<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cf1945811e20506ae4f5104-1885/322837699335082734912872891820708965384192o.jpg" border="0" alt="amanera resort" data-mce-source="Amanera/Facebook" data-link="https://www.facebook.com/Amanera.Resort/photos/a.712572878918162/933508270157954/?type=3&amp;theater" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Amanera.Resort/photos/a.712572878918162/933508270157954/?type=3&amp;theater">Amanera/Facebook</a></span></p><p class="caption">Wealthy travelers are turning "wellness tourism" into a $639 billion industry.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/luxury-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wealthy travelers</a> are ditching the clubs on vacation and instead spending their money on "wellness summits," spirituality retreats, and resorts that focus on health and self-care.</li><li>They're paying $1,400 per night to stay at <a href="https://www.chivasom.com/hua-hin/wellness-escapes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resorts with on-site therapists and wellness practitioners</a> and dropping more than $5,000 for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gwyneth-paltrow-in-goop-health-wellness-summit-london-ticket-cost-2019-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weekend wellness summits.</a></li><li>These travelers have turned "wellness tourism" <a href="https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/press-releases/new-study-reveals-wellness-tourism-now-a-639-billion-market/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">into a $639 billion industry</a>, according to the Global Wellness Institute.</li><li>More and more hotels and resorts are meeting this demand with "<a href="http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/washington-dc/georgetown/rooms-suites/spa-level-deluxe-room.html#fndtn-RoomDetails" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wellness rooms</a>" and offerings like energy treatments and guided meditation programs.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p> </p><p>As the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/wellness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wellness</a> industry continues its <a href="https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/2018-global-wellness-economy-monitor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explosive growth</a>, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's now expanding into another huge industry: tourism.</p><p>Wealthy travelers are ditching the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mykonos-greece-vacation-review-photos-celebrity-billionaire-getaway-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beach parties and all-night clubbing</a> and instead spending their money on wellness summits, spirituality retreats, and resorts that focus on self-care, which has turned <a href="https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/press-releases/new-study-reveals-wellness-tourism-now-a-639-billion-market/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"wellness tourism" into a $639 billion industry,</a> according to the 2018 <span>Global Wellness Tourism Economy study.</span></p><p>While yoga retreats are nothing new, growth of the wellness tourism industry has been skyrocketing in recent years, with the industry expected to be worth $919 billion by 2022. There's now even a <a href="https://www.wellnesstourismassociation.org/about-wellness-tourism-association/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wellness Tourism Association</a> that was launched in January 2018 by a group of wellness industry executives.<a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/best-wellness-retreats-2019/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></p><h2>Travelers are paying $1,400 per night to stay at resorts with on-site therapists and shelling out more than $5,000 for weekend "wellness summits."</h2><p>Sarah Casewit, cofounder of Naya <keyword id="6354692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Travel">Travel</keyword>er, which specializes in custom itineraries, recently told CNN that the company has received "a spike in travel requests that are spearheaded by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/best-wellness-retreats-2019/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a keen interest in wellness and spirituality."