Foodie delights
If the thought of all that exercise is making you hungry then rest assured the hotel has that covered too. Jose’s dream was to have a destination where not only could you relax and play to your heart’s content but also refuel with the best food possible. Breakfasts were a delicious buffet ranging from fresh fruit, fresh juices, seeds, nuts and cereals to freshly baked breads and pastries and good old bacon and eggs. With such an extensive fare you were easily setup for a morning of exercise before lunch, which again catered for all tastes, healthy to hearty, with vibrant salads, fresh smoothies and amazing burgers just some of the highlights. Evening meals were a tribute to the quality of the local produce and skill of the hotel’s chef, with dishes leaving you feeling as if you’ve found a culinary paradise by the sea. Try the local Douro valley area wines, which offer incredible taste and value for money. Kids are well catered for with their own menu and enjoy friendly service from the staff who offer the fine dining experience with an authentic warmth and service well able for the odd tossed tomato from baby!
All sports
If you want to work off all that fine fare or just want other ways to get your sweat on then the hotel also has a full cycle centre offering rental of every sort of bike from full suspension to electric bikes, hybrids, road bikes and fat bikes. For the little ones, cycle seats and child trailers are also available.
Every type of terrain is well catered for and the hotel even has a covered pump track to tear up on bike or skateboard. They also offer sales and service and you can even courier your own bike to the hotel if you wish. The staff can point you to local trails or organize group cycles and GPS units are available for hire to aid distant ventures. We opted for exploring the boardwalked trails around the beach, which made for a great start or end to the day. Cycling the ‘fat bikes’ on the beach is a unique experience I’d thoroughly recommend and the area also offers superb terrain for trail running or trekking in the hills also.If you want to keep it on the water there is a full range of surfboards and bodyboards to hire and the centre offers JP hard and inflatable SUP’s to rent as well as carbon and glass paddles. A great family / group option is the centre’s monster SUP’s that can carry everyone on one board with guaranteed hilarity. The area is famed for windsurfing and kitesurfing, with hire and instruction also available and they even offer sailboat and dinghy hire and instruction as well as cruises and yacht charter on the river through their parent company – www.feelDouro.com .
