A World-Class Boutique Rainforest Retreat
The beauty of Narrows Escape lies in its intimacy.
With just eight private rainforest villas hidden amongst subtropical rainforest, we have the rare luxury of personally welcoming every guest and thoughtfully curating each stay. Whether it is sharing our favourite hidden swimming holes, recommending the perfect local restaurant, or helping organise a romantic surprise for someone special, it is these personal touches that bring us the greatest joy.
For us, luxury is not simply beautiful accommodation — it is creating space for people to slow down, reconnect and feel genuinely cared for.
We invite you to experience this magical corner of the rainforest and to fall in love with it as deeply as we have.
Our Story
Narrows Escape has been welcoming guests to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland since 1996, but our journey with the property began in 2019 when we became the sixth custodians of this very special place.
The moment we arrived, we felt something different here.
There was a stillness in the rainforest. A sense of calm. A feeling that life softened the moment you stepped beneath the trees. We knew instantly this was more than simply a tourism business — it was a place where people could reconnect with themselves, with nature and with each other.
So we packed up our lives, moved our family to the rainforest, and made Narrows Escape our home.
Today, we live onsite with our three children, our chickens and our bees, caring for the property not simply as business owners, but as passionate hosts who genuinely love sharing this experience with others.
Over the years, we have lovingly transformed Narrows Escape into an internationally recognised luxury retreat while protecting the heart and soul that made people fall in love with it in the first place. From private plunge pools and wellness experiences to carefully curated guest packages and sustainable tourism initiatives, every decision we make is guided by one simple question:
“How will this make our guests feel?”
Ali ❤ Xochi
Meet Ali
Disarmingly charming with an infectious laugh, Ali Khan has hospitality woven into his DNA.
His journey began at just seven years old, helping in a hotel and falling in love with the energy, connection and joy that hospitality can create. By the age of fifteen, he was already managing a backpacker hostel — the beginning of a lifelong passion for creating spaces where people feel welcomed, cared for and connected.
Ali’s warmth, natural charisma and entrepreneurial spirit have taken him across the world. In 2003, an opportunity to live and work in Finland helped him save towards his dream of building a hotel of his own. That dream became reality in 2014 with the opening of Hotel Helsinki House in India, followed by Boutique Helsinki in 2018 — both recognised with prestigious tourism awards, including Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice awards for leading boutique hotels.
But for Ali, hospitality has never simply been about buildings.
It has always been about people.
Today, that same passion lives within Narrows Escape. Whether he is sharing stories with guests, perfecting new ideas for the retreat or quietly ensuring every detail has been considered, Ali brings warmth, generosity and vision to everything he does.
And truthfully… he never stops dreaming.
His dreams for Narrows Escape continue to evolve each year, and we hope guests feel part of that journey every time they return.
Meet Xochi
Daydreamer, adventurer and quietly confident, Xochi Lindholm has always been drawn to beautiful spaces, meaningful experiences and the little details that make people feel something.
Born and raised in Queensland, Xochi also spent much of her childhood in Sweden, where her father is from. Those early years immersed in nature shaped her deep love of the outdoors, simplicity and the restorative feeling of being surrounded by natural beauty — something that now sits at the heart of the Narrows Escape experience.
Before life in the rainforest, Xochi worked in some of Melbourne’s most iconic bars while completing her postgraduate studies in Psychology and Criminology at the University of Melbourne. Her understanding of human behaviour, emotional connection and experience design continues to influence the thoughtful way Narrows Escape is curated today.
A chance meeting in Jaisalmer, India saw Ali turn on all his charm to capture Xochi’s attention. Love quickly grew through shared dreams, sketchbooks filled with ideas and endless cups of chai. While the chai has mostly been replaced with coffee, and the desert with rainforest, the dreaming and designing continue.
Today, Xochi brings creativity, warmth and intentionality to every part of the guest experience — from the atmosphere of the villas to the smallest thoughtful touches that help guests slow down, reconnect and feel truly cared for.
And in many ways, this is only the beginning of the Narrows Escape story.
We hope you’ll be part of the journey with us.
In 2021, Narrows Escape was honoured to receive Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Award for the #1 Romantic Hotel in the World.
Voted the #1 Romantic Hotel in the World
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For our small family-owned rainforest retreat in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, this recognition meant so much more than an award. It reflected the beautiful moments shared here — proposals, anniversaries, honeymoons, reconnections and memories created amongst the rainforest.
We are incredibly grateful to every guest who has taken the time to share their experience and support our little slice of paradise. Your stories, reviews and continued support have helped place Narrows Escape on the world stage.
This recognition inspires us every day to continue creating deeply personal, romantic and restorative experiences for couples from around the world.
Narrow Escape Rainforest Retreat acknowledges the Kabi Kabi peoples and the Jinibara peoples whose lands and waters we all now share. The Traditional Owners’ unique values and ancient and enduring cultures deepen and enrich the lives of our communities.
Through important cultural events such as the Bunya Festival, this region has been a place of celebration, abundance, connection and kinship for thousands of years. Every three years from December to February, thousands of First Nations people from across Queensland descended on the Sunshine Coast to feast on the bunya nut, meet friends and relatives, and engage in trade, governance meetings, cultural activities, marriages and dispute settlement, Many people walked hundreds of kilometres for this important festival.
