Conversas de Alpendre
Vila Nova de Cacela, Portugal
★ Verified by our editors · September 2026
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The verdict
A family-run country hotel among orange, carob and olive trees near Cacela Velha, two kilometres from the Ria Formosa beaches, with around a dozen rooms that include a hand-built tree house six and a half metres up a carob tree, a cabin and a loft with private pools, and a heated saltwater pool. It holds a MICHELIN Key and is the most personal small hotel in the eastern Algarve.
Families and couples who want space, trees and home cooking near the beach, with Tavira and the Spanish border within half an hour.
You want to walk to restaurants or the sea: it is in the countryside, and the beach is a drive — or the hotel's jeep — away.
Book the tree house early — there is only one — and take the hotel's old UMM jeep down to Praia da Fábrica, the lagoon beach below Cacela Velha.
The rooms
Around a dozen rooms: the Casa da Árvore, a hand-built tree house 6.5 metres up a carob tree with two terraces and a view of the sea; the Armazém, a 70 m² family loft with a private pool; the Cabana, a cabin with its own pool; a family apartment and a terrace suite with jacuzzis; and suites in the original house.
The setting
In the countryside of Vila Nova de Cacela, in the eastern Algarve, among orange groves, carob and olive trees, about two kilometres from the beaches of the Ria Formosa. Cacela Velha, a whitewashed village on a bluff over the lagoon, is five minutes away by car.
The food
Breakfast — regional bread, homemade granola, honey and fresh cheese — has no end time. Every night the chef cooks a surprise dinner from local produce, and the Chiringuito bar serves cocktails and wine from a swing facing the sea.
Getting there
About 40 minutes by car from Faro airport and under two hours from Seville; the hotel arranges transfers from both. A car is useful.
Good to know
Families are welcome, with cots, swimming lessons and babysitting; pets are not allowed. The main pool is heated and saltwater, the private pools are not heated. Marta Guevara opened the hotel with her family in 2016; they later opened Colégio Charm House in Tavira.
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Conversas de Alpendre
From €250 · Booking.com affiliate