Unwinding the ball of wool that led Isabel Costa and João Tomás to Serra da Estrela we reached the moment when the couple discovered the ruins of a 19th century sanatorium and decided to turn them into a charming hotel.
Casas das Penhas Douradas opened in 2007 after an intervention by architect Pedro Brígida, and were only the beginning of a love relationship with the mountain that resulted in the creation of burel factory – a brand that saved from bankruptcy one of the most important factories of Manteigas – and, more recently, in the reopening of an old inn of the 1940s, Casa de São Lourenço.
Opened in 2018 at 1200 metres, the five-star hotel has 21 rooms, a spa and heated indoor pool, or it was not a winter destination. As in the Burel Factory brand itself – there are visits to the factory integrated in the stay – tradition and contemporaneity go hand in hand, in a decoration that joins restored furniture of the painter Maria Keil, the original decorator of the inn in the 40’s, to contemporary design pieces of Portuguese brands such as Vicara, Util and Branca Lisboa.
The burel is also present a little everywhere, from wall coverings to poufs, headboards and even in an installation of thousands of stars, hanging on the roof of the restaurant with panoramic views of the zêzere glacier valley.