Category: Must Read

A fabulous luxury staycation resort, right here on our doorstep

Travel has become more complicated this year, but fear not, Vila Vita Parc has everything you need, spread through their lush 22 hectares of sub-tropical landscaped resort. Entering the main gates, you instantly get a sense of what lays within, the Algarvean architecture with touches of Moorish design leaves you in no doubt where you are. After a smooth check-in, the porters swoop your luggage away and present you with a very Vila Vita touch: a branded hygiene gift bag complete with some masks, hand sanitiser and a mask carrying case.

It was clear from the offset that they take guests’ safety and comfort very seriously indeed. The resort has 203 rooms, suites, apartments and villas, all with fresh, contemporary furnishes and splashes of Portuguese art, pottery and toiletries throughout. The accommodation is spread between the Main Building, Oasis Parc, adjoining the Vila Vita Spa by Sisley and the adults-only manor-house style The Residence. Two of the villas, Praia and Trevo, are located on the cliffs with fabulous sea views, whilst Vila Al-Mar is near the golf area and Atlântico I and II are just in front of the resort.

I stayed in the main building, which was beautifully furnished and had a great view out over the gardens, the fountain and to the sea. Families are very welcome here too, of course. There’s a Kids Club, Mini-Golf and a play area for the little ones. The gardens are gorgeous, and taking a brief stroll through them instantly relaxes you and gets you into the Vila Vita mindset.

One of the areas that Vila Vita Parc is best known for is their restaurants. With 11 restaurants and six bars, each with a very distinctive atmosphere, décor and culinary offering, guests are spoilt for choice. The jewel in the crown is Ocean, with two Michelin stars, run by Austrian-born chef Hans Neuner, whose dishes take you on a gastronomic journey through the very best that Portugal has to offer. The décor and views are spectacular and should be seen in person to appreciate them. The wine room holds over 900 vintages, carefully selected by sommelier Ricardo Rodriges.

Definitely not falling into the shadows of Ocean, the other restaurants are excellent in their own right and would easily work as stand-alone outlets in any major city. I ate at the newly refurbished Bela Vita Bar & Brasserie, which is located in the Main Building. This was a great new addition to their top-class eateries. The mixture of Parisian flair and Art Deco touches instantly transported me. It was almost as if the trip from my room to the restaurant had been via a time machine. The contrast was phenomenal.

Moody lighting, well-spaced seating, big booths, mixed textures and fabric and a casual, luxurious ambience set the mood. The menu was exciting, with cheese and truffle soufflé, fresh fish, gorgeous and generous cuts of prime beef like a Fiorentina or the huge Beef Wellington that came on a trolley and was served tableside. So these would be items that you might expect on a Brasserie menu, but then there were some surprises like the Asian Bites entree, a 26-piece sushi and sashimi platter.

Sitting, deliberating over the menu, I was surprised by the presence of a drinks trolley by my side. The resident mixologist presented his daily choice of cocktails that he prepared right in front of the table, making a fun start to the experience. The food and service were excellent, as is true of all of the restaurants here.

The other restaurants are Mizu Teppanyaki, a Tokyo-inspired contemporary, fine-dining Japanese restaurant; Aladin Grill, with a Moorish-inspired dining room covered in oriental blues and gold and an open kitchen that serves delicious grilled meat and fish. Adega is the resorts traditional Portuguese restaurant that overlooks the swan lake, whilst Cave de Vinhos is a wine lover’s paradise. Once inside the entrance, the stairs take you down into the cellar where you’ll find more than 11,000 bottles of fine vintages. Guests can dine here and usually have a fixed menu that showcases Portuguese, wine-friendly dishes. Whale is the casual, poolside restaurant serving international cuisine including wood-fired pizzas. The Arte Náutica, Praia Dourada and Só Verão restaurants form the Armação Beach Club, which is located on the beach of Armação de Pêra. Finally, the Vila Vita Biergarten in the nearby village of Porches serves superb Bavarian specialities and of course, great beers.

