We had an absolutely glorious few days at Retiro Sambana for a family wedding (14 people total). If you want to escape to a stunning, sprawling paradise in the hills with incredible views and a real old world, rustic feel, then this is the place for you. All in all, very good value, but one or two small things demonstrated why it was a bit less expensive than similar properties in the region.
The pros: the house is gorgeous with so many beautiful features and touches, very tastefully and eclectically decorated albeit not recently! (though that's certainly part of the charm) The kitchen is fabulous - seems like it was fitted out to be a catering style kitchen, loads of fridge space, excellent appliances for the most part - we cooked in a couple of nights and had recommended caterers in for the wedding day, who were amazing. The gardens, outdoor dining areas and pool area are incredible. Immaculately kept, with some of the best views I've ever seen of the surrounding countryside. The communicate with the staff who were very helpful was really good too, and they also recommended the caterers who were top notch. The sound system extending to the outside area was a real thrill too for a special celebration! The log fire in the main living room was amazing to gather around on the chilly evenings (it was February), and we the firewood was topped up every day by Miguel.
The cons: the house is as I mentioned a little bit rustic, and small bit rough around the edges in terms of the decor and furniture. Some of the delph, crockery and silverware wasn't all that clean, but there is a lot of it so it wasn't really too much of an issue. We had an issue with the electricity in part of the house one of the days, but Miguel came and restored it. He lives on the grounds so is usually not far away to come and see to any issues, which was great.
We also found that at times there was not a huge amount of hot water (after a couple of showers, it wasn't that hot). We flagged it with Fenton and Miguel and they came back to us very promptly. However unfortunately there was an issue with a potential leak somewhere, so that wasn't ideal.
I understand it's a big old house and these sorts of issues are probably par for the course. The charm and old world beauty of the place means that all in all the pros outweighed the cons and I would recommend Retiro Sambana as a really good value stay for a large crowd. Thanks for having us. We will never forget our trip