Vila Joya

The house above Praia da Galé was bought as a family home, and in 1982 Claudia Jung began turning it into a hotel. In 1991 she brought in the Austrian chef Dieter Koschina, and the Michelin stars followed: one in 1995, a second in 1999. He has run the kitchen ever since and still writes a new menu every day, while her daughter Joy has run the place since 2003. It is a Moorish-style villa in ochre under tiled roofs, with bougainvillea trained round the front door. The garden falls through agave and palms towards the dunes, and the restaurant looks over it to the Atlantic from under an arched arcade. One bedroom sets a carved wooden headboard against plain cream walls and gives the whole far wall to a door open onto a terrace and the sea.

Recommended for couples who would cross the Algarve for a two-star dinner and would rather walk to bed afterwards than drive. The restaurant is on their side: at dinner it keeps very few tables for anyone not staying, since guests in the house have first call. A day can go down to the sand of Praia da Galé, on the doorstep, and back up to the pools: one set apart with a jacuzzi facing the sea, the other with poolside service. In the spa's Floating Room, a pool kept at body temperature, a therapist works on a guest whose only job is to float. Golfers have 36 courses within an hour. On the beach, Vila Joya Sea starts again every summer with new decor and a new cuisine. Up the hill the menu changes daily, and the chef has not changed since 1991.