What makes Paraíso Escondido, Portugal different from other hotels?

Paraíso Escondido was created by Berny and Glenn in Portugal's Alentejo, surrounded by African-like landscapes and wild unspoiled beaches. It offers not just a stay, but an experience of slowing down and reconnecting with what matters most.

Portugal, Europe

Paraíso Escondido

Unwind amidst Portugal’s sun-kissed rolling hills, discover hidden beaches and savour delicious food at this luxurious Alentejo estate

A life project that began in 2001; a magical place with similarities to Africa – where Berny was born – with vast, open landscapes and wild, unspoiled beaches nearby. An eco luxury concept focusing on helping guests slow down and reconnecting with the special things in life. Paraíso Escondido isn’t just a guest house or hotel, it’s an experience, a feeling, a home that represents Berny & Glenn and their unique journey.

Often referred to as the ‘Tuscany of Portugal’, with its beautiful sun-drenched rolling landscapes dotted with sleepy villages, surrounded by cork trees and olive groves. Drive 15 – 20 minutes from the property to some of Europe’s most beautifully preserved coastlines, discover some hidden unspoiled beaches and a myriad of unique species of flora and fauna. If you are searching for nature, sun, relaxation and amazing food, this is a place where all your senses will be stimulated and satisfied.

The luxurious property is situated high on a hill overlooking the beautiful Alentejo landscape. It consists of separate buildings located around the 8 hectare/20 acre property. There are 5 bedrooms in the main house and a further 5 bedrooms outside the main house including 2 wooden bungalows on stilts. All are individually styled with en-suite bathrooms offering a different experience from their various locations.

A VIEW FOR MILES

The luxury of looking at a beautiful sunset view, enjoying the gentle breeze and being surrounded by nature

HEALTHY, EXCITING; VIBRANT & LOCAL

Making beautiful food starts with knowing where your food comes from – 90% of our produce is sourced within a 35km radius

CREATE FOOD EXPERIENCES THAT
SPARK JOY

We aim to inspire and encourage connection with food from locally-sourced, organic ingredients, partly collected from our organic garden

YOGA WITH A VIEW

Surrounded by nature with spectacular views lies our beautiful up-cycled Yoga Shala built from recycled containers

Your Hosts - Berny Serrāo & Glenn Cullen

Berny was born in Mozambique and Glenn was born in Australia. They met and married in South Africa. With their love for life and experiencing new cultures, they travelled all over the world, working and living in London, Singapore, Russia, and The Netherlands before settling in Portugal. These experiences have shaped and influenced how they brought their dream to fruition with the realization of ‘Paraíso Escondido’ (Hidden Paradise).

Berny and Glenn have a passion for nature and sustainability, and both have creativity at the heart of everything they do, given that Berny is also an artist and Glenn was a senior executive in the advertising world before giving up the corporate business life. These experiences also helped shape their desire to build a different type of hospitality business that focuses on helping their guests to immerse themselves in nature in order to heal and grow on their spiritual path.

Our insights..

Transparency is essential if we are all going to grow and improve together and this is why we have dedicated this section to sharing what we love about each place and its hosts. We work with each of our hosts to improve their guest experiences, sustainability practices and local impact, this is where you can learn more about that along with what still needs to be improved, the measures being taken to ensure our hosts continue to move forward and every now and then we’ll come back to update you on their progress.

Lars von der Wettern

Visited the property in June 2023

A true hidden paradise is what Paraíso Escondido really is. After driving uphill for a while you eventually arrive at this stunning place. Beauty has always been here, but these two amazing hosts took such good care of it; constructed carefully, planted and designed in harmony with their surroundings. Having been stunned by the exterior, you will find the beauty continues inside too. The warmth is everywhere, you feel welcomed and at ease. And when you take the homemade herbal tea, you understand that two amazing humans have just welcomed you to their little slice of paradise.

YOGA WITH A VIEW

Surrounded by nature with spectacular views lies our beautiful up-cycled Yoga Shala built from recycled containers

A VIEW FOR MILES

The luxury of looking at a beautiful sunset view, enjoying the gentle breeze and being surrounded by nature

CREATE FOOD EXPERIENCES THAT SPARK JOY

We aim to inspire and encourage connection with food from locally-sourced, organic ingredients, partly collected from our organic garden

HEALTHY, EXCITING; VIBRANT & LOCAL

Making beautiful food starts with knowing where your food comes from – 90% of our produce is sourced within a 35km radius

Your Hosts - Berny Serrāo & Glenn Cullen

Our insights..

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Lars von der Wettern

Visited the property in June 2023

Community & Sustainability Commitment

Here are some key sustainability & community practices that these hosts are committed to. Please use the key below the icons for reference. You might see that some measurements are not currently in place and that’s okay, we choose to support our hosts on their imperfect road towards a better world and we understand that that takes time.

Sustainability Practices

Community Commitments

Not in Place

Eco Certifications & Efforts

Just as we admire each of our hosts for their singularity, we appreciate that their sustainability journeys are also unique. Because of this, we do not require our hosts to have an eco certification or two under their belt, we simply guide them on improving their sustainable business practices one imperfect – but positive – step at a time. If a host has eco certifications they will be shown below, if not, then know we are working towards this together.

Local & organic

Berny & Glenn believe wholeheartedly that making beautiful food starts with knowing where your food comes from – 90% of their produce is sourced within a 35km radius.

“We aim to inspire and encourage connection with food from locally-sourced, organic ingredients, partly collected from our organic garden.”

NGOs & Local Impact Projects Supported

Each of our hosts strive to have a positive impact on their local communities. Some of our hosts already have established connections with local partners to enrich the lives and wellbeing of their communities, others are in the process of creating these long term relationships. If a host has local NGO connections they will be shown below, if not, then know we are working towards this together.

Collaborating with local professionals

Our activities involve yoga, massages, horse riding etc. We don’t have all these activity specialists on our payroll but subcontract locally-based professionals with international experience. This supports their own businesses which in turn also helps our business and our guests. This allows us to offer highly qualified professionals which otherwise we would not be able to afford should we have to hire them.

Depression & Suicide Prevention

Our local area and council has the highest rate of suicide and depression in the country. This goes back many, many years. We support a local organisation that has created a community making jams, olive oil, honey and local seasonings – all organic and with no preservatives. As the cause of these figures are unknown and whether they are caused from genetics or isolation, this organisation helps the community to stay busy by offering community work together to hopefully avoid lonely periods in their lives.

The Four Cs

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Conservation

72%

Highlights:

Community

43%