With so many top-class dining options, it’s fortunate that there are gardens and walkways are available to enjoy a leisurely stroll. At the bottom of the property, there’s something extraordinary — private access to the secluded beach. Heading back from the beach, guests can enjoy one of the seven swimming pools with options for families, children and adults only. The indoor pool is heated and has a sauna onsite along with a full gym.

The resort has a 22-metre yacht available for half or full-day excursions, complete with catering and a rib allowing guests to access the caves. The fleet of Chauffeur driven cars, people carriers and buses are available, enabling guests to enjoy excursions in the utmost comfort and style.

Onsite, the V-Life Shops are a boutique shopping plaza featuring exclusive, sophisticated brands such as Tamara Comolli fine jewellery, Heidi Klein beachwear, Façonnable menswear and By Rory, elegant resort wear and accessories. The V-Life Store has all the gourmet Vila Vita products and the entire wine range from their Portuguese estates in Alentejo and Douro. Here, you can also find local artisan products such as Porches Craft Beer, home design, regional pottery and handicraft items.

Vila Vita can also accommodate guests who wish to stay long-term and have excellent onsite business facilities for those who work remotely.

www.vilavitaparc.com

Inside visits Carvoeiro Clube de Ténis to discover its new facilities

In recent years, there hasn’t been a time when community spirit and neighbourly kindness has been more important. Carvoeiro Clube de Ténis is one of the places in the area that is open all year, and you will always find someone to play a game with or have a chat and a drink.

Under the watchful eye of manager Matthew Watton, who previously spent his career managing clubs in the UK, the club is constantly evolving. It boasts flexible membership options, making it accessible to everyone. The name might suggest that it’s a tennis club; well, it is but it’s also so much more. There’s a massive gym with lots of cardio, free weights and muscle-building equipment along with personal trainers to help with tailoring plans for those who need them.

 

The membership structure is better than ever for the whole club, whether it be the gym, classes, tennis or padel, with monthly, non-resident and full membership options. Fitness classes run seven days a week, taking place either outside or in the studio. Classes range from Cardio Fit, TRX, LBT and Zumba Fit, Pump & Shape, Fitball and Power Hour, Pilates, Flow, Hatha and Ashtanga Yoga and even Belly Dancing. The times start from 9am through to 6pm and classes are colour coded with regards to intensity, so there’s something for everyone.

The most significant new addition to the club is The Bungalow Wellness and Treatments Centre, located beside the main tennis courts. The Bungalow was transformed into four private treatment studios, where both visitors to the club and members can book a range of treatments. Traditional Thai Massage by Wiwi and her team take place to the left of the reception area, which houses a photographic or art exhibition where visitors can buy the displayed art (currently showing local photography by Craig Rogers). Along with classic Thai Massage, which is fantastic for relieving muscle tension, blood circulation and increasing energy, Wiwi also does facials, body wraps and waxing.

In the central area, around the reception, there are three rooms. The first one is home to Brows by Sarah. Sarah Goodchild is a certified PhiBrows Microblading Artist who transforms her clients’ faces with beautifully sculpted brows to frame their eyes. Sarah is also hosting Jo from Algarve Aesthetics, who runs a Botox clinic once a week from her studio. Next door, The Beautician, Kylie, works her magic with revitalising, deluxe spa manicures and pedicures. Recently, Kylie has added eyelash and brow tinting to her list of treatments, offering a top to toe service. Last but certainly not least, there’s Lydia Coles, who performs Traditional and Five Element Acupuncture in her studio, which is great for many ailments including sports injuries, sleeping problems, digestive issues, headaches and even menopausal symptoms.