</a></p><p>These wellness itineraries may come in the form of on-site therapists, personal trainers, and wellness practitioners, such as those offered at <a href="https://www.chivasom.com/hua-hin/wellness-escapes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chiva-Som</a>, a <a href="https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/beauty/the-spa-edit/chiva-som-a-haven-for-wellness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">celebrity-favorite</a> wellness retreat in Thailand. <a href="https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Chain=21936&amp;Hotel=77348&amp;Lang=1&amp;template=RBE&amp;shell=RBE&amp;locale=en-GB&amp;arrive=2019%2f5%2f31&amp;adult=1&amp;rooms=1&amp;depart=2019%2f6%2f7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A stay at Chiva-Som starts at about $1,400 per night</a> and the resort requires a minimum three-night stay.</p><p>And then there are the pricey "wellness summits," where travelers can mingle with celebrities at wellness workshops and self-care stations.</p><p>One of the most public faces of the wellness movement in the US, Gwyneth Paltrow, held her first <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gwyneth-paltrow-in-goop-health-wellness-summit-london-ticket-cost-2019-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wellness summit with her lifestyle brand goop in 2017</a>, and has since put them on in <span>Los Angeles, New York, and Vancouver, </span>as Business Insider UK's Rachel Hosie reported.</p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cf1871c11e20507984caa7e-2400/gettyimages-1150196782.jpg" border="0" alt="goop wellness summit" data-mce-source="Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for goop" /><p class="source"><span>Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for goop</span></p><p class="caption">A sound bath event at the goop wellness summit in Los Angeles in May 2019.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><a href="https://goop.com/ingoophealth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The company's first wellness summit in London</a> in June 2019 will include "issue-focused talks" with leading doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, and celebrities, as well as <span>"wellness workshops" for energy, the body, and beauty, "self-care stations," a wellness boutique, athleisure shop, and a "clean beauty apothecary."</span></p><p><a href="https://in-goop-health-london-2019-edf6.eventfarm.com/event/5d104afe-1ea5-47f9-b3b1-d07b531afca1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A one-day ticket costs £1,000 ($1,280)</a> - and that doesn't include airfare or lodging. Attending the whole summit will cost you <a href="https://in-goop-health-london-2019-edf6.eventfarm.com/event/5d104afe-1ea5-47f9-b3b1-d07b531afca1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">£4,500 ($5,760)</a><span>, which includes a stay in the Kimpton Fitzroy London.</span></p><h2>Hotels are embracing travelers' changing tastes by offering "wellness rooms" and energy treatments, and guided meditation. </h2><p>Hotels, too, are moving way beyond the simple fitness centers of the past.</p><p>Take Amanera, a luxury resort by Aman Resorts in the Dominican Republic, which recently started offering a "Surf + Sun" program that includes <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/best-wellness-retreats-2019/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">energy treatments, yoga, healthy snacks, and guided meditation.</a> A night at Amanera <a href="https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?hotel=65643&amp;arrive=07/12/2019&amp;depart=07/13/2019&amp;adult=1&amp;Chain=16840&amp;template=RBE3&amp;shell=RBE2&amp;__utma=234760334.1895978219.1559333182.1559336209.1559573840.3&amp;__utmb=234760334.1.10.1559573840&amp;__utmc=234760334&amp;__utmx=-&amp;__utmz=234760334.1559573840.3.3.utmcsr%3Dgoogle%7Cutmccn%3D%28organic%29%7Cutmcmd%3Dorganic%7Cutmctr%3D%28not%20provided%29&amp;__utmv=-&amp;__utmk=259230537" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will cost you about $1,650</a>.</p><p>And in Washington DC, the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenelevine/2018/09/10/luxury-hotels-carve-out-wellness-enclaves-for-health-conscious-travelers/#4191edf878e1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ritz-Carlton Georgetown recently gave guests the option</a> of booking one of 13 <a href="http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/washington-dc/georgetown/rooms-suites/spa-level-deluxe-room.html#fndtn-RoomDetails" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Wellness Rooms"</a> that come with aromatherapy bath salts, shower heads emitting Vitamin C-infused water, desk wellness balls, yoga mats, sound and sleep machines, air purifiers, sleeping masks and earbuds, and noise-canceling machines. </p><p>The wellness rooms are situated on the same level as the hotel's fitness center and spa, which includes a relaxation room, a steam room, and sauna. <a href="https://www.marriott.com/reservation/rateListMenu.mi?defaultTab=dealsAndPackages" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A room at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown</a> starts at about $368 in July, while the Wellness Rooms start at $417.