Name: Herdade das Sesmarias dos Nobres
Address: IC 1 Km 608,50, 7570-003 Azinheira dos Barros, Grandola, Portugal, Grandola, Grandola, Grandola, 7507-003, Portugal
Rating: 7

Location

Alcacer do Sal Castle

Vasco de Gama Beach

Porto Covo Beach

Sines Culture and Arts Centre

Ilha do Pessegueiro Fort

Vila Nova de Milfontes Beach

Troia Beach

Michel Giacometti Museum

Archaeological Museum

Praca do Bocage

Montemor-o-Novo Castle

Setubal Museum

Igreja de Jesus

Albarquel Beach

Castelo Sao Felipe

Bonfim Stadium

Galapos Beach

Arrabida Natural Park

Portinho da Arrabida Beach

Ermida de Sao Bras

Jardim Publico

Igreja de Sao Francisco

Praca do Giraldo

Termas Romanas

Evora Cathedral

Evora Museum

Templo Romano

Convento dos Loios

University of Evora

Herdade das Sesmarias dos Nobres

Grandola

As I said in the title, I think it's a real shame that negative reviews from past management are affecting the overall rating the Melissa and Richard's wonderful retreat. They have not had this set up for long, and you can clearly see that the negative reviews are from many years ago (2012), when the property was under different management.

As for Antara Yoga Retreat, we stumbled upon this little gem when Googling yoga retreats in the area. We didn't purely want yoga, and certainly didn't want a fixed Sunday to Sunday booking type stay. What we did want was somewhere where classes were offered as an option. We also wanted somewhere with charm, character, and a swimming pool. Antara Yoga ticked all of these boxes :)

The property is beautifully located in the countryside, in a lovely old converted barn. They have put a lot of effort into renovating these rooms to be comfortable and appealing by modern standards (aircon, warm lighting, tasteful little decorations), but also keep the original charm (large old wooden furniture, brick walls in the bathrooms etc.). We found it to be extremely good value for a double room, especially in the middle of summer. 

The grounds (the pool, lounging area, outdoor shower, hammocks etc.) are a perfect mix of comfort and rustic charm. You are in the middle of the countryside, enjoy it! The stars at night were beautiful, and often kept us up late as we couldn't stop staring at them. 

Melissa and John have built a wonderfully designed little outdoor dinning area, with warm lighting (lots of candles) and hanging plants/flowers. Breakfast is served here in the morning (delicious) and at night, they served a range of platters. I particularly liked the anchovies! Oh, and a great selection of local wines at very reasonable cost.

We took morning yoga classes with Melissa. These are held by the pool, and I highly recommend them as the best way to start your day. On top of this, I had a deep tissue massage with Melissa because of some back pain, and it sorted it right out.

Location - it is very much in the middle of nowhere, so a car is essential. However, Melides Beach is only a 30 minute drive away. Melides beach is really laid-back, not at all pretentious, and has some great little beach bars - and of course, a beautiful golden sands Atlantic beach. There's also a large lagoon for a less wild swimming experience. 
While there are options to eat out around Melides, we always felt like we wanted to end the day back at the resort. However, make sure you ask Richard about lunch in the restaurant in Melides. I can't remember the name, but it's amazing and very authentic. 

There is a train track which runs behind the property, so yes, you will hear trains go rumbling past. If you're after an absolute silent retreat, then this would be an issue for you. But we didn't find this a problem at all, and they really don't last that long. There is a highway somewhere close too, which again, can cause a little noise at times, but we didn't notice this at all unless we tried to listen for it! I found being near the highway advantageous to getting around too. We flew from Faro, and it was only a 1.5 hour drive back. Not bad at all when you look on the map!

Finally, Melissa and John are not just hosts, they will become your friends. You won't feel intruded upon, but you will always feel welcome.

Highly recommended :)

Ignore the outdated bad reviews (2012). These are from BEFORE Antara Yoga and Wellness Retreat was set up.

We spent a few days as a family (2 children aged 2 and 6) at Melissa and Richard's house and we have only good memories of them. The reception was warm, the hosts available and caring, the place really beautiful. The calm Portuguese countryside and the relative proximity to the beaches (including Carvalhal) and the Alentejo allowed us to spend time on and off the field: the perfect mix.

4 days rest

I stayed at Antara for 4 nights with a friend. The yellow room is rustic but very clean and pleasant, with air conditioning and a bathroom with bathroom, located in a charming flat-topped building with independent entrance. We enjoyed the warm and friendly welcome of Melissa and Richard, who manage this place with a lot of heart. A delicious meal awaited us on the evening of our arrival, despite the late hour (22h). Everything is homemade and from local products. Breakfast is cozy and cozy, just like salads, tapas and smoothies on the menu. In addition, the rates are very convenient. We followed a trained (Italian) course at the beachside of the pool: being a very convenient place to visit, but you can't get around the morning, if you want to enjoy a few hours of nature, but you can't go to a nearby beach!

