Pedras Salgadas: Best Resort 2014

The well-known American magazine Travel + Leisure has just unveiled the winners of the T + L Design Awards 2014.

The winner in the category Best Resort was the Pedras Salgadas spa & nature park, a resort located in northern Portugal within 580 meters of altitude, in the Park of Pedras Salgadas, belonging to the municipality of Vila Pouca de Aguiar, between Vila Real and Chaves.

Designed by architect Luís Rebelo de Andrade and built by Modular System, the accommodation consists of modern modular homes, Tree Houses and Eco Houses, adapted to the terrain morphology and designed to coexist in close harmony with the natural beauty of the Park.

Concepts of sustainability and ecology have always been present in the development of this project, with native raw materials, slate and wood, to foster integration in the landscape and maintain nature’s leading role of this centenary Park.

The jury highlights this resort’s Tree Houses modern accommodation which “step lightly on the land, the latter stretching their long forms out into the forest like elegant praying mantises, the better to bask in and honor a pristine environment of centuries-old trees and hot springs”.

The jury also refers the resort’s Eco Houses, “otherwise generous in design, whose large plate-glass windows pitch guests into the treetops, while skylights above beds perfectly capture the stars”.

Officially opened in July 2013, the Pedras Salgadas spa & nature park also features a Thermal Spa renovated by architect Siza Vieira, and has received the international ArchDaily Building of the Year 2012 Award, in the category "Hotels and Restaurants".

More at: www.travelandleisure.com