Design Hotels can be a difficult value proposition in major urban centers with lots of competition from various hotel chains, including from within Marriott where other brands give more generous elite benefits.  However, in remote areas I often like out of the ordinary hotels and I don’t mind the more modest benefits when a hotel provides a different kind of experience.  This can often be the strength of Design Hotels, and also SLH (Small Luxury Hotels) or LHW (Leading Hotels of the World).  

I stayed at Torre de Palma Wine Hotel in eastern Portugal not far from the Spanish border and had a fine stay – in my opinion this property has everything a Design Hotel is supposed to be.  As an extra bonus the elite benefits could not have been better although it did require a bit of luck for this particularly stay.  Nonetheless I can highly recommend this hotel.  

Room

The hotel does not have many rooms to begin with (only 19) which makes it a relatively private property but the downside is less flexibility for upgrades.  They have 4 room categories and I booked the 3rd which was the junior suite.  I was not aware that the hotel only has one master suite which is the highest room type; clearly in high season an upgrade would be quite unlikely.  Our recent stay was during week days when occupancy is lower than weekends, and fortunately the master suite was available and we received the one-category upgrade.

The room looked great, full kitchen, fireplace, private pool which would be a major plus in the hot summer season (and view of stable + horses nearby), two full bathrooms one with shower one with bathtub, and overall a perfect fit for the Design brand given the style of the room throughout.  

The other room types do not have a kitchen nor do they have a private pool so for me it makes the master suite far more desirable, not to mention a lot more space indoors; I would be willing to pay straight up to secure the master suite during high season.  

During our stay the hotel was less than 50% occupancy and was very quiet everywhere.  However if the hotel was full, it is possible that at times this room type would feel not perfectly private because guests and staff could easily walk near our terrace and private pool, in fact some horses came drinking in our pool on occasion.  The room had many windows so it would be necessary to draw the electric blinds down to ensure better privacy.

Common Areas

The common areas of the hotel were nice including a pool in the middle of the winery, a wine tasting room, and guests could visit the wine making facilities.  In September they also have extra activities during harvest which could be interesting.  

Dining

Breakfast seemed to be included in all cash rates at least for my dates; I guess for people who booked with points they would feel more of the sting of missing on the Bonvoy elite benefits.  Breakfast was ok but not the strong point of the stay, the a la carte menu was pretty much what one could find in a traditional buffet and the eggs benedicts were so-so.  Also I was moderately surprised that they did not offer sparkling wine for breakfast given the nature of the hotel.  

Wifi

Wifi worked well with speed of 25 Mbps however the router was closer to the living room so if using wifi from the bedroom, due to several layers of concrete walls including two bathrooms between the router and the bedroom, it made wifi reception weak.  

Overall

Overall we had a very relaxing stay and we are likely to return in the future.  Our room upgrade was great for our stay, in different circumstances I would not expect as much but nonetheless the property has enough to offer that I am generally not overly focused on elite benefits when there is no competition around.