Across Europe, there’s a small group of beach and marina towns that sit in the top tier of coastal luxury—places defined by global prestige, elegance, and refinement.
Cannes… Puerto Banús… Antibes…Portofino…
They’re walkable, beautiful, and are anchored by the sea. And they attract a rare mix of full-time residents, second-home owners, and international visitors who return year after year.
Now, a historic town in Portugal’s Algarve has joined this elite grouping: Lagos.
Today, I’d like to introduce you to this town…and share a little about an exclusive new deal I’ve negotiated here for my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group.
The town of Lagos on the western Algarve is drawing well-heeled folks from around the world thanks to its compelling mix of rich history, stunning beaches, incredible climate, and luxury marina district. This town now ranks among the elite European coastal destinations.
To begin, let’s back up…
For those who don’t know Portugal, the Algarve is in the south of the country facing the Atlantic, yet it enjoys a perfect Mediterranean climate.
This is a place of rich culture, great food, soaring cliffs, white-washed villages, stunning beaches, and 300 days of sunshine a year…all of which have made it one of the most popular destinations in Europe, attracting millions of tourists each year, as well as lots of part- and full-time expats.
The Algarve is in the south of Portugal facing the Atlantic. This perfect-weather destination gets more than 300 days of sunshine a year.
Lagos is my favorite town on the Algarve…pretty, compact, low-rise, and walkable.
Tucked behind ancient walls, Lagos is a place where a charming Old Town spills down cobbled lanes, into shady plazas toward a state-of-the-art marina.
Within the town’s white-washed buildings, you’ll find hearty local fare as well as some of the trendiest restaurants you can imagine…a historic core with a citadel, old churches…sleek cafés, craft beer hangouts…
From spots all over town you can catch breathtaking views of the Bay of Light, fringed by miles of golden sand.
And nestled within the town you’ll find a network of stunning beaches, separated by a golden-sandstone coast of cliffs, sea arches, grottoes and caves.
One of Portugal’s great ports during the Age of Discovery, Lagos remained beautiful, historic, and deeply livable in modern times—but underrepresented at the very top end of the market.
What Lagos has always had—and what can’t be manufactured—is a uniquely complete lifestyle mix: a real, layered history you can feel in the old town streets and fortifications. A harbor and fishing culture that never turned into a theme park. A climate that delivers light, warmth, and Atlantic air year-round without the intensity of the Mediterranean in high summer.
Add a highly affordable day-to-day cost of living, strong infrastructure, an established international community, and Portugal’s enduring appeal to globally mobile residents—and all the ingredients were in place.
What was missing was a luxury nucleus.
On the coast in and around Lagos, you’ll find a network of coves dotted with stunning, golden-sand beaches.
Every European coastal destination that makes the jump to the top tier has a focal point.
Take Cannes, for example.
It’s the archetype of Europe’s coastal elite—a town whose global status has been fixed for generations.
At its heart is La Croisette, the palm-lined seaside boulevard that curves along the bay, linking luxury hotels, private beach clubs, designer boutiques, and the old port in one continuous waterfront promenade.
Each May, La Croisette becomes the world’s most photographed stretch of coastline as the Cannes Film Festival transforms the town into a global stage.
The sun shines on Cannes’ Old Port. This has long been an elite destination. Now Lagos has joined the same elevated ranks.
Then there’s Antibes—another icon of the French Riviera, but with a quieter, more understated kind of prestige.
The historic old town unfolds beside Port Vauban, one of the largest and most prestigious marinas in Europe, where superyachts sit alongside long-term owners who’ve chosen to put down roots.
This is what coastal elite status looks like when it matures: a real town, anchored by a world-class marina that concentrates lifestyle, capital, and demand in one place.
Antibes, on the Côte d’Azur, is an old-world Riviera town anchored by a world-class marina and decades of accumulated prestige.
Now Lagos has its own equivalent—a marina that has become the town’s defining luxury focal point, just as Port Vauban is for Antibes and the Old Port is for Cannes.
