Villas in the Quinta do Mar from £1mplus

Per Ejrup is marketing "exclusivity" in the resort he has christened Quinta do Mar. "A pearl bordering Quinta do Lago", is how he describes it, early and often. "You are buying a lifestyle."

The proximity to Quinta do Lago, its prestige and amenities, is far too useful to be discounted. But the Dane, who several years ago retired from top management in the computer industry with the proceeds of a mountain of stock options, knows that he has to offer added value - otherwise, why not just buy into Quinta do Lago?

So what is he offering? For one thing, one of Per's villas, even at a £1 million-plus, will still cost half the price of its counterpart in Quinta do Lago.

Ergo, a buyer is getting twice the value because the address is different although it's just across the fence. For another, again with an eye on the neighbours, he knows that construction standards must be superhumanly high - so, he claims, these houses will be built to a specification that no-one has ever built before.

And by confining the villas to five types, designed by two chosen architects (with a reasonable amount of flexibility), he aims to produce "a complete homogeneous village . . . an elegant unity", among the 38 villas and 80 apartments (which, by the way, have no comparable standard in the Algarve, according to Per).

For another, he offers a "turn-key solution" (apparently a prime requirement for "busy, busy people"); these are packages of interiors and furnishings bought and installed by the developer, so that all the busy, busy buyer has to do is turn the key and they're home.

Furthermore, Per promises to have the entire project completed in two and a half years so that owners will not have a sense of living on a building site in perpetuity.

As building will only start in April, it is difficult to imagine how generous or otherwise the plots will be. But the villas will certainly come with a discreet, economical, sophisticated German system of heating and air conditioning (with potential for operation by modem); English Scottwood bedrooms and German Rational kitchens; not to mention the Jacuzzi, the electric, pushbutton cover on the swimming pool, the "aged" Spanish roof tiles and the underground garages.

Step beyond the gate and there will be Quinta do Mar's own fabulous clubhouse to see and be seen in, with its restaurant, terraces, and leisure facilities. You will also have a 24-hour guard service, a view of the ocean or the woodlands, depending on the plot you choose, a rugged beach within 10 minutes' walk, the proximity of the nearby Ria Formosa Nature Reserve and - not least - golf titles at the famed Vila Sol course in Vilamoura a short drive away.

All that, an average of 300 days of sunshine a year and just a few hours from home. Hamilton Osborne King has all the details.