The team from Bar 6 took over the catering outlet at the club and have been holding some very popular events at the club with food and entertainment. The bar area is open during club hours, and guests are welcome to enjoy the spacious terraces with a coffee or a full meal. The club has been busy restoring the tennis courts, adding the new craze padel court and updating the floodlights to allow guests to use the facilities in the early evening too. If you fancy learning how to play tennis or brushing up on your skills, the onsite Pro is always on hand to help. Although the club has become a multi-faceted venue, tennis does remain as the heart and soul.

www.carvoeiroclubedetenis.com

Juan Arias’ approach to Cubism

Born in 1973 in Havana, Cuba, Juan Antonio Puebla Arias is a self-taught plastic artist. He left Havana and moved to the Algarve in 2015 and currently lives in Lagos. We first came across his work in the Lady in Red (LiR) gallery in Lagoa and got in touch to find out more about the artist and his style.

“I brought a whole world of warm, Caribbean and very personal colours with me to Portugal,” Juan explained. “My palette has the stamp of an island, of lots of suns and endless rains, of human warmth, of smiles and sadness, of coffee, sea, of old colonial buildings, of stained glass, of dreams and realities, where time stands still. The person emigrates, but his native land is carried in his soul, and this is as if he never left it.”

Juan uses oil, acrylic, Chinese ink and sometimes paper on canvas, thus seeking the difficult balance between drawing and colour. “I’ve been influenced by Cuban painters like Wifredo Lam and Sergio Padilla, as well as international [names like] Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso and Maria Blanchard, from whom I took Cubism as a pattern from the formal and conceptual point of view.”

When you see his art hanging on the walls at LiR, you could, at first glance, be forgiven for thinking that perhaps the artist is local. The vibrant blues, tiles and buildings could be from here. It’s only on closer inspection that you begin to see what is there. The contrast between his Cuban roots and new home are blended harmoniously.

Juan first exhibited in Havana in 1993 and remained on the Cuban circuit until 2006, when he began to showcase his work internationally. Firstly in Canada, then over to Europe in 2014. Along with his gallery pieces, the award-winning artist also made two pictorial murals in his native Havana and participated as a jury member in The Fine Art Competition – Looking at the Footprint of Valentin Sanz Carta at The Canarian Association of Cuba. Continuously evolving, Juan recently went to Madrid to take the course “Cubism in Modern Culture”, taught by the Museo Reina Sofía and Sociedad Telefónica.

Juan’s style is bright, bold and unique. “Some of my works, as part of the search for the viewer’s own approach, can be hung in different ways, turning it on its four sides,” he says. “It’s with my cubist work that I intend to incorporate a fourth element, which adds to the three existing spatial dimensions and is the dimension of time, thus achieving the shape of the space-time link, where all our experiences, our stories and the relationship flow between our past, present and future.”

His art focuses on developing and deepening a new cubist vision, where time is the main protagonist. Thus, together with the other spatial dimensions, form a more comprehensive idea of both the physical and spiritual environment. “I show in my work the multiplicity that we always have in the future and that we are the main creators of it. With a look inside ourselves, chaos can appear, the inexhaustible range of possibilities that we cannot control when others intervene and our particular ability to choose, to predetermine the next step,” Juan explained. “In this present reality that we live, we must understand how powerful we are, how much we can do to improve our future and bring love in every action. Cubism has not died, we have it inside, it accompanies us every day and always takes different paths.”

As for the future, Juan Arias’ dream is to hold an exhibition with several current cubist painters. For now, his paintings can be found in private collections in Cuba, Canada, USA, Mexico, the Canarian Islands, Germany and Portugal, and, of course, at LiR, in Lagoa.

www.galerialadyinred.com

Inside visits oasis of tranquillity that is Moinhos Velhos Detox Juice Fasting Retreat

Slightly off the beaten track, in a secluded valley just south of Barragem da Bravura near Odiáxere lays a hidden treasure called Moinhos Velhos. This is not the kind of thing you would expect to come across in the Algarve, and I was thrilled when I did!