The new marina district is where the town’s shift into Europe’s coastal elite is being anchored.
The marina is no longer just functional—it’s Lagos’ luxury waterfront.
Hilton has started construction on a vast $119 million marina project that will include two new hotels, a 4-star and a 5-star.
Their decision to place two waterfront hotels directly at Lagos Marina marks a true inflection point.
Groups like Hilton don’t speculate. They validate. They arrive when a place can sustain international pricing, year-round demand, and a globally mobile clientele. Their presence sends a clear signal to buyers, developers, and operators across Europe.
And this is just one example of the capital flowing into Lagos…
A long palm tree-lined promenade runs alongside Lagos’ modern marina.
Also, the Palmares Ocean Living and Golf Resort in Lagos is undergoing a major expansion. This 200-hectare resort (which already boasts a 27-hole golf course and a boutique hotel) was bought by U.S. firm Arrow Global in 2023, with a combined acquisition and development investment of around $440 million
The revised masterplan includes luxury villas and condos, as well as the new 5-star JW Marriott Algarve Palmares Hotel & Spa hotel, the first JW Marriott-branded resort in Portugal.
This is an astonishing level of investment for a compact, walkable town with a year-round population of just 30,000 people. And much of it is focused on 5-star luxury.
Portugal’s Algarve boasts one of the most striking coastlines in Europe. Around the town of Lagos in the western Algarve, you’ll find pristine beaches set amid craggy golden-sandstone cliffs.
When a marina becomes a town’s luxury anchor, values concentrate around it.
And it’s here, in the new luxury district of Lagos, that I’ve negotiated a stunning new deal for RETA members.
If you’re not familiar with my RETA group, it’s a club of like-minded investors who recognize the incredible opportunities in international real estate. Using our connections to world-class developers, and the collective buying power of all RETA members, I negotiate off-market deals for our group that ordinary investors never see.
Our new deal in Lagos is a chance to own on the town’s most sought-after street—the third most expensive street in all of Portugal—right in the heart of the marina district at exclusive, off-market pricing.
I expect gains of €292,500 just three years after delivery, alongside gross rental yields over 13%.
And a major kicker: You have generous Portuguese bank financing as a foreigner. Borrowing up to 70% with five-year fixed rates as low as 2.3% makes Portugal one of the best places in the world to get a bank’s money working for you.
I’ll be sharing more on this deal with RETA members very soon. Members will receive the full deal briefing on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.
And whether you’re a RETA member or not, the town of Lagos needs to be on your radar…
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. My RETA group has been uncovering incredible deals in Lagos for years.
Long before the Hilton announcement, long before the marina repositioning became obvious to the wider market, my team and I had our focus firmly on this town—specifically on the small number of crème-de-la-crème developments in the best locations around Lagos.
The result? Some of the best-performing RETA opportunities of all time…
- €166,000 More—In 2021, RETA members were able to lock down stunning, ultra-luxurious two-bed condos of more than 1,630 square feet in the Dona Ana community from the RETA price of €477,000. And they could own three-bed condos of more than 2,000 square feet from the RETA price of €549,000. In December, a three-bed condo in Dona Ana listed for €715,000. That’s an uplift of €166,000 on the RETA price.
- €274,000 Boost—In August 2021, I brought my group a deal in the Dona Maria community overlooking the marina in Lagos. This is one of the premier communities in downtown Lagos. RETA members could own two-bed condos from €575,000. A two-bed condo there has since listed for €849,000. That’s €274,000 more. One RETA member purchased a penthouse in Dona Maria for €1.1 million. In 2024 the penthouse listed at double that—€2.2 million.
- €414,500 More—In December 2019, I brought RETA members a chance to own stunning luxurious two-bed condos in the Santa Maria community in Lagos from €310,500. In March 2025, a two-bed condo in Santa Maria was listing for €725,000. That’s an astonishing uplift of €414,500.
The central courtyard in Santa Maria with its community pool. Other amenities include a gym, a spa, a sauna…
