Estói Hotels

Palacio Pousada de Estoi: Algarve's grandest pousada

The Palacio Pousada de Estoi is Algarve's crown jewel of a pousada. A pousada is a converted government owned and run inns from former country estates, mansions and palaces. This latest pousada which was formerly a palace for a viscount (Visconde de Carvalho) was built in the late 18th century and kept abandoned for many years until recently renovated and turned into a 5-star hotel in Estoi. It's a peach-coloured quaint looking palace modelled supposedly after the Palacio de Queluz, that other rococo palace on the outskirts of Lisbon.

The pousada is just north of the main square and church Igreja Matriz on a side street as one arrives in Estoi. One enters a high-wall compound with massive gate and through it an avenue of palms leads to a terrace with a pavilion and a pool surrounded by allegorical Italian statues. Below the pavilion granite and marble steps decorated with old Portuguese blue tiles lead down to a sprawling garden orchards of citruses and flowering bushes.

The renovation and grand refurbishing of this palace turned pousada was done to accommodate an extended modern but tasteful annex equipped with a huge swimming pool and individual units as part of the larger hotel complex. The pousada also has a restaurant and a cafe both of which along with its rooms are moderate-to-high end enterprise.

I haven't actually stayed at the pousada myself but have seen the entire pousada and have taken coffee there on several occasions.

• Opinion of Price: more expensive than average
• Related to: Food and Dining, Castles and Palaces, Architecture
• Written August 9, 2011

The Palacio Pousada de Estoi

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