In the voyage of discovery that is making it up as you go along, our little late-summer lull didn’t last very long.
I last wrote about us suddenly realising it was September with the brief moment we had to reflect on our first summer season as small-hoteliers.
In retrospect I can put an exact date on that lull: Thursday September 11th – our first night without guests since the rollercoaster ride pushed out of the stalls in July – and the only night we’ve had to ourselves since then!
Presumably, real people who plan, design and build eco-luxe lodges have a pretty clear idea before they start as to who will come and visit.
We hedged our bets by building a few apartments and handful of en-suite rooms, but also a communal Clubhouse space for events and meals.
It was about variety – appealing to different people with different needs – big families spending a week or two together, couples wanting a get-away and ‘retreats’ where some people like to share and others prefer their own space.
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And somehow amid the naivety of the “build it and they’ll come” business plan, we’ve continued to have an amazing mixture of fun and fascinating people finding us.
Some spot our little lodge on Google maps, some ask ChatGPT (which for some reason seems to like recommending us) and others see the reviews generous people have been leaving and look us up.
Of course it’s been an easier sell during the guaranteed sunshine of a Portuguese summer, when beaches beckon and the pool is the perfect antidote to some time on a sun-lounger.
Like any double-speed investment ad disclaimer, temperatures here can go up and down; rain does sometimes fall in Portugal (thankfully); and 300 days with sunshine does mean an average of at least 65 days without.
But there aren’t many places left in Europe quite as wild and untouched as our southwestern coast of Alentejo – and not many places like ours in the area.
It’s still the beauty of the landscape, the seascapes, the clifftop coastal paths, the star-scape by night...and the simple silence which are the top attractions.
Whether a glass of rosé with the pink tint of a reflected sunset, a morning run through the mysterious mist and an encounter with a large stag (yes, that happened to our guests this week) or with the dramatic clouds of an impending Atlantic storm, it’s always special.
It’s inspired us to plan for future expansion already and apply for an innovation and sustainability grant, set up to support young and small businesses like ours in our region.
Our architect has designed some additional apartments which can be built elsewhere and lifted into place to avoid us returning to the bad-old building site days.
Here’s the plan:
But until people realise what they’re missing out on and discover what we fell in love with here, they need a reason to come and visit.
And that’s what brings us to the paint and the porn-stars…
It had been on the calendar for months...a colourful little block of days closed for new bookings labelled “Art Retreat.”
It was our first multiple-day, full-board retreat in the Valley of the Stars, and we had a full house of amateur painters.
The group were mostly from the UK and were members of my old pal Ed Sumner’s Cheese & Wine Painting Club.
We knew a four-day full-on retreat would be tough with all 17 guests needing breakfast, lunch, dinner...and drinks every day.
And with just us and our first employee Krishna, we asked our daughter Oda to fly back from LA, after her heroic six-week stint in the summer had helped us get through the hectic schedule of bookings.
Ed started his painting club in London a few years ago – running events in pubs where he’d teach basic techniques by showing would-be artists how to paint their own master.
Copying a Constable, making a Monet or having a go at a Van Gogh was a great way in for many folk.
But during the pandemic when Ed’s Yorkshire lilt helped hundreds of people keep connected to the outside world...by joining his online painting classes.
Friendships formed over WhatsApp and Zoom and it helped a lot of people through the loneliness of lockdown.
That’s why some of those gathering in Vale das Estrelas had only met fellow club members online, so it was their first chance to meet in person.
There was also a last minute appearance from an American couple Craig and Betty who’d read about the retreat and signed up a couple of weeks before.
Craig writes the Pat the Expat column in the Portugal Resident magazine (where I also do a version of this blog once a month) and thought it might make a fun place to explore while Betty did the painting.
The Cheese & Wine Painting Club crowd enjoyed the food and the wine as much as the painting classes, as they tucked into Ana’s amazing and endless repertoire of local specialities, sampled some of Alentejo’s finest wines and worked their way through Oda’s cocktail menu.
Many hadn’t tried bochechas (pig cheeks) or arroz de pato (duck rice) before.
They loved the flame grilled dourada, their beach picnic, and Ana’s Asian twist on Portuguese bifanas thanks to an amazing chef and super sous chef Oda.
Oda cut her teeth as a bartender in the fancy rooftop terraces of Los Angeles and
“If we have it, I can make it,” her whiteboard boasted, above a list of suggested cocktails to which someone added “Porn Star Martinis.”
Apparently a core of club members have meet-ups in the UK and Porn Star Martinis have become a tradition.
Not in her usual repertoire, the special request sparked the search for passion fruit liqueur and vanilla vodka in remote, rural Odemira.
Maracuja (passion fruit) booze was easier to find than expected, not so much vanilla vodka, but with a little magical syrup-making Oda transformed the Valley of the Bars into the Valley of the Porn Star Martinis.
The group were from a fantastic range of backgrounds and included an actor, a dentist, an author and an astronomer; a moth and butterfly expert who educated us all; and a nurse (whose skills were only required once or twice).
They set up on the calçada deck outside our Clubhouse and painted the view we fell in love with when we first found this spot in 2018.
They sketched the surf from the comfort of Bar de Praia in Almograve, inspired by the sun, the sand...and the strawberry daiquiris.
They learned a bit of history through one of our wine story-tastings and met the French/British couple behind the delectable new Delância wine – with a fabulous artistic and colourful label with a story to match.
They all seemed to love their stay, and for us it was a great lesson in how to prepare the meals, run the logistics and understand where to bring in extra staff next time.
Speaking of next time... anyone fancy another painting retreat in April 2026??
Speaking of next time... anyone fancy another painting retreat in April 2026??
It also taught us that group getaways are certainly the way we’d like to go as it can all be planned and organised well ahead of time.
We have our first yoga group coming in a couple of weeks, a big corporate retreat in January – a collaboration with the fantastic nearby Orada retreat centre and were recently visited by an Ayurvedic retreat leader looking to run training classes in Portugal.
And it seems a lot of all sort of people like the idea of a few days away in the beauty and silence of places like Alentejo...without necessarily the need for 6am exercise classes.
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Just this morning I saw an article in The Times about Reading Retreats (paywall) – retreats where you just read and relax...reading retreat leaders look no further!
With the clocks going back and the nights closing in, we’ll certainly be reaching for a good book this winter, and hope we can lure a few of you to join us.
And in case you needed any more persuasion, we’re still offering a15% discount for all stays through November with the code BLOG25 when you book here.