</p><h2>Wellness travelers are willing to shell out more money than regular vacationers.</h2><p>While the $5,000+ price tag of Paltrow's goop summit may be a bit higher than the norm, "wellness travelers are very high-spending, high-yield tourists," according to the Global Wellness Institute.</p><p>In 2017, international wellness travelers spent an average of $1,528 per trip - 58% more than the average international tourist. And domestically, wellness travelers on average spent $609 per trip, or about 178% more than the average domestic tourist.</p><p><em>Do you have a wellness tourism experience to share? Email the reporter at kwarren@businessinsider.com.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alzheimers-disease-reminiscence-therapy-treatment-center-california-1950s-town-2019-5">This giant 1950s town replica in California is a new kind of treatment center for people with Alzheimer's</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/4LDqmuY6-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Forget beach parties and all-night clubbing: Wealthy travelers are spending money differently, and it's created a massive $639 billion industry

<p><span>Have you been to Tulum? No? You might be the only person on earth. When a place gets "discovered," it loses that magical quality that made it worth traveling to to begin with. </span></p><p><span>Here are alternatives to some of the world's hottest vacation spots-places that will make you think twice before sharing your secret.</span></p><h3><span>THE NEW COSTA RICA: Nicaragua</span></h3><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/558af7486da8118a5054018d-887-665/granada-nicaragua-3.jpg" border="0" alt="Granada, Nicaragua"><p class="source"><span>Shutterstock </span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>After decades of political unrest, the Nicaraguan government is investing in infrastructure while preserving the local charm. (How far off the grid can Costa Rica be now that its fourth Starbucks opened in March?)</span></p><p><strong>Where to stay:</strong> New York City restaurateur Jean-Marc Houmard and collaborator Yvan Cussigh opened <a href="http://tribal-hotel.com/" target="_blank">Tribal Hotel</a> (from $125 a night), which features a lush orchid garden and a mosaic-tiled pool, in a former artisan co-op in Granada. <a href="https://ranchosantana.com/" target="_blank">The Inn at Rancho Santana</a> (from $249 a night) rests on 2,700 acres of shoreline. <a href="http://www.mukulresort.com/" target="_blank">The Mukul resort</a> (from $500 a night) has a cigar sommelier and rooms with views of the Pacific.</p><p><strong>What to do:</strong> Ash boarding, a new extreme sport, sends you zooming down Cerro Negro, a 2,400-foot-high active volcano-on a thin wood or metal board. US.-based <a href="http://www.austinadventures.com/" target="_blank">Austin Adventures</a> includes the activity on trips (from $2,498 per person).</p><h3>THE NEW CROATIA: Herdade da Comporta, Portugal</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/558aee7b69beddeb6a57802a-1200-924/10484132_542559582546445_4098684054592922302_o.jpg" border="0" alt="10484132_542559582546445_4098684054592922302_o"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sublimecomporta/photos/pb.445476825588055.-2207520000.1435168318./542559582546445/?type=3&amp;theater">Facebook/Sublime Comporta</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Croatia's beaches are overrun. Herdade da Comporta, a strip of coastal villages an hour outside Lisbon, is where natives unwind.</p><p><strong>Where to stay:</strong> The luxury-hotel group Aman hopes to open its resort within the year, but a crop of modern villas are available now, including the <a href="http://sublimecomporta.pt/hotel-overview.html" target="_blank">Sublime Comporta</a> (from $237 a night), a 14-bedroom guesthouse, and <a href="http://3bicashouse.com/" target="_blank">3 Bicas</a> ($11,000 a week), a pine-tree-rimmed retreat.</p><p><strong>What to do:</strong> Chill out on beaches and eat at fish shacks (try the fish soup at Praia do Peixe).