At This Douro Valley Hotel, You Can Self-Serve Portuguese Wine From a Private Library

Stay Here For

A spa getaway that nails mental and physical wellness, while also delivering an experience that’s indulgent and fun.

Delicate dried fennel blossoms, port-wine salt, beeswax candles: These are a few of the 100-plus house-made products lining the shelves at Earth Lab, a plant-filled atelier at Six Senses Douro Valley, where members of the resort’s sustainability team transform ingredients from the on-site gardens for the restaurants, the spa and educational guest programming.

It’s not the only Earth Lab in the Six Senses portfolio, but it is the first. Situated on a vineyard-terraced hillside overlooking a curve of the Douro River, Six Senses Douro Valley has served as an incubator for the brand since opening in 2015. Along with a bounty of pomegranates, sour oranges and indigenous grapes, novel ideas around wellness—and how to merge them with high-end experiences—grow extremely well here.

To that end, there are dozens of activities and experiences at Six Senses Douro Valley, from yogurt-culturing and the traditional Portuguese craft of tile painting to mountain e-biking and kayaking the Douro River. That’s good news, since once you arrive at the property, about a 90-minute drive from Porto, you’ll seldom want to leave, except perhaps for outings to the region’s nearby wineries. Water and woods beckon right outside the hotel, which occupies a 19th-century estate with terra-cotta roofs and stone walls.

Despite being an all-seasons luxury camp for the do-everything guest, the Douro resort’s raison d’être is its incredible do-nothing spa. Spread over two levels and totaling nearly 24,000 square feet, the spa has 10 treatment rooms (with forest-facing glass walls), numerous relaxation areas, a thoughtfully curated boutique and Alchemy Bar, another Six Senses first, where you can make your own scrubs. But the most impressive piece of the operation might be the wet and dry therapy circuits, with all their respective accoutrements: a swan-necked spout blasting pressurized water inside the massive indoor pool, a steam room infused with herbs from the organic garden, a cantilevered Finnish sauna floating over the woods. Don’t be surprised if you leave the spa floating, too.

The Essentials

The Location

Terraced vineyards create otherworldly patterns along the Douro Valley’s hillsides.

Wineries, vineyards and tasting rooms blanket the Douro Valley, and with a rental car or a driver, you can hit a bunch without straying more than an hour from Six Senses. The seventh-generation Quinta da Costa do Pinhão is a favorite, situated about 40 minutes east in the village of Favaios, where you can also visit the tidy Bread and Wine Museum. The Douro Museum, meanwhile, is only 10 minutes away in Peso da Régua, the nearest town just on the opposite side of the river.

The Rooms

As late as the 1990s, the country estate now occupied by the hotel belonged to the descendants of João Lourenço de Seara, a valet to King Afonso V in the 15th century. It was a grand home, but a home nonetheless. As good stewards of the historic property, Six Senses has nourished that lived-in ambience and preserved the architectural heritage, resulting in 71 accommodations of varying size (and quirkiness). Housed in the old mill, the Pool Villas each feature a circular living room, illuminated by an oculus in the domed alabaster ceiling. And the nine Valley rooms and suites, set in the former wine lodge, share a backyard garden with a pool and hot tub, as well as a communal living room with a cozy fireplace where the staff sets out a small breakfast buffet each morning.

Most of the rooms are located in the original manor house and an annex added by the hotel. But even those tout separate living areas and floor-to-ceiling windows with expansive views of the vineyards, forest or river. Some suites have terraces with intimate patio sets or four-poster daybeds draped in gauzy curtains. Inside, warm lighting, earthy wood furniture and natural textiles balance the cool white walls and sleek charcoal bathrooms. Portuguese wool blankets and yoga mats tuck into the wardrobes; big bottles of house-filtered water come pre-stocked; and complimentary minibar snacks include sourdough grissini, dark chocolate truffles and organic sodas.

The Bars and Restaurants

Regal prawns are what’s for lunch at The Vale de Abraão Restaurant.

Incredible variety and attention to detail underscore the food-and-beverage scene at Six Senses. Most meals take place at the rustic Vale de Abraão Restaurant’s courtyard and its sunny patio, beginning with a breakfast spread that demands you slow down and appreciate it. (When’s the last time a hotel’s complimentary breakfast included house-fermented kimchi on cashew-buttered toast, a chai latte brewed to order and gluten-free rice-flour waffles topped with fermented plums and lavender syrup made with flowers from the gardens?) Lunch here features straightforward, flavorful plates like crispy flatbreads and roasted baby eggplants arranged over spiced yogurt and tomato jam, and guests can take their midday meal at the pool in season.

Dinner at The Vale de Abraão Restaurant is a little fancier than the resort’s second restaurant, Cozinha do Douro, where the menu tracks more traditional and homey: dishes at the latter might include vinegary braised octopus, crunchy house-pickled veggies, a crock of lamb stew that tastes like it was made by someone’s grandmother. For dessert, get chocolate mousse and a glass of ruby port, a classic pairing.

For drinks, Cozinha occupies the same space as the Wine Library and Terrace. Stop by for a group tasting of Douro wines led by one of the resort’s seven sommeliers before it transforms at 7 p.m. each night, or grab a cocktail in the nearby Quinta Bar and Lounge. The scarlet felt pool table beckons.

The Standout Feature

From the cider-vinegar shots and Smurf-blue spirulina lemonade offered at the Forest Immunity Bar at breakfast to the Wine Library and Terrace’s cheese plates with honeycomb, the resort’s food and beverage program does not miss. Which is huge since guests will have most of their meals on-site. Whether you’re sitting down at one of the restaurants or just wandering the property, where help-yourself snacks and drinks seem to magically materialize throughout the day, every edible encounter is a moment of surprise and delight.

The Time to Go

There is no longer any true low season in Portugal, but like the rest of the country, the Douro Valley sees peak crowds in summer, and more recently, September has become the new August. That also coincides with harvest season in the valley, so consider pushing deeper into October, when the weather is still amazing.

The Vibe

The spa’s pièce de résistance is the indoor aquatherapy pool.

Don’t miss: A quiet moment down by the river. It takes only about 10 minutes to walk down to its banks, along a pretty path bordered by glimmering woods on one side and the estate’s old stone walls on the other. Consider bringing a bottle of something with you; there’s a long floating dock at the end where you can post up, watch the riverboats go by and take photos framed by the picturesque hills.

What you’re drinking: Portuguese wine: from the restaurant’s cellar, from the minibar and, most conveniently, from the contactless Enomatic dispensing system in the Wine Library and Terrace. Just pop in your room key, select the wine and pour size (from a tasting portion to a full glass) and pop a goblet underneath the spout. The wine automatically dispenses, with the cost billed right to your room.

The souvenir you’re bringing home: A hand scrub from the spa’s Alchemy Bar. Made on-site from sea salt and essential oils, they come in scents like energizing citrus and sweet vanilla-raspberry and cost only 25 euros.

Minibar upgrade: Instead of omnipresent Nespresso pods, the in-room coffee setup features compostable, biodegradable pods from Simpli Coffee, a Lisbon-based company. They’re presented in a wooden box with an illustrated card explaining their provenance (Ethiopia, Colombia, Brazil) and tasting notes. It’s a small detail, but small details are where Six Senses Douro Valley really excels.

At night, the Wine Library and Terrace transforms into Cozinha do Douro restaurant.

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