About Time You Tried: 1|3|5 Experiences at Conrad AlgarveBy Angelica Malin
Looking to travel in an unique way? If you’re bored of holidays where all you see is the sun lounger and your own toes, Conrad Hotel’s Stay Inspired concept is for you. Conrad Hotels have launched a new initiative with 1, 3 and 5 hour experiences, allowing you to delve into your holiday destination, shining a new light on the world around you. If you’re a curious traveller, this is for you:
Stay Inspired means more than going on holiday – rather than a break from the world, holidays can now become an extension of your thirst for local knowledge. There’s something beyond lying on a beach and sipping cocktails, after all, and the Stay Inspired concept is encouraging a new global movement towards curious travel, where you come back from your getaway with more than a deep tan, but a deeper understanding of the world around you, too.
So, what’s it all about? Well, the 1|3|5 experiences are part of Conrad Hotel’s Stay Inspired concept – a brand-new global initiative, which is marking a new way to tell the story of a destination to its guests. The initiative is to encourage travellers to see the local area and discover its history; at each one of its 24 global properties, Conrad now offers guests who seek out inspired experiences a more customised and curated collection of 1, 3, and 5 hour experiences available through Conrad Concierge mobile app and here. You can read about our experience of the 1|3|5 experiences in Hong Kong here.
Spearheading the Stay Inspired initiative is Peter Jon Lindberg, a former luxury travel editor, and the brand’s new Director of Inspiration (which happens to be the coolest job title ever). He is responsible for developing and implementing the Stay Inspired vision, where experiences are offered to guests in convenient 1, 3, and 5 hour increments. It’s more than your standard tours and excursions; each recommendation reflects an inspired view into each destination covering food, shopping, art and design, culture, family, and adventure.
They’ve worked tirelessly with locals to find the very best experiences on offer, and unearth things really unique to the local area. If you try one of these experiences, you’re sure to find something really important and special to the region. At Conrad Algarve, these experiences include everything from clam picking to ocean-facing dining, for a truly Portuguese holiday.
Conrad Algarve: The 1| 3 | 5 Experiences
At Conrad Algarve, the 1/3/5 experiences encourage you to discover the best of Portugal and the area surrounding the hotel. The experiences range from 1-hour trips to see the production of gold baubles in Luisa Rosa, and visits to 18th-century São Lourenço Church in Almancil, to 3-hour unforgettable excursions, such as the historic cork route, art and seafood tours, food market hopping in Loulé and matching petiscos with wine in local restaurants. The 5-hour experiences include clam picking, being a fisherman for the day, leisurely beachfront lunch and seeing the 12th-century cathedrals and Moorish castles on motorcycle with tour operator Bike My Side.
The cork route experience, which highlights the history of cork production in the area – reached on 4×4 jeeps for the ultimate exhilarating ride – is great for an understanding of the importance of cork on the local economy. For foodies, you can taste local delights at a hidden away restaurant on the beach, 40 minutes from the hotel, which does the best carpaccio and garlicky clams in town, . For something truly unusual, you can try swimming with Portuguese water dogs, who are only bred in Portugal. It’s an experience unlike any other, and really adds a touch of the unusual to a normal beach holiday. See all the experiences here, and don’t forget to stay inspired, kids.
Nightly rates at Conrad Algarve start from £121 (€164) based on two adults sharing a grand deluxe room on a B&B basis. For reservations and enquiries, please visit www.conradalgarve.com or call +351 289 350 700. For further information on Conrad Stay Inspired and Conrad 1/3/5 please visit www.stayinspired.com.
