#HTE

Dá Licença Hotel owners Vitor Borges and Franck Laigneau were hunting for their own personal holiday home when they came across a property amongst the olive groves overlooking the Alentejo Hills. Set in a natural eco-reserve outside of the historic city of Estremoz, Portugal, the pair decided the grandeur and scale of the land afforded them the chance to construct something bigger, and little by little Dá Licença took shape over 5 years.

Borges and Laigneau worked with local architects Procale to rejuvenate buildings that date back to 1840, embracing the past and combining lines, volumes and modern elements in a dialogue between traditional and contemporary architecture. Five suites, three bedrooms and communal areas span across three buildings. Each room has its own charm, some with private swimming pools, others with private gardens and terraces. The main building features a central courtyard and uniquely round swimming pool that reflects the surrounding nature. For private use, there is also a discreet emerald green infinity pool.

Façades and interior surfaces are rendered smooth and whitewashed, lending a minimal and monastic quality to the hotel. There are no doors between rooms, only openings with subtle arches. Despite being in a region prone to high temperatures, there is no air conditioning, rather utilizing granite floors and original blinds to temper the sun. Large, opulent bathrooms feature hand-sculpted marble sinks, and in two, solid marble bathtubs.

The hotel embodies the notion of art encountering nature, complementing one another throughout the décor, and lending the project its raison d’être. Both owners have a strong passion for art, though with different taste and sensibility. Jugendstil and Anthroposophical Design are given particular prominence. The former is a more graphic, geometric Scandinavian variant of French Art Nouveau, while the latter is derived from the early 20th-century philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, using organic, cubist and crystalline forms applied to furniture, highlighting function and materials.

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