This is my third time here at Estalagem São Domingos and it always meets the expectations. It's in a very quiet zone of Alentejo near a river beach and you can mostly hear the sound of birds.
The rooms are very nice decorated, with a functional and nice bathroom. There is a beautiful swimming pool surrounded by the charming garden.
It's really the place I love to come and forget the rest of the world.
The staff is not the best professionals I have ever seen but very honest and friendly and will satisfy your needs in a relaxed way. There is a restaurant with beautiful rooms and when the weather is nice you can grab a snack or lunch/dinner at the terrace.
The price is low if you avoid July/August.
There is wifi all over the hotel and some days you can watch the stars and have an astronomy workshop because the hotel has a powerful telescope.
In the surroundings the near village is Mértola, around 17kms away and Serpa. You can also visit the old mines, and "pulo do lobo".
This is around 250 kms from Lisbon and you will take about 2,5hours to get here but it's worth it.
The only not very nice thing for me is that the mattresses are a bit hard for my back but in compensation you have the wonderful outside sleeping nets.
Extremely recommended.

NIce stay, ideal when you need some time for yourself with no children in the neighborhood. The restaurant is ok, but not the same like the hotel. The owner was working in the garden, never seen it before :o). The room was luxury, the room was in the newest part of the hotel with a nice terrace and the view was perfect, there is a big lake at the otherside of the hotel where you can enjoy the people.

i love this Hotel.

Its an excellent design Hotel, far away from all kinds off civilization.

Near the hotel you have the old São Domingos mine.

I've loved to stay there. Just having sun and pool baths!

excellent restaurant and pool bar.

i've already returned 2 times after this first experience.

negative points - its a bit expensive (more or less 100 Euros Night)

We stayed at this great hotel in May 2009 while visiting extended family in the town. The hotel was a real oasis of calm and tranquility. It is a boutique hotel but without the usual rates. The building and the rooms were very high quality and classy. Pool area is very stylish and well laid out. Nice and cool. We only ate breakfast in the hotel but that was more than adequate and easily international hotel standard. Staff were helpful and friendly (speaking English, German, Spanish and probably other languages). Superb value for money (we paid 65 euro for a double room per night). Parents loved it. Would go back without hsitation. Very quiet when we were there (mid-week out of season). Tapada (lake) with beach <5 mins walk away. Highly recommend.

With one minor excetion (see below), nothing at all to complain about. This place is a real find. I travel a lot on business around the world and this was easily comparable and in many respects better than many much more well known and costly hotels. A gem.

The minor exception is the bikes. My wife and I decided to cycle to Mertola which is about 35km there and back. It is quite hilly with a couple of serious hills for non-cyclists. 2/3rds of the way back I discovered that the front brake of my bike was stuck on a buckled wheel! At least that explained why I was slowing down going down hill. I was finding it so hard to keep up with my wife I thought I was ill! Didn't think bike charge was an issue as others have said (1 euro an hour).

If you want nightlife, then this is not the hotel for you. Having said that, if you want nightlife, what are you doing in the Mina anyway?

In terms of location, it is 17k to Mertola and about 30 mins (?) from Serpa. Further to Beja. Need a car to really get around the area.