An entire village just for you: what it's like to stay in Aldeia da Pedralva.

There are accommodations that can be explained in two lines — a room, a pool, a breakfast. Aldeia da Pedralva is not one of them, and perhaps that is why those who discover it for the first time often ask: but is this a real village?

It is. Pedralva has existed since the 19th century, on the Costa Vicentina, between the Algarve and the Alentejo. Like so many other inland villages, it lost its people throughout the 20th century until it was practically abandoned. What distinguishes it is what happened next: instead of letting the houses fall into ruin, a team chose to restore them, one by one, maintaining the original style — the stone, the roof, the small scale of windows and doors.

Staying at Aldeia da Pedralva is staying in your own house, not a hotel room. Each one has its own name, its own layout, its own garden or patio — some for two people, others for entire families. The village functions like a small organism: there is a grocery store, a restaurant, a common pool installed where the old oil press used to be, and narrow streets to walk through without haste, from house to house.

This choice changes the experience in a practical way. There is no single reception controlling everything — there is a village to explore, with its own corners to be discovered little by little. Meals take place in the community restaurant, but there are also those who prefer to cook at home, with products bought at the local grocery store.

A few minutes away are some of the most preserved beaches on the Costa Vicentina — with vast stretches of sand and a still untamed sea. It is this combination that makes Pedralva an unusual starting point: village mornings, wild coast afternoons.

It is worth distinguishing Pedralva from other accommodation formats in the region. Unlike an agricultural property like Horta da Moura, Pedralva was not born around a land estate — it was born around a community that existed, disappeared, and was brought back to life through hospitality.