</p><h3>THE NEW ICELAND: The Lofoten Islands</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/558aef166da811dc1454018d-1200-924/lofoten-islands-norway-7.jpg" border="0" alt="Lofoten Islands, Norway"><p class="source"><span>Shutterstock</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Yes, part of Iceland's appeal is its proximity to the East Coast. But when even the director of the Icelandic Tourist Board says the country has too many visitors, it's time to go elsewhere. The Lofoten Islands are in a far-flung corner of the world-a flight from Oslo to the Norwegian village of Evenes followed by an hour-long drive-but that's what makes it an adventure.</p><p><strong>Where to stay: </strong>The Scandinavian design firm Snøhetta is building a spectacular serpentine-shaped hotel jutting out of the mountains. But for now, stay in restored fishermen's lodgings at <a href="http://rorbuer.no/" target="_blank">Eliassen Rorbuer</a> (from $133 a night).</p><p><strong>What to do: </strong>Chase the Northern Lights between September and March, or soak up 24 hours of sunlight and <a href="http://www.reineadventure.com/" target="_blank">kayak with orcas</a> in the summertime (rentals start at about $50 a day).</p><h2>Hot Spots in the Making</h2><h3>THE NEW NAPA VALLEY: Loudoun County, Virginia</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/558af36eecad04a95e57802a-1200-924/loudoun.jpg" border="0" alt="Loudoun"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/39908901@N06/7539544794/">Flickr/m01229</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><strong>What it still needs</strong>: Hotels, restaurants</p><p><strong>What it has</strong>: Wineries. Loudoun's rolling hills are home to more than 40. <a href="http://www.winery32.com/" target="_blank">Winery 32</a>, which opened last July, is known for a killer Chambourcin.</p><h3>THE NEW MARTHA'S VINEYARD: Lummi Island, Washington</h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/558af1086da8119c1e54018d-874-656/lummi-island.jpg" border="0" alt="Lummi Island"><p class="source"><span>Shutterstock</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it still needs: </strong>Cachet, vacationing presidents</p><p><strong>What it has: </strong>B&amp;Bs, whale watching, and beaches. And Noma-trained chef Blaine Wetzel, who has made Lummi a must-go for foodies with the <a href="http://www.willows-inn.com/" target="_blank">Willows Inn</a> (from $125 a night).</p><h3>More from Details: </h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/05/best-smart-gadgets-for-travel.html?mbid=synd_bizinsider">12 Awesome Travel Gadgets</a></li><li><a href="http://www.details.com/body-health/exercise/201111/frequent-fliers-guide-to-staying-fit?mbid=synd_bizinsider"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Frequent Flier's Guide to Staying Fit on the Go</span></a></li><li><a href="http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/201504/should-you-go-to-cuba?mbid=synd_bizinsider">Everything You Should Know About Traveling to Cuba</a></li><li><a href="http://www.details.com/culture-trends/travel/201503/worlds-most-beautiful-buildings-bjarke-ingels?mbid=synd_bizinsider"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The 10 Most Inspiring Buildings in the World</span></a></li><li><a href="http://www.details.com/culture-trends/travel/201501/luxury-beach-vacation-destinations?mbid=synd_bizinsider">9 Luxury Beach Destinations</a></li><li><a href="http://www.details.com/culture-trends/travel/201409/best-las-vegas-bars-restaurants-hotels-clubs?mbid=synd_bizinsider">The Best New Hotspots in Vegas</a></li></ul><p><em>Read the <a href="http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/05/best-underrated-travel-destinations.html?mbid=synd_bizinsider">original article</a> on <a href="http://www.details.com/">Details.com</a>. Copyright 1969. Follow Details on <a href="http://twitter.com/DETAILS">Twitter</a>.</em><span><br /></span></p><p> </p><p> </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-airbnb-review-2015-6">We just stayed at an Airbnb in Cuba, and this one thing was a big surprise</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1jNnV0dTr_041Tdb8Y_IdEnB-JuBmOAh" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '1jNnV0dTr_041Tdb8Y_IdEnB-JuBmOAh',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52a0df68eab8ead33b96af77-381-286/crown-towers-melbourne.jpg" border="0" alt="Crown Towers Melbourne" /><p class="source">Courtesy of Crown Towers</p></div><p></p></div></div>There is something unabashedly over-the-top about a casino-even above and beyond it being a place where the brave risk losing a lot of money in hopes of gaining more. And as gaming culture becomes increasingly popular, the casino experience has grown into far more than blackjack and slots, often involving renowned names in the hotel, food and entertainment worlds.</p>
<p><strong><a href="##slideshow##">Go straight to the hotels &gt;</a></strong></p>
