Monte Horizonte

The Tivoli Victoria is among the best hotels in the world, according to the Trip Advisor Travelers Choice 2010 Awards.  The hotel placed 1st in the TOP 10 in Europe in the category of Relaxation\Spa and 4th in the TOP 10 worldwide in the same category.

Portugal is 13 out of 159 nations surveyed in terms of safety, says the 2010 Global Peace Index (GPI). Portugal moved up one place. According to the evaluation, the index assessed 149 countries. The GPI is composed of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from respected sources, and combines the internal and external affairs of countries. Among the indicators are: political stability, extent of crime dissemination in society, level of respect for human rights, spread of violence between members of the community, internal conflicts, relationship with neighboring countries, and terrorist offences happening within a country. Germany has been ranked 16th globally this year, Spain is at 25, Britain 31, France 32, Italy 40, and the US was 85th.

One of the Algarve’s landmark hotels, the Hotel Garbe in Armação de Pêra, started to operate as a Holiday Inn as of July 1, 2010.The newly-rebranded Holiday Inn Algarve first opened in 1963 in a detached beach-front location. Renovation work on the 4-star hotel has already started, with 66 of the 185 guest-rooms having already been redecorated in line with Holiday Inn specifications.

Dedicated to the famous 15th century explorer, Christopher Columbus, this historical recreation of everyday life in the 15th century, in particular in the period marked by Columbus’s time on the island, which enchants tourists and residents alike. The festival includes a fair, dinner, the landing of Christopher Columbus, a military detachment, a children’s area with Renaissance games, circus, plays, music and dancing.

The Monte Filipe Hotel & Spa is the latest hotel to be built in Alpalhão near the Alentejo’s Nisa. The new four-star hotel has the support of the Tourism of Portugal and will offer a natural escape. After it’s opening, the hotel will join the Naturtejo Geopark. Monte Filipe Hotel & Spa will be located 5 kilometers from the spa complex of Fadagosa, and will also have a spa with four beauty treatments and wellness rooms, sauna, steam bath and Jacuzzi, indoors and outdoors. The hotel unit has 48 double rooms, two suites and two rooms for the disabled, plus a restaurant, meeting room and craft shop.

Monte da Quinta Resort in the Algarve has enhanced its accommodation portfolio with the unveiling of 132 newly built one, two and three-bedroom suites. Located in the stylish beach and golf resort of Quinta do Lagos, just 12 miles from Faro airport, Monte da Quinta Suites are equipped with every modern convenience, including cable TV in all the rooms, DVD player, phone, safe, air-conditioning and a kitchenette with dish-washer, microwave and conventional ovens, fridge, toaster, etc. On-site leisure facilities at Monte da Quinta are wide ranging, with a modern spa most notable among them where guests have full use of the steam bath, Jacuzzi, heated indoor treatment pool, relaxing footbath, two chromotherapy treatment rooms, several different types of shower (Vichy, ice, nebulizer and Swiss) and a state-of-the-art Technogym.

The City of Coimbra is organizing a survey of taverns in the Centro city, which was a meeting place for generations of poets and students, and to carry out a plan for revitalization, preservation, and enhancement through a “Route of the Tabernas de Coimbra.” The Tabernas establishments are characteristic of times past that have played an important role in the communities in which it operated, with evidence of economic, social, cultural and even political populations. They were also centers of society, especially among the working classes. The city of Coimbra was rich in taverns. The city has embarked on an exhaustive survey, and found more than 36 taverns in operation. This is the result of a first phase of survey / characterization of the taverns carried out, covering the parishes of Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew (the area of Baixa) and the parishes of Almedina and New Cathedral (included in the area of Upper).

The popular newspaper describes Madeira as a destination fit for the younger generation looking for nature and adventure vacations. Madeira was once popular amongst the older British generation due to their previous influence on the island, but in recent years that market has shifted. The article also comments that Madeira is favored by a spring-like climate throughout the year, spectacular cliff scenery and hundreds of miles of irrigation channels that offer long walks.

The village of Cidadelhe in Mesão Frio will get an investment of six million euros for the restoration of a fort and the building of a five-star hotel. Work starts this June on the 44 room hotel. The hotel will keep the original outline of a seventeenth century manor house, the Quinta do Paço de Cidadelhe and include a spa, restaurant, bar and museum. The ruins of the fort will be restored, and the area will become a park with species native to the surrounding area.

As Janelas Verdes, a boutique hotel that belongs to Heritage Hotels, has been named on the Tatler Magazine’s annual list of the 101 Best Hotels of the World. The Tatler Magazine gives this prize to As Janelas Verdes, an 18th century palace with a library overlooking the Tejo River and next to the Ancient Art Museum, simply because it offers a “discreet, quiet-stay for nose-tapping in-the-knowness”.

Virtuoso’s Voyager Club has called the tour: Walled village of Óbidos and lunch at Quinta de Santana Wine Estate (Tours For You) as one of the Best Voyager Club Event top 5 in the world. Tours For You,

an Incoming Tour Operator and DMC based in Lisbon, specializes in providing a personalized service and designing high quality travel proposals in Portugal for the discerning traveler, for groups (in leisure or business) or for special events and incentives.Virtuoso’s Voyager Club program is the hallmark hosted program in the industry. Founded in 1990, it offers hundreds of departures each year and continues to set the standard for innovation and quality.

The Tour of Mines and points of interest in mining and geological in Portugal is available through the site www.roteirodeminas.pt. For example, the Tours includes the Mines of the Alentejo region, information on Aljustrel Mine, S. Domingos, Mina Lousal Living Science Center and Estremoz. On the website you can find information on the location of S. Domingos Mina and on other points of interest such as C rta, Moitinha, Achada do Gamo, House of the Miner – Documentation Center, River Beach, Mina S. Domingo, and the railway workshops of Pomarão. This new tool also enables the scheduling of visits by geology and mines.