In a nutshell

This is a charming, calming retreat on a working farm in the Serra de Sao Mamede National Park in a remote corner of the Alentejo region. Owners Miguel and Claudia Villax have sensitively converted three alentejano farm buildings into guest houses with seven rooms in total, whose simple, sober chic combines rusticity with a finely honed design. Good food, sustainably and local production are central themes here. Gifted cook Joao Durao uses the farm’s own olive oil and organic fruit and vegetables in fresh, modern dishes recalling Yotam Ottolenghi’s Mediterranean-adjacent cuisine. The surrounding area is rich in heritage both natural and cultural: the well-preserved towns of Castelo de Vide and Marvao, nearby neolithic and Roman sites, and the rugged landscapes of the Serra de Sao Mamede.

Three things I loved

For me the design of the rooms, skilfully marrying rusticism with an uncluttered modern sensibility, struck all the right notesA personal highlight was the concrete plunge pool in a shady grove beside Esteva house, filled by a trickling natural spring – and my cue for cooling dips at all hours of the day and night.Joao Durao’s deft and delicious cooking, with its freshness and seasonal emphasis, was a surprise to find in this out-of-the-way location (I’d go back for his herb-scented potato pizza alone).

The rooms

There are three converted farm buildings on the property, which can be rented either individually or together. Casa Esteva (which has two separate apartments), Casa Oliveira (two en suite bedrooms) and Casa Rosmaninho (three en suite bedrooms) are white-painted, clay-tiled houses in the alentejano country style, with shady terraces and perfect insulation. At Esteva, where I stayed, the doors and ceilings are uniformly painted in the same cool shade of lichen green, a sober simplicity that had me mentally congratulating the owners on their perfectionism. Every detail spoke of care and forethought, from the antique country chairs and Portuguese linen sheets to the weathered wooden desk in the office space and the wood-burning stoves and baskets of firewood in readiness for chilly winter evenings in the Serra de Sao Mamede. Having no in-room TV was a blessing, as it encouraged me to delve into the hotel’s judicious selection of books on nature, ecology and good living. After a hike among the olive groves, a long soak in my cast-iron bathtub (salvaged and re-enamelled), with soaps and unguents made from the estate’s own olive oil, was just what the doutor ordered.

Food and drink

For Claudia Villax, a well-known name in Portuguese food publishing, good eating and renewable agriculture are two sides of the same coin. Organic vegetables from her kitchen garden at A Sociedade Rural are the raw materials for Joao Durao’s fresh-faced cooking – I enjoyed his simple, striking salads, savoury flatbreads, rustic vegetable patés, and home-made ice creams. Produce sourced from beyond the farm includes organic meats from female-run butchers, Talho das Manas. At breakfast there were berries with goat’s milk yogurt and farm honey, plus freshly made Portuguese pastries and alentejano bread from a village bakery in nearby Porto Espada. The pair of handmade butter cookies that appeared on my bedside table later that day made an appealing alternative to the standard hotel chocolate-on-the-pillow. Admirers of Portuguese wines will appreciate Miguel’s selection from the nearby Portalegre-Alentejo DO, now in vogue as big producers eye up higher-altitude vineyards. An elegant, minerally Quartzo white from Cabeças de Reguengo, a field blend of 10 different local grape varieties, was the perfect prelude to a snoozy summer afternoon.

Highlights and experiences

A Sociedade Rural’s location, among granite crags and oakwoods in a well-watered valley, feels genuinely magical. Miguel and Claudia have created five “sensory walks” around the property: paths meander through olive groves and woodlands, past natural ponds and a babbling brook. On the ‘Touch’ walk, Claudia invited me to run my hand over the enigmatic neolithic tombs carved out of a massive granite boulder. Chilling later by the salt-filtered pool with a big G&T in hand, I was serenaded by a chorus of frogs from the natural pond next door. For those ready to stir from the poolside, the hotel offers safaris with Antonio of Old School Alentejo in one of his classic open-topped 1980s Portuguese jeeps, for discovering hilltop lookouts and quaint villages with cobbled streets. Other appealing options include vulture spotting, mushroom foraging expeditions, basketry workshops, hikes to waterfalls, visits to the Roman villa of Ammaia, and nature walks with artist Lucy Eyers.

What to do nearby

A major plus point is the wealth of nature and culture in the vicinity of the hotel, an area described as the ‘Sintra of Alentejo’ for its fresh and breezy mountain climate. One obvious draw is Marvao, a historic town perched high on an 800-metre crag; the restaurant Fago, run by two young locals, is worth booking ahead for. In high summer the sleepy town (it has a population of just 600 people) rouses itself for the annual Festival Internacional de Música de Marvao, run by German musicians Christoph Poppen and Juliane Banse. Twelve kilometres from A Sociedade Rural is Castelo de Vide, a lively country town whose placid routines are barely altered by tourism. Further afield, it’s fun to nip across the Spanish border, 10 minutes away by car, and explore the wild frontier country of Cáceres province.

The backstory

Miguel and Claudia Villax (an executive at his family’s pharmaceutical company, and lifestyle magazine publisher, respectively) have chased their dream of opening a farm hotel in the countryside more energetically than most. When Covid hit they fled to the remote forest-clad hills of Serra de Sao Mamede National Park in the far north-east corner of the Alentejo, where they’d been buying plots of semi-abandoned land within sight of Marvao, a spectacular hilltop town. Their 32-hectare property and the five buildings that came with it (three of which were destined for guest accommodation) would together become an intimate country hotel and the couple’s all-consuming passion project.

Insider tip

Guests inspired by Claudia’s stunning wildflower arrangements around the hotel can join her in the countryside and help her gather blooms. Mocktails can be ‘meh’, but the welcome drink on a hot day, a fizzing, iced-and-sliced concoction of cucumber, elderflower and mint, had me begging for the recipe. And a date for the diary: US painter Heather Chontos, a recent arrival in the area whose work is displayed in the hotel, plans a residential course at A Sociedade Rural in Autumn 2026. Keep tabs on the hotel website for further news.

Wellness

This seven-room retreat has no spa as such, but the cute standalone sauna in the garden almost makes up for that with its glass wall looking out onto the forest. While yoga sessions, massages and other treatments can be organised, I myself found wellness enough in the peace and quiet of ACR’s bucolic location.

Final considerations:

Can’t-miss: ASR’s coolly chic interiors, farm-fresh food and glorious rural surroundings are all deeply expressive of the Portuguese lifestyle.Best for: A couples’ escape, a relaxed vacation with older children – or for lovers of art and designLocation: The unspoiled Serra de Sao Mamede in the north-east corner of Portugal’s Alentejo regionFor families: This is an adults-only hotelAccessibility: Not a strong feature of the hotelLoyalty group: None