But it’s not just good food and good times here. Cofoco is serious about its sustainability efforts too. All its restaurants and the hotel are powered from a huge solar park it built out of town, planting a tree for every stay and offering 10 per cent off for guests who arrive by bike.
Book it: Doubles from £96, room only (0045 3321 2166; coco-hotel.com)
16. Marqí, Sintra, Portugal
Arriving at Marqí, tucked in the hillside near Sintra about 30 minutes from Lisbon, is like walking into a Slim Aarons picture – even more so if owner, and Danish photographer Mikkel Kristensen has picked you up from the airport in his vintage cream Mercedes. It was this kind of throwback Chateau Marmont-style glamour that first attracted Kristensen to the gothic house, built as a party pad for a civil engineer called Fernando Talvez in the 1980s (there’s still his private discotheque, “Nando’s Place”, in the basement).
True to the vibe, Kristensen, along with friend and artist Mikas Emil, spent the pandemic driving a van around Portugal picking up retro furniture: curvaceous lounge chairs, marble side tables. Come in shoulder season and the fires will be lit and the vinyl spinning.
Book it: Doubles from £150 (00351 925 219 655; marqi.holiday)
17. Casa Céu, Algarve, Portugal
This breezy four-bedroom guesthouse is in the salty fishing town of Olhão on the Algarve coast – handily just 15 minutes’ drive from Faro. The sun-bleached setting is reflected in the interiors, all natural materials and neutral shades: crisp white linen sheets, rattan lampshades, tiled floors adding a splash of pattern and colour.
Owners Lara and Dário have created a peaceful, grown-up haven. Breakfast is served on the rooftop terrace as the couple help guests plan their laidback days over local cheeses, homemade yogurt and freshly baked cake. Days might be spent sailing to the Ria Formosa islands or horse riding on the white sand beach at low tide.
Book it: Doubles from £107, including breakfast (00351 938 388 498; casaceu.pt)
18. Hotel Hevresac, Menorca, Spain
Menorca’s sleepy capital Mahón had a bit of an international injection when gallerists Hauser and Wirth opened an ambitious outpost on Isla del Rey in the harbour back in 2021. There’s an equally artsy outlook at Hotel Hevresac, eight bedrooms spread over a former merchant’s townhouse.