I’d signed up for a one-week Juice Fasting Detox and Yoga Retreat to try and offset my post-lockdown stress and excess weight gain. I wanted to rebalance and can hand on heart say that it was a great experience that I will happily revisit. This is one of Moinhos Velhos most popular retreats and what they are best known for internationally. My group was a great mix of nationalities and personalities who were all here, for one thing: to relax, reset and recharge themselves. The rooms are very comfortable, light and airy and come with organic toiletries, a Clysmatic colon cleansing system and Neti pot in the bathroom and a welcome booklet to explain everything that I would be taking during my stay.

The first morning I was woken by the sound of one of the facilitators walking outside, gently ringing a handheld bell and the sound of the birds. This signified that it was time for the day to begin, and everyone makes their way up to the main cottage for some pre-yoga tea and reflection time. Every morning at 8 am, yoga takes place in the Temple with one of the full-time retreat team. Every morning, we had a different teacher, which was great as they all had such different techniques meaning that everyone in the group could benefit according to their personal preference.

Fully stretched and feeling good after the yoga session, we headed up for our first juice. What lay before us was more than just fresh orange juice. There was a mason jar with Bentonite Clay and water in it, a shot of Psyllium Husks, a little pot with a concoction of supplements such as Pancreatin, Niacin, Spirulina and their founders own Co-tons. Our yoga teacher each day also joined us for our first juice and answered any questions that anyone might have.

After the first juice of the day, it’s Clysmatic time. I won’t go into too much detail here but what I will say is that I found it very cleansing. Not all of our group were comfortable with it, and that wasn’t a problem, everyone did what works for them. Everyone attends a check-in check-up with Debby in the clinic, which is where the various holistic and massage treatments also take place. There are a QRS bed and Zappers to rebalance your electromagnetic field and rid the body of parasites. This might sound a bit out there, but according to Ed, the in-house nutritionist, our guts are full of them. One quick zapping session at the beginning and another at the end of the week is said to kill them off.

There’s plenty of time to enjoy the spacious, salt-water pool during the day, take a nap or go for a walk in the beautiful, unspoilt natural valley that surrounds the property. There is a second juice at 1pm, followed by another dose of the supplements. The last juice of the day is at 4pm, followed by more supplements and the last daily Clysmatic. In the evening, we were served a hot broth and our fourth batch of pills before the evening meditation. None of the rooms have televisions, it is a retreat after all, but they do have a lounge in the main building with a TV that guests are welcome to use. Wi-Fi is intermittent and phone signals weak, but since this is a retreat for the mind as well, that’s not such a bad thing.

Our group was lovely; there was Janne, the youngest and a returning guest from Holland, who was already there when we arrived as she had attended the healthy eating retreat the week before. Irina from Poland, Justyna from Switzerland, also a returning guest. Noe and Helena from Portugual, both first-time juice detox retreaters along with Kim from Spain, who was staying on for the next 10-day retreat too and the colourful, yoga-loving Myriam from France.

Frank Jensen and Anne-Karine Moss founded the retreat some 20 years ago and it’s currently under the stewardship of Frank’s widow Janni Jensen. Moinhos Velhos has evolved steadily into its current shape with the help of Chris and Karen Lloyd Pack who have been there for some 15 years. Chris and Karen have been teaching yoga for many years, and between them they have they give clear and sound explanations to what you can expect, usually with a good dose of humour thrown in for good measure. Richard Brook is in house acupuncturist, specialising in five-element acupuncture, Dru yoga and wellness coaching, among other things. With former nurse Debby and nutritionist husband Ed there too, the team have all the bases covered.

There were informative talks every day around the communal juice table. The set up is beneficial as each facilitator brings something entirely different to the table, and everyone takes what they need from the conversations. The accommodation was charming, spotlessly clean, and I slept like a baby. The juices were made freshly from organic produce, often from the land or greenhouse with some items being brought in due to seasonality.

Moinhos Velhos has kindly offered readers of Inside Carvoeiro a 15% discount until the end of 2020, quote MoinhosVelhos15 to get the discount and feel like a new, improved you.

Text Mia Wallace