The Vilalara Grand Hotel Algarve was awarded Best Beach Hotel in the 21st edition of the Portugal Travel Awards by Publituris, an award that recognizes reference units, companies and projects in national tourism.
The distinction was announced during the ceremony held at the Hilton Vilamoura Resort & Spa, in the Algarve. The winners were determined through voting by the Portugal Travel Awards jury, Publituris subscribers and subscribers to the publication’s daily newsletter.
The award comes in the year in which Vilalara marks its 60th anniversary, reinforcing the recognition of an identity built over six decades, between the sea, the landscape, hospitality and successive generations of guests.
Founded in the second half of the 1960s by George Ansley, on the cliffs of Porches, in the municipality of Lagoa, the resort established itself through the connection between architecture, nature, well-being and discreet service, maintaining a close relationship with those who work at the unit and with those who choose it as a destination.
Filipa Cabral, Senior Sales Manager at Vilalara Grand Hotel Algarve, says: “Celebrating 60 years with this distinction is a huge source of pride for the entire team. It is recognition of continuous dedication over six decades, made by people who, every day, dedicate themselves to creating something truly unique. Living at Vilalara is recovering something precious: time.”
“It’s a place that makes us relive the happiest memories, create new ones and establish ties with the sea, with those who work here and with destiny itself. Knowing that Vilalara continues to inhabit the hearts of those who visit us and those who return is, without a doubt, our greatest reward. This is what moves us and what defines, deep down, the true Vilalara spirit”, he adds.
Throughout 2026, the hotel has marked its 60th anniversary with a commemorative program dedicated to the people, places and traditions that contributed to shaping the identity of the resort and the Algarve.
Among the initiatives already carried out are the “60 Years on the Cliffs” dinner, at the Gaivotas restaurant, which revisited the hotel’s origins through a gastronomic trajectory inspired by the 60s, and a special edition of the Vilalara Chronicle Dinners, which brought together the Raízes restaurant and the historic Adega Vila Lisa, in a celebration of Algarve identity and gastronomy.
The commemorative program continues throughout the year, with new initiatives planned as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations.
Hotel occupies 11 hectares on the cliffs of Porches
Located on the cliffs of Porches, Vilalara Grand Hotel Algarve occupies 11 hectares of gardens, with more than 300 species of fauna and flora, and has direct access to Praia das Gaivotas.
A member of the Forbes Travel Guide, the resort currently has 131 accommodation units and six food spaces, including the Coral restaurant, recommended by the Michelin Guide Portugal 2026, and the Raízes restaurant, based on the garden-to-table concept.
The offer also includes a concession and beach bar, a tennis and padel club with a resident teacher, in partnership with Lux Tennis, and a pioneering wellness center in thalassotherapy in Portugal.
Currently dedicated exclusively to thalassotherapy, the spa offers revitalization and well-being programs, two indoor medicinal pools and treatments with salt water extracted directly from the sea, also used in the resort’s five outdoor pools.
For , the distinction “recognizes a journey built over six decades” and reinforces the unit’s positioning among the references of luxury hotels in Portugal.
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