<p>While Las Vegas remains the gold standard, there are several international hot spots-both classic and new-that deserve attention. Take the endlessly sophisticated Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, which is located next to Casino de Monte-Carlo, the grande dame of the gaming world. Elegant galas are hosted often at restaurant La Salle Empire, and chef Alain Ducasse runs his Michelin three-star Louis XV here.</p>
<p>In Singapore the entire Marina Bay Sands entertainment complex, including a casino (among countless other points of interest), is now valued at roughly $8 billion, making it the most expensive stand-alone casino property in the world. And tucked away in the Swiss Alps is the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, with its newly renovated gaming floor, spa, two golf courses and thermal pools. The bucolic mountain setting tempers the traditionally bombastic casino vibe, proving that even when it comes to a casino hotel, you can have it both ways.</p>
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<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f61948ecad04dc29f34f80-927-695/comporta.jpg?maxX=800" alt="comporta" border="0" width="800"><p class="source"><span>Martin Morrell</span></p><p class="caption">Comporta Beach.</p></img></div><p></p></div>The sleepy fishing villages of Portugal's Herdade da Comporta have always been where the fashionable European crowd goes off the grid. Now that new hotels and rental villas are emerging among the dunes, <strong><a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/contributors/maura-egan?mbid=synd_bi">Maura Egan</a></strong> finds that this hush-hush coastal retreat has become more open to visitors-without losing its under-the-radar cool.</p>
<p>For most drivers, the ride from Lisbon to the seaside village of Comporta clocks in at just over an hour, but Isabel de Carvalho can do it in about 45 minutes. "My father raced cars," explains the restaurateur as she expertly pilots her Peugeot station wagon down the highway and chats on her phone-to staffers, to dinner guests in from Seville, and to her husband and partner, Toze´, who is driving right behind us, transporting food and supplies from the city. We are late to arrive at the Museu do Arroz, the restaurant she opened 18 years ago and which is now the center of Comporta's nightlife, and it is obvious that the party doesn't start without De Carvalho.</p>
<p>Housed in a former rice-husking mill, the Museu do Arroz feels like an extension of De Carvalho's home: The lounge area is filled with overstuffed velvet couches, a disco ball hangs from the rafters, and there's a colorful Indian welcome banner above the bar. (Originally from Portugal, De Carvalho started out as a programmer for Texas Instruments and IBM in Europe before moving to Brazil and becoming an interior designer.) It's 10 p.m. and the start of the summer season, so De Carvalho shifts into hostess mode, navigating through the rooms, offering up kisses and menu recommendations (the salt cod fritters are excellent), and signaling waiters to refill water glasses. Toze´ works the other side of the room. "We never get a vacation," he says with a fake exasperated sigh, but you can tell that they both love the work. In the far corner, I see a table of people I'd met when I came to Comporta four years ago. They casually wave as if I'm here every Friday night. "Nothing really changes in here," says Joa~o De Vasconcellos, a businessman who also happens to make wine and breed sport horses. (Comporta is packed with multi-hyphenate hobbyists.) "Nothing has really changed in Portugal in 900 years!"</p>
<p>During my last visit, the local chatter was all about the Aman resort coming to the Herdade da Comporta-the official name of the swath of coastland in the south of Portugal that comprises seven small villages-but it sounded far-fetched. The area is a protected nature reserve in the country's rural Alentejo region, and it seemed a most unlikely place for a luxury resort. I was mistaken: Come next summer, Aman will indeed open a hotel with 40 suites. The imminent arrival of the Asia-based luxury resort chain has led to the development of more hotels. But the official mandate is to keep them all low-impact and architecturally sensitive. "No one wants this to become the Algarve," says Mandy de Azevedo Coutinho, a villa rental operator, referring to the stretch of coast farther to the south that has long been a package-holiday destination. While much of Europe's beachfront has succumbed to developmental sprawl, Comporta has remained untouched. "People come here because it reminds them of St-Tropez in the '70s," says De Azevedo Coutinho-or Ibiza in the '80s, or the Hamptons in the '90s. "My husband grew up in Angola," says De Carvalho. "And the first time he came here, he told me it reminded him of Africa."