Cascais I would in any other case have missed, like the key tunnels beneath the On line casino Estoril that impressed Ian Fleming’s On line casino Royale throughout his wartime keep, and the discreet villas that sheltered exiled European royalty throughout World Conflict II.
Cascais presents a refined coastal expertise that completely enhances the mountainous splendour of close by Sintra.
Photographs listed here are ©VisitCascais
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