FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about our residencies, team standards, and booking logistics.
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The essentials
What does it cost?
The residency is all in: your room, every meal, transfers from Lisbon, the assessment and re-measure, every session, and your Personalised Health Toolbox. One figure, everything in it, nothing sold during the residency. Rates per cohort and room are on the Apply page, and you see your exact figure before you pay.
What is included?
Everything the week needs: your room, all meals, transfers from Lisbon, the day one and day six assessments, the daily contrast stack, every session, and your Personalised Health Toolbox. The 4-Week Integration Programme, extra one-to-one work, massage and other enhancements are optional, arranged before you arrive.
What is the cancellation policy?
A 20% deposit, paid when you apply, reserves your room, and if we cannot confirm your place after your Alignment Call, it is refunded in full. Cancel 60 or more days before the start and you receive a full refund, deposit included. Inside 60 days, everything you've paid is held as credit toward another Atlas Cove residency rather than refunded. The balance is due 45 days before arrival (or 7 days after we confirm your place, if that comes later) and can be paid in full or, for payments in euro or Swiss francs, in Klarna instalments. If we ever move or cancel a cohort, you can reschedule, take full credit, or receive a full refund. We recommend travel insurance that covers cancellation. Full details are on the booking terms page.
Do I tip?
No. The figure is all in, and gratuities are neither expected nor accepted. If the week moves you, tell the team at the table; that is the currency here.
How can I pay?
Through Mollie's secure checkout: credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, plus SEPA bank transfer for payments in euro and Klarna for the balance in euro or Swiss francs. A 20% deposit holds your room when you apply; the balance is due 45 days before arrival, or 7 days after we confirm your place if that comes later, paid in full or, where Klarna is offered, in instalments. We never see your card details.
Do I need travel insurance?
We recommend it wholeheartedly. Choose a policy that covers trip or retreat cancellation, so a changed plan costs you a premium rather than the week. We don't sell or endorse specific policies; any good travel insurer offers cancellation cover. The house terms stay generous, with a full refund 60 or more days out, but insurance is what covers life's shorter notice.
Does it cost anything to apply?
Applying ends with a 20% deposit that holds your place. It is fully refundable until 60 days before the residency, and if we cannot confirm your place after your Alignment Call, you get all of it back. Prefer to talk first? The Alignment Call costs nothing, and you can book it before you apply. If it is not a fit, we tell you kindly and early.
Can I move my booking to a later cohort?
Yes. A reserved place can move to a later cohort up to 45 days before arrival; write to us and we will happily rebook you. If the new cohort is priced differently, the difference is settled with the move; nothing is paid twice. Closer than 45 days, everything you have paid is held as credit toward another Atlas Cove residency, so the value is never lost. And if we ever move a date ourselves, you choose freely: reschedule, full credit, or full refund.
Is my payment protected?
Yes. The residency is sold as a package, so the mandatory protections of the EU Package Travel Directive apply, including protection of your payments against operator insolvency. Atlas Cove, Lda is registered with Turismo de Portugal under RNAVT n.º 13548, and you can open that entry yourself at rnt.turismodeportugal.pt/rnt/RNAVT.aspx?nr=13548. Client funds are protected by the FGVT, Portugal’s travel guarantee fund, which exists so that a paid booking survives the operator. And if we ever move or cancel a cohort ourselves, you choose: reschedule, full credit, or full refund. The long version lives on the booking terms page.
Getting here
Where is it, and how do I get there?
For the Sesimbra cohorts, a private quinta inside the Serra da Arrábida natural park, about 50 minutes by car from Lisbon airport. Your airport transfer is included and arranged for you; you will not need a car until you leave. Arrival details for each sanctuary are on its page.
What should I pack?
Training kit, a swimsuit, one warm layer for serra evenings, and nothing formal. There is no dress code; dinner is unhurried, not dressed up. A short packing note arrives with your confirmation.
Can I work during the week?
You can. The wifi is good and the afternoons hold quiet hours for a call. But the week works best when work does not come: most guests warn their teams in advance, and are glad they did.
