Alentejo, Portugal

Quinta do Paral

Price per night from$313.40

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR300.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Salt-of-the-earth estate

Setting

Beja’s natural bounty

There’s a lot to shout about at adults-only Quinta do Paral, but its slow-paced setting means we’re inclined to whisper instead. Vineyard-ogling bedrooms and two seasonal restaurants are dressed in muted hues; seek out bolder shades — Touriga burgundy, Syrah rose-pink — at the estate’s winery. There are other ways to unwind between a bunch of wholesome activities: by the vine-flanked pool, with an in-room massage or at the sunset-facing rooftop bar. You’ll want to keep this retreat hush-hush…

Smith Extra

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A bottle of wine and a sweet treat

Facilities

Photos Quinta do Paral facilities

Need to know

Rooms

22, including eight suites.

Check–Out

Noon; check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability and an extra charge.

More details

Rates at Quinta do Paral include a Continental breakfast with homemade pastries, fresh juices and local products.

Also

Unfortunately, this quinta is not suitable if you have reduced mobility.

At the hotel

Gym, electric bikes to borrow, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, Sonos sound system, air-conditioning, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar, wine cooler, free bottled water, bathrobes, slippers and luxurious bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Quinta do Paral toasts to its locale in various ways, but the hotel’s design is its most aesthetic form of celebration: artisan-made furnishings, traditional stone archways and latticework, and walnut-wood details adorn the rooms. Take in the vineyards from above in a Juliet balcony-toting Superior Room; the views are just as special from the private furnished patio in a Signature Terrace Suite, which also has a double-sided fireplace indoors.

Poolside

The sky-blue pool’s setting is the picture of Portugal: it sits between the whitewashed quinta and verdant vines, and its terracotta-tiled terrace is dotted with rattan furniture (ivory sunloungers are on hand for any post-tasting siestas).

Packing tips

Tastebuds primed for sipping your way around the region’s wineries. And your Rimowa suitcase will feel at home here — the owner’s family founded the luxury luggage brand.

Also

Essential-oil massages or hydrating facials can be arranged in the hotel’s treatment room or in your own quarters on request.

Pet‐friendly

Pets are welcome in any room for €40 each a night, which includes a bed and bowl, but the hotel’s communal areas are for humans only. See more pet-friendly hotels in Alentejo.

Children

This wine-centric stay welcomes over-16s only.

Sustainability efforts

Your green-minded hosts take their pristine natural surroundings as inspiration for a host of sustainability initiatives. Solar panels generate energy while light sensors and LED bulbs conserve it; glass straws and bottles replace plastic ones; and materials are locally sourced. The estate’s garden and orchard provide fresh produce and the vineyards are certified by Alentejo’s sustainability programme.

Food and Drink

Photos Quinta do Paral food and drink

Top Table

By the French doors in either restaurant, or by the pool terrace in the Estate Lounge.

Dress Code

Understated elegance: earthy hues, breezy linens and low-key accessories.

Hotel restaurant

The demurely decorated Wine Restaurant allows the vineyard-framed views and locally sourced produce to shine in comforting but polished plates that change with the seasons. In the homely Estate Lounge, arched French doors open onto the pool terrace and bring brightness to your breakfast of homemade pastries, jams and breads, plus Alentejo-sourced cheeses and the estate’s own olive oil. Throughout the day, a menu of light, Mediterranean bites is at hand to balance out your wine-drinking decadence.

Hotel bar

There’s a cinematic quality to sundowners on the Grape Rooftop, an estate-surveying vantage point that is a corker at golden hour. The quinta’s own vintages are cracked open alongside local bottles, or shake things up with a cocktail (we're earmarking a house negroni).

Last orders

The Wine Restaurant serves lunch from noon–2pm, and dinner from 7pm–10pm. At the Estate Lounge, breakfast is 7.30am–11.30am; all-day dining is from 11.30am–11pm in summer (midnight in winter). The Grape Rooftop pours from 3.30pm to 11pm.

Room service

You can order dishes to your door from a dedicated menu between noon and 11.30pm.

Location

Photos Quinta do Paral location
Address
Quinta do Paral
Quinta do Paral Apartado 31 P
Selmes
7960-131
Portugal

Verdant-with-vineyards Alentejo is your pastoral screensaver at Quinta do Paral, a wine-growing estate near Beja in Portugal.

Planes

Beja Airport is a 25-minute drive from the hotel; Faro International Airport is just over two hours away by road, and Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport is a two-hour drive. Staff can arrange airport transfers on request.

Trains

Rail connections from Lisbon call at Cuba station, which is a 10-minute drive from the hotel.

Automobiles

You’ll want your own set of wheels for taking in the rolling Alentejo countryside, and there’s free valet parking at the hotel.

Other

The hotel has a private plane and charters can land at Beja Airport.

Worth getting out of bed for

The staff at Quinta do Paral share hosting duties alongside Mother Nature. The vineyard-lined Alentejo region is proud of its roots (literally) and you can unearth local flavours in a regional cooking class or a wine tasting, which is led by the hotel’s sommelier and winemakers. Get a closer look at the terroir with a vineyard-set picnic or horseback ride through the estate. An air of romance imbues each activity, particularly candlelit stargazing sessions.

It’s a peaceful corner to truly switch off in, but if you begin to feel restless private excursions to further afield can be arranged. You could visit Alqueva, a vast sapphire lake with rugged beaches and islands, or Évora, the region’s history-rich capital.

Local restaurants

Traditional flavours form the foundation of polished sharing plates at bon vivant Quinta do Quetzal, an art gallery, winery and restaurant rolled into one. Laidback Restaurante Adega Típica 25 de Abril delivers fuss-free Alentejan dishes in a cosy, wood-clad dining room. Set in a leafy square, Canto do Rossio is an intimate, bottled-lined tavern that rustles up classic home cooking.

Local bars

This area of Portugal is renowned for its top wineries; pop by small-scale Herdade do Rocim or Ribafreixo Wines for a glass (or two) of the good stuff.

Reviews

Photos Quinta do Paral reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this wine-growing hotel in Portugal and unpacked their picnic baskets and estate-made olive oil, a full account of their bucolic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Quinta do Paral in Alentejo…

During adults-only Quinta do Paral’s restoration, the insignia from its days as the Count of Palma’s country house was uncovered: a crown-topped letter P that emblazons the hotel today. Its name also nods to its 18th-century heritage, as ‘paral’ comes from a long-standing misspelling of ‘pera’ (pear in Portuguese), which pays homage to the estate’s abundant fruit trees.

The quinta’s green grounds, grooved with vines and bountiful kitchen gardens, are the backdrop for wine tastings, romantic picnics and scenic horseback rides. The region is celebrated throughout: two restaurants spotlight locally sourced ingredients — homemade pastries, fresh juices and Alentejan cheeses at breakfast — and a team of Portuguese architects has styled the space. In rooms, bespoke oil paintings and artisan-made furnishings complement original features, such as stone archways and intricate latticework.

There’s plenty of local legacy to unearth — we recommend doing so on the rooftop terrace over a glass of the estate’s vinhas velhas

Book now

Price per night from $313.40