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f61987eab8eae15484938b-526-701/53e3022adddaa35c30f69b92_comporta-muda-living-room.jpg" alt="comporta muda living room" border="0" width="480"><p class="source"><span>Martin Morrell</span></p><p class="caption">The living room in the main house at 3 Bicas.</p></img></div><p></p></div>Some say De Carvalho put Comporta on the map when she arrived in 1992, but really, you have to look further back. The Espi´rito Santo family-one of Portugal's, if not the world's, biggest banking dynasties-began visiting this rural backwater in the 1950s and bought a plot of land about one and a half times the size of Lisbon. The family fell in love with the untrammeled landscape-the miles of empty beaches, the dense forests of umbrella pines and gnarled cork trees, the endless patchwork of rice fields-and transformed it into their private playground. Clutches of fishermen's thatched huts were turned into unassuming compounds, with sandy paths leading from one family member's home to the next. Comporta became their summer retreat, not unlike the way parts of Maine and the Adirondacks were colonized by a handful of patrician American families.</p>
<p>In 1974, after the "Carnation Revolution," which overthrew Portugal's authoritarian Estado Novo regime, all of the country's banks were nationalized and the Espi´rito Santo group lost much of its fortune. Having been banned from doing business in Portugal, different factions of the family moved abroad to rebuild their empire. In 1991, when they returned to develop Comporta, the land was overgrown, the houses were derelict, and abandoned cars were strewn about. After they restored the area and installed a true infrastructure (roadways, electricity), they decided to diversify their interests by investing in agriculture-namely wine and rice-and quietly parceling out land to individuals beyond the family and board members.</p>
<p>This first wave of friends and foreigners brought the likes of decorator Jacques Grange, shoe designer Christian Louboutin, and artist Anselm Kiefer, who built elegant hideaways in the same humble style as the Espi´rito Santo originals. While Grange is known for his opulent designs for clients like Franc¸ois Pinault and Ronald Lauder, he kept his Comporta property spare, outfitting his cabanas with Moroccan rugs and rattan furniture. The region's more modern properties-many of them summer rentals-have a casual boho vibe, with little furniture and plenty of outdoor areas for taking in the landscape.</p>
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<p>"Princess Caroline comes here every summer because her parents were friends with the family-not that you would notice her in flip-flops and caftan," says De Azevedo Coutinho. The French aristocrat and garden designer Louis Benech supposedly does away with shoes altogether and walks around town barefoot. Comporta is where the fashionable crowd goes off the grid, and they don't necessarily want to talk about it-particularly after a Portuguese magazine quoted someone as saying, "Comporta is where rich people go to play at being poor."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f619d36bb3f7096bf34f7b-526-701/53e30233c2d3f39d3610f1fb_comporta-sals-restaurant.jpg" alt="comporta sals restaurant" border="0" width="480"><p class="source"><span>Martin Morrell</span></p><p class="caption">Black rice with cuttlefish and aioli at Sal's.</p></img></div><p></p></div>While you can't deny the socioeconomic divide between the locals (there are 3,500 full-time residents) and the summer crowds, no one seems to be treating this place as their private Petit Trianon. Perhaps because Comporta is in the Alentejo-the breadbasket of a country that is stillseen as the poor man of Europe-there's a certain strain of humility among even the wealthiest people here. "The early family members were always close with the locals. Like the fishermen and the farmers, they saw themselves as self-made and self-reliant," says Stefan Harzen, an environmental researcher who first came here from his native Germany in the '80s to study dolphins at the Sado estuary. This summer he's shuttling between here and Jupiter, Florida.</p>
<p>Then there's Jose´ Ribeira, who gave up his real estate career in Lisbon to live here full-time and lead horse rides on the beach. "I came because the economy was in bad shape and I was getting a divorce," explains Ribeira, who maintains 20 or so polo ponies at his handsome stables perched above the rice fields. In his rugged leather vest and dusty jeans, he handles his horses like a master but is quietly dismissive of his riding skills, vaguely telling me he "grew up on a farm." I later learn that Ribeira comes from a prosperous Portuguese family.</p>