When should I arrive, and when does the week end?
Day one is arrival and your baseline assessment; day six closes with the re-measure, taken on the last morning. Plan to reach the quinta between midday and 16:00, which usually means landing in Lisbon by mid afternoon and no later than 18:00. On day six you leave around midday. Airport transfers are included; send us your flights once booked. And if your times only work earlier or later, tell us; we always find a way.
Do I need a visa to come to Portugal?
Portugal is part of the Schengen Area, so standard Schengen short-stay rules apply. Many nationalities enter visa-free for short stays; others need a Schengen visa arranged in advance. The requirements follow your passport, not our guest list, so check the current rules for your nationality well before you fly. If your application needs paperwork from our side, ask us.
What is the weather like in November?
November on the Arrábida coast is mild, quiet and green, the serra fresh after the first rains; that is what the warm layer on the packing list is for. The protocol does not check the forecast: training, sauna and the long table happen in every season, and the quinta is built for all of them.
Can I extend my stay before or after the residency?
The residency is a complete six days, arriving and leaving together, and the quinta holds no extra nights. We are glad to point you to lovely places nearby for a night on either side.
Is it safe for a woman travelling alone?
Yes, and most of our guests come alone. Portugal ranks among the safest countries in Europe, and the residency itself is ten rooms behind one gate, founded and hosted by co-founders Lisa and Tom, with women across the team and everyone on the property all week. Your airport transfer is arranged for you, so there are no late night logistics to solve. You will be known by name by the first dinner; alone here never means on your own.
The week itself
How fit do I need to be?
Our programme welcomes a wide range of physical abilities. Group movement and strength sessions are individually adjusted by our coaches to match your current fitness level safely.
How hard is the week, really?
You will train every day, at your level, scaled from your own baseline as the week unfolds. It is demanding, and it is kind. Every effort is met with real rest, because rest is where the body grows.
I have an injury, or a condition. Can I still come?
Often, yes. Every guest answers a short health questionnaire before the balance payment, and our coaches adjust sessions individually. Where specialised clinical needs are identified, our team is delighted to connect you with trusted medical specialists. Tell us plainly in your application; it is the most useful thing you can write.
Do I need a wearable, or years of health data?
No. Our team measures your complete baseline: physical testing on Day 1 and Day 6, and daily biometrics throughout your stay. Every guest completes a pre- and post-residency evaluation using standardised, research-backed questionnaires on stress, mental well-being and focus. If you arrive with nothing but the sense that it is time to take your body seriously, you arrive with everything we need.
Do I have to give up my phone?
No. Handing it in on arrival is offered, never enforced; the house takes your calls either way. Devices go down in the evening for the sleep window, and you will find you reach for it less by day three.
What about food, restrictions, preferences?
Yes. Our culinary team accommodates dietary needs, including gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and specific food allergies. Please let us know when you book.
Is there alcohol? Coffee?
Coffee, yes: after the morning light, where the protocol wants it. Alcohol is not served during the week; the sleep data argues that case better than we can. If the table wants one, the last dinner raises a glass.
Is there an age requirement?
Guests are 18 and over. Most of the table is 30 to 65, and every session is scaled from your baseline, not your birth year.
What languages are spoken?
The residency runs in English and German. Portuguese is available through some of our coaches and specialists.
Is this medical?
Atlas Cove provides health strategy, lifestyle coaching, and performance education. Our team members are not medical doctors, and we do not diagnose conditions, practise clinical medicine, or prescribe pharmaceuticals. Where specialised clinical needs are identified, our team is delighted to connect you with trusted medical specialists.
What about privacy?
Ten rooms behind one gate. No photography of guests without consent, no guest list shared, and your numbers stay yours. Discretion is a house rule, not a service.
What does a typical day look like?
Each day follows your body clock. Mornings open with natural light, meditation and journaling, then yoga and strength training. Afternoons bring your 1-on-1 sessions, a nature excursion such as a hike or a swim, and sauna and cold plunge. Chef-prepared meals carry the day, and evenings close with a calm wind-down for deep sleep.
