For our fifth excursion, Sessions headed to Portugal’s Atlantic Coast.

Situated in a nature reserve 90 minutes south of Lisbon Airport, Tróia Design Hotel is a contemporary resort with dazzling views over the Atlantic Ocean, Sado River and the enigmatic Arrábida Mountain.

It sits at the end of a peninsula which is fast attaining international recognition thanks to the emergence of Comporta as an upcoming destination for low-key luxury and sustainable design. Existing hotels such as Sublime, Quinta da Comporta and Alma Lusa are attracting the attention of hotel investors and property developers alike. New arrivals such as JNcQUOI, Independente and Na Praia, not to mention Christian Louboutin’s Vermelho Hotel in nearby Melides, are raising the bar even further.

Its proximity to booming Lisbon and Portugal’s unspoilt Alentejo region is putting this hitherto hidden corner of Europe on the map.

Our host hotel is part of a purpose-built complex comprising light-filled guestrooms with stunning views, a fully flexible state-of-the-art conference centre and late night entertainment venue.

Our programme featured the signature Sessions mix of curated content, global game changers, local luminaries and leftfield thought leaders.

We opened with Serdar Kutucu, CEO of Slow – the collective of people, places and projects designed to cultivate ‘arts, crops and inner gardens’ from Berlin to Thailand and beyond, with several projects already underway in Portugal.

We were also joined by four explorers at the forefront of contemporary hospitality. José Antonio Uva of São Lourenço do Barrocal, Benjamin Habbel of Aethos Hotels, Rodrigo Machaz of Memmo Hotels and Gonçalo Pessoa of Sublime Hotels took to the stage for a conversation traversing a new ‘Age of Discovery’ for the Portuguese hospitality scene.

Cédric Etienne contemplated the creative possibilities of cork – the time-honoured and sustainable material for which Portugal is best known – and interior spaces as a catalyst for inner stillness.

Madeiran maestro Nini Andrade Silva, Samuel Torres de Carvalho (architect of Memmo Hotels and the forthcoming Standard Lisbon) and Jo Littlefair of Goddard Littlefair (who recently opened a studio in Porto) shared their experiences of different Portuguese locations and the perspectives they bring to global trends in design and architecture .

José Gil Duarte of Horwath HTL lifted the lid on development trends across Europe, focusing in on the hotspots of the Iberian peninsula.

Design leaders from some of the world’s biggest hotel operators: Ennismore, Hilton, IHG and Marriott discussed the future of business travel, from designing for digital nomads to reinventing event spaces.