Hotel Fortaleza do Guincho

Description:

• Designated as a Relais & Châteaux hotel in 2001, this is one of the grandest and most prestigious hotels in the region. It originated in the 17th century within a few hundred feet of the westernmost point in Europe, when an army of stonecutters built one of the most forbidding fortresses along the coast. The twin towers that flank the vaguely Moorish facade still stand sentinel over a sun-bleached terrain of sand and rock.

  You enter the hotel through an enclosed, once-fortified courtyard, where there's a well that used to provide water for the garrison. The public rooms contain all the antique trappings of an aristocratic private home. In cold weather, a fire might blaze in a granite-framed fireplace, illuminating the thick carpets and the century-old furniture.

  Each small but luxuriously furnished guest room is behind a thick pine door heavily banded with iron under a vaulted stone ceiling. Most rooms overlook the savagely beautiful coastline. Some beds are set in alcoves. The marble bathrooms are supplied with robes and neatly kept tub/shower combinations. There are also three small but elegant suites, some with their own fireplaces.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010