<p>"We call him Jose´ of Ribeira," jokes Gonc¸alo Pessoa, a pilot for TAP Portugal who opened the hotel Sublime Comporta in May. Surrounded by piney forests, the peach-colored property is discreet but state-of-the-art: The 14 rooms and suites are equipped with oversized tubs and heated concrete floors, with fireplaces in some rooms; the grounds include a massive fire pit, an organic garden, and an infinity pool. Pessoa, who bought his land here ten years ago, gives me a casual primer on the area's social strata: The smartest family members are tucked away in the village of Brejos; Comporta Beach is the destination for day-trippers from Lisbon; Pego Beach is more exclusive; and Restaurante Sal, known simply as Sal's, is the unofficial clubhouse. Still, the Portuguese have an open-door policy when it comes to visitors. Despite the small-town feel, you don't sense any insularity or exclusivity. "We're often compared to the Irish," says businessman and horse breeder De Vasconcellos.</p>
<p>One afternoon, I receive a text from Isabel de Carvalho: "I have a friend who came by helicopter to Sal's and I'm joining him for lunch. You should come!" On my way to Sal's, I drive through the village of Carvalhal, where old men sit in plastic chairs at an outdoor cafe´, drinking espresso, as they've probably done every afternoon for decades, and then through a suburban-style neighborhood of anonymous white stucco houses (built by the government during the family's absence in the '70s), where a woman is collecting snails at the side of the road.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f61a516bb3f7a26ef34f7a-1200-924/comporta-beach.jpg" alt="comporta beach" border="0" width="800"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/freebird_71/9592352180">Flickr/freebird_71</a></span></p><p class="caption">Comporta Beach.</p></img></div><p></p></div>Lunch starts late in Comporta, around 4 p.m., so by the time I arrive, De Carvalho has left to oversee the evening's dinner shift at her restaurant. Still, there are plenty of families on the deck, lingering over their grilled fish, squid ink rice, and half-empty bottles of local rose´. For most of these multi-generational families, dining at Sal's is a weekend ritual. They dress in their Sunday beach best: polo shirts and Top-Siders for the men, flowing caftans and straw hats for the women. One grandfather is slumped over on a beach chair, the newspaper shielding his head, while his grandson plays in the sand on the nearby dunes.</p>
<p>On weekends, during the siesta between lunch and cocktail hour, the main intersection of Comporta village becomes clogged with BMWs, Range Rovers, and the occasional dune buggy. You might see a group of older ladies sitting on a stone wall, eating ice-cream cones, while others are stocking up on goods at the tiny supermercado-Porto wine, canned sardines, straw baskets. There are a handful of different lifestyle boutiques in town where you can pick up Moroccan pottery and Jack Rogers sandals, including De Carvalho's shop, A Loja do Museu do Arroz. In addition to caftans and printed bikinis, manager Marcello Rangoni has amassed an eclectic mix of antique garden furniture and retro light fixtures. "You wouldn't believe who comes in these days," Rangoni tells me during a cigarette break in the courtyard. "Last summer, Isabelle Adjani came, and the guy from the Rolling Stones... Ron Wood." He sounds more amused than starstruck.</p>
<p>The British artist Jason Martin came to Comporta after seeing a TV show about the region. "It felt like the last frontier," says Martin, who spends about ten days of the month at his atelier in an old rice factory next to De Carvalho's restaurant. "It's not that different from finding a place with cheap rent in one of London's industrial sections, but here it's rural." Martin says that the surrounding landscape has informed his painting and sculpture, and that his two young sons love spending their holidays at the beach, but he also feels the need to be part of this community. To that end, he's working on a project in Melides, a village 18 miles south of Comporta, that will include a farm, a vineyard, and a sculpture park. "You have to bring employment to the community, make the best use of the land," he says. "I spend so much time traveling on the art circuit that this feels like a very genuine life. And as long as this place doesn't get screwed up like the Algarve, it's Europe's hidden treasure."</p>
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