Alvor Bay · Algarve, Portugal
A fully equipped studio with its own entrance and parking, and a wooden cabin in a fenced garden. About ten minutes from Alvor Bay and the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Pina’s garden breakfast, on request. Dogs are welcome.
Where you'll stay
Both are fully independent, with a private entrance and the run of the fenced garden, the gym and the grounds. The studio has its own parking. The wooden cabin sits in the garden. Pina’s breakfast, from that garden, is there when you ask for it.
The Studio · Modern & independent
Freshly renovated and entirely your own — private entrance, full kitchen, a modern bathroom and dedicated parking. Bright and calm, with the fenced garden just outside the door. Dogs are welcome.
The Wooden Cabin · Rustic & atmospheric
A wooden cabin in the fenced garden. Timber, soft light and the quiet of the grounds — a place to slow down, about ten minutes from Alvor Bay. Dogs are welcome to be outside.
Our story
From Lisbon to Cascais to the Algarve — Fernando and Pina built a life around movement, food, and open doors. Stay with them, and you're not just booking a room. You're pulling up a chair.
Ironman veteran · Triathlon pioneer
One of Portugal's original triathletes, Fernando made sporting history as the first Portuguese athlete to finish the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii. He has been racing since the sport's earliest days in the 1980s — and he's still at it in his 70s. Ask him about training, local routes, or his next Ironman. He'll pour you a coffee and tell you everything.
Fernando was born in 1953, and by the time triathlon arrived in Portugal in the 1980s, he was one of the very first people in the country racing it. National titles followed across several distances, then the Elite Iberian Championship, then a place on the Portuguese national team — racing at the 1992 ITU Age-Group World Championships in Huntsville, USA, and on elite circuits across Europe.
Among his many achievements, one stands above the rest: Fernando was the first Portuguese athlete to cross the finish line at the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii — a landmark moment for Portuguese triathlon.
He never really stopped. In his master years he came back sharper than ever: national Duathlon champion (2015), national Aquathlon champion and Iberian Sprint Triathlon champion (2016), national Triathlon vice-champion (2017). Since 2018 he's been chasing Ironman distances — finishing Ironman Lanzarote, widely considered the toughest Ironman course on the calendar, and earning a start at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France.
Now in his 70s and still racing in the Veteran V5/V6 categories, Fernando likes to say age is just a number — Longevidade Desportiva, sporting longevity, is the whole philosophy. Ask him about any of it over coffee on the terrace and he'll happily walk you through four decades of racing, point you toward his favorite local routes, and probably talk you into an early morning training session before you've finished your first cup.
Master chef · Head gardener
Pina's path ran from the Philippines through Istanbul, where she cooked at master level in one of the city's top kitchens, before settling in the Algarve. Today she runs the garden and the stove — and no one leaves her table hungry.
"Chatting with Fernando and Pina is like opening a secret book on training, nutrition, and global culinary arts."
— what past guests say about staying at Damas Home
The grounds
Organic vegetable beds, fruit trees, chickens, a private gym, and a hammock in the shade — the grounds guests get to wander, and Pina gets to harvest from.
Free, exclusive guest access to a fully equipped gym — weights, machines and kettlebells. Keep your routine, or start one with tips from an Ironman veteran. The Autódromo and the region's best cycling routes start at the gate.
On request, breakfast comes from Pina’s own garden. She is a master chef, trained in Istanbul and seasoned in kitchens in several countries. It is home-grown, generous, and the kind of morning people plan around.
Not just "pets allowed" — built for them. A fully fenced garden, space to run, shady trees and hosts who love animals. Quiet countryside walks start right at the door.
Location
Damas Home sits in Mexilhoeira Grande, just off the A22 — quiet countryside, close to the western Algarve. Alvor Bay is about ten minutes away, and so is the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, an easy base on a race weekend.
Availability
Two homes, two calendars. Choose your check-in and check-out on the nights that are still open.
The Studio
Modern and independent — private entrance, full kitchen, sleeps 2.
The Wooden Cabin
A cosy timber retreat in the garden — rustic, quiet and pet-friendly.
Select a check-in date, then a check-out date, on the home you want.