Its reason for existence are the four hot thermal springs that come up here from deep inside the earth.  It has been a spa since Roman times.

Nowadays, three are tapped before they come to the surface and are led into a bottling plant and you can buy the water for drinking in Portugal and in many countries of the world.

The other spring feeds the spa which is housed in a modern building and has a shallow hot pool in one room.  The doctors here treat cases referred to them in the mornings and in the afternoons assist those who come for the good of their heath - the 'wellness' clinic.

Attached to the spa is a specialist hotel with forty six bedrooms including specialist rooms for the disabled.  There is direct access to the spa.

The existence of this treatment has resulted in the development over the years of a small village where the rich and famous used to come before the days of air travel.

The heyday of the resort was in the nineteenth century and the village became a favourite resort of the Spanish bourgeois and was visited by many of the royal families of Europe who come to 'take the waters'.

It suffered the fate of many spa towns during the early days of mass tourism but has now been renovated to its former glory.

This occurred when the complex being transferred to the ownership of 'Fundacao Oriente', a charity formed under the agreement to hand back the colony of Macao to the Chinese government. The foundation invests its money for the good of Portugal and is funded by a proportion of the legal gambling profits of Macau!

Higher up from the bottling plant and the spar is the tourist complex which has both a hotel and an inn.

These two buildings form part of a central courtyard which during the day is full of visitors from the many coaches that come here from the beach tourist resorts to sample the old world charm.

Both the hotel and the inn (estalagem) have been carefully renovated. The hotel has 13 bedrooms and the Inn has a further 12 bedrooms.

The restaurant is located at the inn which, in winter, has a welcoming log fire. The reception is also shared and is open twenty four hours per day.

All the rooms have a private bathroom and have air conditioning, a telephone, safe and a minibar. Two of the rooms in the inn have en suite shower rooms insted of a bath room

The village complex has a privately owned church, a bar at which snacks are served, a post office and shop.

In the gardens there are two swimming pools, one for adults and one for children

One building in the village has been converted into ten one bed room apartments each having a small kitchenette.

There are two meeting rooms modernly equipped, with capacity for up to 135 persons.

The surrounding area is a forest in which guests may walk or alternatively take a picnic and follow the stream down the valley to an old water mill.

Five kilometres from the spar is the mountain market town of Monchique, The coastal resorts and golf courses are about twenty two kilometres away.

A recently renovated building was converted to Hotel D. Carlos which has 18 bedrooms and 4 suites. There is a pub with a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere and a games room.

• Rates are in euros and are 'per room per night' including breakfast and taxes
• Extra bed - € 25
• 1 child up to 4 can stay in the parent's room without charge
• Children from 5 to 12 yrs - 50% discount on the extra bed staying in the parents' room and on half or full board
• (a) Available only at Hotel D. Carlos