Hi! We're Katrien & Patrick!

We are dynamic couple that has been dreaming for a while to take life in another direction.

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We both built a nice career in Belgium, worked hard and apart from that, enjoyed a full life together with our family and friends. Our passion for traveling has brought us to several continents over the years, both with and without our children.

Besides those far journeys, we regularly stayed with family in Spain. We always combined this with a round trip through different parts of Spain. That’s how we ended up in Andalusia.

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We fell in love with it instantly; the lovely climate, the nature, the space, the tranquillity, the cultural wealth, the relaxed atmosphere, the local cuisine, the cosy villages and so much more.

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Over the years we returned several times and started dreaming of our own place in this gorgeous environment, a place where we could share our passion for traveling and cooking with others. A different kind of life, a life without rushing, traffic congestion and performance pressure.

But still a life with meaningful work and offering others what we also sought in the numerous B&Bs that we visited. A place that feels like home, with no obligations; where you get attention when asked for and rest on other moments. A place that you’re happy to return to after a wonderful day and in the evening share memories with your loved ones and/or others if you’d like to. Where you can reminisce in a beautiful setting with a delicious drink and more.

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As our children were still minors, we buried our dream but the desire settled deep within us and we kept coming back here. We soon started calling it ‘working holidays’: exchanging experiences with starting and other B&B owners, visiting properties with or without a broker, gaining information with local inhabitants and services.

We had time, our children still had to spread their wings and we wanted to do it well. We created a five-year plan to fulfil our dream and kept holding on to our check list of what for us was our dream place.
The property had to be quietly located, but also easily accessible and close to a village. There had to be enough space for everyone’s privacy, it had to be authentic and sufficiently luxurious with a swimming pool. Equally important was a south/west facing terrace where you can enjoy a gorgeous sunset every evening.

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And then there was that one special day, the day that a local broker (that we got a hold of last minute since the other one suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth) succeeded the very last minute in organising a visit to this cortijo. A cortijo that had been on the market for a while and that we’d loved to visit but never found a broker that could get us an appointment.

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I remember that first visit as if it was yesterday. I remember how we stumbled from one surprise into another and how we sat staring at the view, speechless for at least an hour.

That was it, we were desperately in love. The property met almost all of our expectations and even exceled some.
In short, the picture was right.

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The day after we returned to Belgium with lots of photos and videos. We looked at them hundreds of times, made an offer and went back for a couple of days to be completely sure.
We spent hours on the top of ‘our mountain’, staring in the distance, listening to the silence and then we knew for sure. This was where we had dreamt of for years and it was real!

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It took about half a year to take care of all the paperwork and finally be able to call the property ours.

From then on everything went very fast. We had to take care of our resignation, make sure that our girls could follow their dreams, organise the moving, say goodbye to our family and friends and so on. It was a turbulent period, a period with quite a lot of questions and fears but also encouraging moments looking forward to this new adventure.

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All these months later, we can only say that it was totally worth it. Finally we could start our new adventure, our dream.
Our dream to give you, our guests, the very best. An outstanding service in a unique setting and let you enjoy this gem together with us.

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We hope that “La sorpresa” has the same charming effect on you as it has on us. We will do anything to excel your expectations.

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See you soon?