Algarve, Silves, Portugal

Eight ensuite bedrooms, a river running through the land, and a licensed guesthouse in its second year of trading. Ideal as a retreat or small events venue, this exclusive property is sold fully equipped with 2027 bookings already on the books.

It is just before seven and the mist is still sitting on the water. You walk down past the orange trees to the yoga deck, low enough over the river that you can hear it moving, and for twenty minutes nothing else in the Algarve exists. Guests say the same thing on arrival, almost word for word: this feels like Bali. Green, wooden, water everywhere, quiet in a way the coast never is. By eleven there will be sixteen people around the pool and the house will sound like a different property altogether. By the evening there is room to gather fifty out there, the outdoor bar open and the barbecue going, the kind of night guests are still talking about long after they have flown home.

This is a walled country estate, a quinta in Portuguese, on one of the very few plots ever licensed directly alongside the Rio Arade, between the historic town of Silves and the Barragem do Arade. The watercourse runs through the land itself, which is what gives the property its privacy: valley on every side, no passing traffic, no neighbours in earshot. Built in 2007 and taken back to the bones in a full renovation completed in 2024, it now runs under a Portuguese tourism licence (Alojamento Local, or AL), let as a single unit to groups of up to sixteen.

Inside the house

Eight double bedrooms, every one of them ensuite, all with air conditioning and heating, most opening onto their own balcony. A ninth room gives you a treatment space, an office, or staff accommodation, depending on how you want to run the place. Nine bathrooms in total across 450 m² of built area, finished to a standard that survives paying guests week after week rather than looking good for one photoshoot.

Behind the guest side of the house sits the part that most retreat properties get wrong: a professional kitchen built for cooking for a full house, and a separate laundry room sized for the turnover. Whoever takes this on can host without improvising. The communal lounge is where the whole house ends up once the light goes, and it is large enough that sixteen people in it still feels comfortable.

Outside

This is where the Bali comparison comes from. The land is organised as a series of places to be rather than one open garden, all of it timber decking, planting and water rather than lawn and hard landscaping. A heated swimming pool with terracing around it. An outdoor sauna and a jacuzzi for the wellness side of the calendar. An outdoor kitchen with barbecue for the long evenings that groups actually remember. Decks laid out in separate zones, so a yoga session, a family lunch and someone reading alone can all happen at the same time without anyone getting in the way. And the yoga deck itself, set just above the river, which is the single feature guests photograph most.

The orange grove runs down towards the water. The urban plot is 700 m², with a further 4,470 m² of rustic land including citrus orchard, arable ground and the watercourse, bringing the total holding to 5,170 m².

Live in it and run it

One level can be closed off as private owner accommodation while the rest of the house keeps trading. That matters if you want the income without handing the whole property to guests, or if you want to be on site hosting the retreats yourself rather than employing someone to do it. It is the difference between buying a business and buying a life that happens to pay for itself.

The location

Silves and its castle are around ten minutes away, close enough for guests to spend an evening in the old town, far enough that you hear nothing of it. The Barragem do Arade, with its swimming and kayaking, is a few minutes further up the valley. The coast is the part people underestimate: Ferragudo, Carvoeiro and the beaches of the central and western Algarve are inside half an hour, so guests get river and countryside where they sleep and the Atlantic when they want it. Faro airport is roughly fifty minutes, which matters when your arrivals come in on Saturday flights. Wine estates, the Monchique hills and four golf courses are all within an easy drive, and they already form part of what the house sells.

Key features

8 double bedrooms, all ensuite, with air conditioning and heating, most with private balcony, plus a flexible ninth room
9 bathrooms, 450 m² built (395 m² privativa, 55 m² dependente)
700 m² urban plot plus 4,470 m² rustic parcel, 5,170 m² total holding
River frontage on the Rio Arade, with the watercourse running through the land
Yoga deck above the river, heated swimming pool, outdoor sauna, jacuzzi, timber decking throughout
Professional kitchen and separate laundry room, sized for a full house
Outdoor kitchen with barbecue, decking arranged in separate zones
Communal lounge, citrus orchard, open valley views
Built 2007, full renovation completed 2024
Portuguese tourism licence (Alojamento Local), trading as a private group rental and retreat venue, sleeps 16
Option to privatise one level as owner accommodation while the house continues to trade
Energy rating C
Sold as a going concern, fully equipped, with 2027 bookings on the books

A note on the business

This is a trading property in its second year of operation, not an empty house with a licence attached. Occupancy, trading history and forward booking data are available to qualified buyers on request, under NDA. The AL registration is held by the operating company, and the structure of the sale, asset purchase or share purchase, is open for discussion with your advisors.

Riverside land on the Arade does not come up. A licensed, renovated, trading version of it comes up less often still. If you have been looking for somewhere in the Algarve that earns while you use it, this is worth the drive.

Happy to walk you through it in person, or to talk through the numbers and the licensing first if you are still working out whether a hosted property is the right move for you.