What exactly do you measure on day one?
Your baseline, in body and mind. Before you arrive: standardised questionnaires on stress, mental well-being, focus and daily habits. On day one: VO2max, body composition, grip strength and blood pressure, on validated tools we bring. Through the week: sleep and blood pressure, daily. On the last morning the physical markers are taken again and set side by side; the questionnaires follow after you leave. A starting point, not a diagnosis: we measure markers you can move.
Do I have to do the sauna and cold plunge?
No. The recovery wing, with its wood-fired sauna, cold plunge and hands-on recovery, is part of your protocol, not a dare. Heat and cold are dosed like everything else here: from your baseline, at your edge, never past it. The health questions before your balance payment ask specifically about conditions affected by heat or cold, so anything relevant is known before day one. Skipping a plunge costs you nothing but the bragging rights.
Is there any free time?
Yes, by design. Afternoons hold deliberate quiet: the gardens, the pools, a book, a nap, or your 1-on-1 strategy sessions. Recovery is programmed as seriously as training, because rest is where the training lands. What the week does not hold is optionality for its own sake: there is no activities menu to manage, and nothing competing for your attention. If you need an hour for a call, the afternoon holds that too.
Do we leave the quinta during the week?
Yes. Group excursions and coastal hikes are part of the daily rhythm: guided hikes, natural swimming, or outdoor exploration, tailored to the local environment.
I have limited mobility. Does the house work for me?
Yes. Group movement and strength sessions are individually adjusted by our coaches to match your current fitness level and mobility safely. The estate is the honest part: an old quinta in the serra, and not fully step free. Tell us plainly in your application what you need. We will tell you just as plainly what the house can hold, and where there is a way, we will do our best to make it work.
The people, and after
How many people will be there?
Up to ten rooms, your two hosts and the specialists beside them, one cohort a month. You will be known by name by the first dinner.
Can I come with a partner?
Yes. One room, two protocols: each of you assessed and coached at your own level. Mention it in your application and we will hold the room.
I’d be coming alone. Is that odd?
Most guests come alone. One long table, first names by the first dinner. Solo is the default here, not the exception.
What happens after the residency?
You leave with your Personalised Health Toolbox: your numbers side by side, your three priorities, and daily habits built for real life. About 30 days after your stay, a short mental check-in shows what has held. If you would like company on the way, follow-up 1-on-1 calls with your coach are available on request.
What if I apply and it isn’t a fit?
We will tell you, kindly and early, and refund your deposit in full. Where we can, we will point you somewhere better suited.
Who will be looking after me?
Your two hosts and the specialists beside them. Lisa and Tom, the founders, host every cohort themselves and are on the property all week; our movement and yoga specialist and the on-site culinary team join them. Every guest completes a health screening questionnaire before the work begins. The team that runs your week is the team behind the Integration Programme after it. Nobody hands you to a rotation.
What do I actually take home?
Three things, and a fourth. Your Personalised Health Toolbox: day one and day six side by side, your three priorities, and a daily habits protocol built for real life. Your consultation insights from the 1-on-1 sessions, with warm introductions where specialised care is recommended. The letter from your 80-year-old self, which arrives when you least expect it. And a table of first names. What you do with all four is the actual work.
How often do cohorts run, and what if my dates are full?
One cohort a month, arriving and leaving together. Next: 7 to 12 November 2026 on the Sesimbra coast. 2027 is open for application: 16 to 21 February, 16 to 21 March, 22 to 27 May (six rooms) and 2 to 7 July; September and October 2027 are planned and open in due course. Places confirm in application order. If your cohort fills, your application moves to the next one you can make, and we tell you early either way. New dates reach the newsletter first.
Selected Cohorts Now Enrolling
So that every guest receives deep personal attention, our residencies are capped to small groups and available by application only.
Next Cohort: 7–12 November 2026 · Casas na Ferraria, Portugal · All-Inclusive
Begin Your ApplicationEvery guest answers a short health questionnaire when booking, and completes a pre-arrival assessment before the residency.
Prefer to speak with our team first? Ask us anything on WhatsApp →