Tucked behind the paddy fields and pine forests of Portugal’s Alentejo region, about 80km south of Lisbon and 26km from trendy Comporta, lies the hidden village of Melides, pronounced “Meleedes” by locals with a soft, shh-like touch at the end. A place easily missed on the tourist trail, it quietly charms those who discover its windswept dunes, resident storks, and untouched pine and cork forests. Also, this area is considered Europe’s last paradise...
In fact, Melides is such a paradise that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are rumoured to have bought a discreet property on the stretch of Portuguese coast. The Daily Mail claims that the couple will be joining Prince Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank with a seafront house at a luxe development in the CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club.
They aren’t the first high-profile stars to be enticed by the exclusive region.
Christian Louboutin, the famed shoe designer, global nomad and longtime lover of Portugal, stumbled upon this Atlantic-side idyll in the 1980s after discovering it by accident while staying in Comporta. Enchanted, he made it his personal and professional sanctuary. His private 350-acre oceanside estate, left largely empty to prevent overdevelopment, hosts scattered structures around a protected inland lagoon. Among these, his design atelier – yes, for the shoes! – sits alongside “La Folie”, a Rajasthani-inspired 28ft one-room tower created for parties, and various guest cottages, designed for his friends to retreat and relax.
Last summer though, Louboutin revealed his passion for Melides to the world and firmly placed the village on the map with the opening of Vermelho – meaning “red” in Portuguese – his 13-room boutique hotel that doubles as a love letter to Portuguese craftsmanship and the maximalist design of his iconic footwear.
The hotel’s interiors are truly a visual feast, intimate yet vibrant, brimming with Louboutin’s eclectic tastes and shimmering with colour – mostly red, obviously, right through to the garden which blooms with flowers in every shade of his signature hue from carmine to vermilion. Traditional azulejo tiles, one of Louboutin’s self-declared “favourite things”, decorate almost every surface, and his personal favourite items of furniture collected over years and placed around the hotel add artistic opulence to a building created with his cohort of interior designer friends, which extends to the artfully arranged food served at its restaurant Xtian.
Not far from the hotel, the Melides Art compound serves as a peaceful retreat for creatives like musician Buba Espinho and sculptor Marnie Weber, offering a space where they can work in peace surrounded by the region’s natural beauty.
Though still shrouded in secrecy, Melides has quietly become a sanctuary for the world’s creative elite, drawn by its low-key, high-vibe energy. Unlike Comporta up the coast, now buzzing with tech entrepreneurs, boutique hotel chains, and markets where coffee scandalously costs London prices, Melides offers something different – an authenticity that honours Portugal’s quieter rhythm, where the cost of living sits at a refreshing 43 per cent less than in the UK.
Wandering through Melides’ dusty streets, the scent of pine in the air, and barely another soul in sight, you feel completely unplugged from the world outside. It’s a feeling that Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen leant into when he spent three years crafting his minimalist concrete retreat Casa M. German artist Anselm Kiefer also has a home and studio large enough to house his monumental artworks in Melides.
The village of Melides has quietly existed for over 500 years and was once a small port town. But after the great earthquake and tsunami of 1755 decimated Portugal’s coastline, the river mouth all but silted up, leaving behind a landscape of lagoons, quiet inlets, and tree-sheltered spaces – now havens for wildlife, rice paddies, and the discreet homes of those who treasure the region’s privacy. For many international creatives, Melides may not be their first home, but it is their refuge.
Adding Melides to your itinerary means saying yes to the windswept beauty of Praia Vigia’s wide-open beaches, a laid-back family lunch of local fish and rice at Lagoa O Mar on Melides Beach, or exploring the carefully curated treasures at Vida Dura, an eclectic homewares store owned by a close friend of Louboutin. But whatever you do, don’t tell everyone. This is one destination that deserves to remain IYKYK.
Read more: Portugal travel guide: Everything you need to know before you go
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