Vila Joya

White walls, arched arcades and terracotta floors define Vila Joya, a private villa built into limestone cliffs above Praia da Galé on Portugal's Algarve coast. It holds four rooms and nine suites, each with its own view of the Atlantic. Founder Claudia Jung bought the estate in 1982 and converted it by hand, keeping the Moorish arches and adding antiques and maritime art; her daughter Joy has run it since 2003. The kitchen carries the address's real distinction. Austrian chef Dieter Koschina arrived in 1991, took a first Michelin star in 1995 and a second in 1999, and still writes a new four-course menu daily with executive chef Stefan Langmann. Dinner is served under the arcade, facing the garden and the ocean beyond it; lunch runs poolside, and a beach shack nearby serves informal plates with a sundowner view. Suite 1001, once a ballroom, keeps its original terracotta floor and a working fireplace. A spa built around a heated flotation pool, Turkish bath and open-air gym looks out to the same coastline. Faro Airport lies 48 km away. Vila Joya sits, in short, on the boundary between a family house and a dining room the Algarve built its reputation on.