We stayed here for 11 nights in October and would not return. We had been in Portugal for 2 months but this was the worst place we stayed by some distance. I will list the things I wish I'd known before going below, but in summary there are many better places to stay in this area that are both cheaper and more impressive.
1. Bad design. The villa is a renovated old property but the new layout is awkward: it is very dark inside most of the villa, there is nowhere comfortable to sit, the nice views are not visible from 90% of the property and there is no view from the pool area. There is no decent seating on any of the terraces.
2. The beds and pillows are poor quality and very uncomfortable.
3. Poor maintenance. The pool was not filtering properly when we arrived and was therefore very dirty - though this was rectified on the 6th day of our stay, it still needs a proper clean. The outside shower was blocked and not useable. The outdoor seating was dirty. There whole villa was crawling with ants and a few slugs. The drains are very smelly. Appreciate the villa is not connected to the main water supply so some smell is to be expected but the drains smelled to the extent that one bathroom was not useable.
4. Lack of hot water. Water is heated with solar energy which is great in some ways but for more than 50% of the time there we had no hot water.
5. Lack of insect nets on windows. Given the amount of insects in this location (seems to be a wasps nest near the pool), this is a problem as you can’t leave the windows and doors open.
6. Neither the owner of the property nor the lady who rents it out – who didn’t bother to meet us the whole time we were there - are Portuguese or even from the area, so there is a real lack of useful local knowledge beyond what a 30 second Google search will tell you.
7. The pictures and description are misleading. The pictures give the impression you can enjoy the view more than you actually can (eg. the angle of photo from the pool) and make the pool look much larger than it is. Also, we came with a small baby and I seriously question the description that this property is suitable for families of all ages, especially given the lack of insect nets.