No pun intended, but the website wonderfulland.com has been a great find for me. It is a pretty discerning website that lists a select number of small properties, many in historic villages or historic buildings.

I have now stayed in three of their sites, and have thoroughly enjoyed each one. The first, the Casa de Terena, is no longer a member of this website, but it was how I found the place about 8 years ago and we enjoyed our stay there. I think other fodorites have gone there also.

About three years ago, we stayed in the Mosteiro de São Cristovão de Lafões. Wow. This is a privately owned monastery. I may have written about it on this board, but it is owned by a prominent doctor in Porto. For years, he and his wife used the monastery as their own summer getaway for their large family. They did much of the renovation for personal use. A few years ago, some of the children told their parents that they would be unable to maintain the home for personal use because of its huge cost. So the family decided to renovate the stables and turn it into a place of rural tourism to support the upkeep of the property. It is amazing, and we got a full tour of the private monastery home. Beautiful setting, near lots of nice hiking spots.

And then, as I´ve just described in another post about my trip to the upper Douro, last week we stayed in the Casa da Cisterna, which I also found on the wonderfulland website.

I look forward to other trips. Based on my experience, I think that you will find a very high standard of accommodation and hospitality.