Charm and simplicity

We didn't know where to stay, we were on our way to northern Portugal to the south. We stopped one evening on the road and saw a yoga retreat on the app maps.me. It's not obvious to find, but once we found it the owners welcomed us really well. Yoga was great, Melissa is a great yoga teacher and knows it really well! The food was wow, we had our best breakfast in Portugal in 1 month of travel. The price is not too expensive for all the accommodations and service. I was also running on their land and c was great to train on the trail running. This is one of our favorite places too!

What a surprise for us.

Amazing experience! We are super relaxed, our knowledge about our body got better thanks to the morning meditations and morning and evening joga with amazing jogin Melissa. Antara Yoga retreat is located in a close distance from the road and train tracks, but it didn’t bother us, because of the location itself with the swimming pool and nature. Food was delicious, everything we ate for breakfast and dinner was local and home made. We are thankful for all the tips they gave us, about places to visit and where to eat! Antara is a great place for birdwatching-the terrain is huge and you will see many wild species. If you want to calm down, meditate and relax after busy city life, this place is for you! We definitely are coming back one day!

Amazing experience!

The rooms where really confortable and clean with everything you need. I don't remember resting so much. The food was amazing and well balance. Everything was organic or from around and made me really appreciate how lucky we sometimes are of having such amazing things in our life. The space itself is beautiful and very organized while not being at all exagerated. The hosts where super friendly and really helpful respecting our privacy all along! I would love to comeback!

Amazing place to rest, relax and enjoy the nature around you.

Passamos um fim-de-semana em família e amigos no Antara Yoga e gostamos muito desta quinta alentejana!
Dormimos muito bem e o espaço exterior é amplo e muito agradável com uma boa piscina, muito limpa, que fez as delícias dos mais novos, havendo á disposição também matraquilhos e mesa de ping pong.
Excelente espaço.
Uma palavra muito especial para o Richard, que gere este espaço com a esposa há cerca de 1 ano que, além de muito simpático, esteve sempre acessível a ajudar em tudo o que precisamos, mais que superhost. 
Já com a reserva feita vi o anterior comentário e tivemos algum receio, mas não temos nada a apontar, julgo que as queixas tenham a ver com a anterior gestão, pois o espaço foi remodelado e, pelo que soube, o Richard gere este espaço há  apenas 1 ano.
Recomendo vivamente. 5* (Excelente para grupos)
…….
We spent a weekend with family and friends at Antara Yoga and we really enjoyed this place in Alentejo!
We slept very well and the outdoor space is large and very pleasant with a good swimming pool, very clean, which made the youngest guests delight, and there are also table football and table tennis.
Excellent space.
A very special word for Richard, who has run this space with his wife for about a year, who, in addition to being very friendly, was always available to help in everything we need, more than superhost.
With the reservation made I saw the previous comment and we had some fear, but we have nothing to point out, I think the complaints have to do with the previous management, because the space was refurbished and, from what I learned, Richard has been running this space for only 1 year.
Highly recommend. 5 * (Great for groups)

Recomendo. Excelente anfitrião e uma quinta muito agradável.

We spent a whole week and everything was positive, very nice rooms, a wonderful swimming pool with salad water, a lot of tranquility and peace, the food is very good, all ecological and cooked in a great way by Felix.

Perfectoo!!!!

We were greeted with spider webs, dust, and bugs in our room. Does anyone clean or inspect these rooms? A clean room is the basic minimum in a hotel or inn! Bathroom shower didn't stay up so it had to held the entire time. Turned the faucet knob slightly and it scalded me. Towels looked like they had been used since the 80s - stiff and stained. There is a train track with trains passing every hour. Sound of trains was nothing in comparison to the blaring music from a party a few meters down the road from their guest house which kept us up past 4am! Breakfast was served in the main house occupied by dogs and cats - lovely to see their fur in my food - oh and did I mention the flies sharing our jam and bread! Yuck! No one could pay me to sleep here one more night.

Awful experience

I really enjoyed the space and the great walks that this property offers, the owners are charming and they are happy to talk about the area and the surroundings, and as far as I'm concerned, I've never been disappointed by the kitchen!! I've been there several times and the pool was clean..it's true that, since the property is away from the nearest town (Grandôla), it's better to rent a car to be free to radiate and visit the area.

Herdade das Sesmarias dos Nobres

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