Truth-telling is a significant part of our journey. We are committed to better understanding the collective history of the Sunshine Coast and the experiences of First Nations people. Legacy issues relating from colonisation are still experienced by Traditional Owners and First Nations people. We recognise our shared history and will continue to work in partnership to provide a shared future with the Kabi Kabi people and the Jinibara people.
Narrows Escape Rainforest Retreat acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Sunshine Coast and pays respect to their elders past, present and emerging.
Together, we are stronger.
Narrows Escape Rainforest is a proud supporter of the Tourism Industry. It is an active member of the following organisations:
- Villa wastewater is recycled onto the grounds via an Aqua nova Bio cycle system.
- Two 40,000 litre underground rainwater tank supplies the villas. Water is sourced from rainwater captured from the main residence and supplemented by water drawn natural bore in accordance with local government guidelines.
- Modern dual flush toilets installed with low volume water flush.
- Guests are encouraged to reuse towels and linen before laundering.
- A Speed Queen front loading washing machine is used for most villa laundry, using only 44 litres of water for a 9.5kg wash. This is supplemented by a Maytag top loading washing machine. Both machines are commercial grade, renowned for long life and low energy use rating. High efficiency Speed Queen gas tumble dryers are used for on premise drying.
- 90% of all lights are LED globes, with the remainder energy efficient CF lamps Natural lighting is maximised in living areas with skylights installed in all villas.
- On demand gas hot water systems ensuring water is only heated as used.
- Timer switches used on all outdoor lighting, adjusted seasonally.
- Fuel efficient Weber Q closed lid BBQs are provided for guests.
- We encourage our guests to help us be environmentally friendly by turning off air-conditioning and lights when leaving the villa.
- Environmentally friendly biodegradable phosphate free cleaning products are used.
- Food scraps are recycled in our compost and worm farms.
- Guests are encouraged to participate in recycling: Compost bins and recycling bins are provided in all villas.
- Disposable and portion control packaging is minimised.
- Guest food supplies are sourced locally with an emphasis on regional, seasonal produce. Artisan food products made with local ingredients are supplied to guests.
- We have planted fruit trees that will hopefully supply our guests in the future.
- We grow our own organic produce to supply our guests with the freshest and most delicious salads.
- Land for wildlife member
- All garden areas are mulched to conserve water in the soil
- Hardy plants and natives are chosen for the garden
- Environmentally friendly biodegradable phosphate free cleaning products are used.
- Our bath products are all organic and free from nasty chemicals
- Our throws are from Seljak Brand and are made from closed loop practices.
- We use natural banksia diffusers with pure essential oil
- We have expansion plans and have just purchased some new land – watch this space!
- 90% of all lights are LED globes, with the remainder energy efficient CF lamps Natural lighting is maximised in living areas with skylights installed in all villas.
- On demand gas hot water systems ensuring water is only heated as used.
- Timer switches used on all outdoor lighting, adjusted seasonally.
- Fuel efficient Weber Q closed lid BBQs are provided for guests.
- We encourage our guests to help us be environmentally friendly by turning off air-conditioning and lights when leaving the villa.
We believe in conscious luxury.
We believe that even lavish and indulgent travel can still have a small footprint. Sustainable and ethical tourism is at the forefront of our minds, so you can rest easy knowing that you are supporting a business that supports the environment. We are advance eco-certified. We know that climate change is a real challenge facing us all. Every effort counts, that is why we are continuously striving towards becoming a greener business. We have solar panels to harness natural energy, a hybrid car to offset emissions, we source all of our food locally and produce what we can ourselves to limit our carbon footprint, for instance, we have chickens and bees. We encourage you, our guests to reuse your towels throughout your stay and our rooms are designed to limit heating/cooling requirements in warmer and cooler months. We favor the purchase of products that are ethically sourced and produced and we hope that you are inspired to make some little adjustments in your life that will reduce your footprint, and in turn, reduce the impacts of climate change.
The projected changes on the Sunshine Coast region due to climate change include changes such as sea-level rise, higher minimum, and maximum temperatures, more hot days and fewer cold nights, lower annual average rainfall and extended droughts, more frequent and more intense bushfires, more intense storms, increasing tendency for cyclones to track south, increasing risk from large hailstorms and an associated increase in storm surges along the coastline. These changes pose very real problems to our area and our ability to sustain living in our environment and enjoying the natural beauties and recreational activities offered in and around the Sunshine Coast region. It was only at the end of 2019 that we experienced increased bush fires and drought in the area. Our creek bed was dry and our rainforest was very thirsty. Being aware of the impacts of climate change and the steps that you can take as an individual to mitigate these, is incredibly important. It is only through working together and adopting eco-conscious practices in your everyday life, including your leisure and travel activities, that change can be achieved.
We border the Kondalilla National Park and have lots of beautiful wildlife whose habitat we protect by being pet-free.
National parks provide a much-needed refuge for native plants and animals. While dogs and other pets may be a valued part of a family, they’re a real threat to our native animals. They can:
- scare or stress native animals with their presence or scent
- chase wildlife and disturb the peace and quiet for other visitors
- introduce disease and increase the spread of weeds.
Our property is adult only so that couples can enjoy some peace, seclusion, connection and romance without interruption.
Narrows Escape Awards
