Beautifully renovated typical Algarve villa

The house and garden were beautiful and the pictures on the website were accurate. It has been very sensitively renovated and retains the charm and beauty of a traditional portuguese house while having modern conveniences. You would definitely need a car. It is on a narrow country hilly road about twenty minutes from Faro and close by you have the motorway that gives you access to the whole Algarve region and Spain, with Seville only two hours away by car. Despite it's rural location there is street lighting on the road outside. The kitchen and dining room were well equipped. The bathrooms are modern. There are quite a few houses in the area so it's not isolated but the property has complete privacy with trees and vegetation all around. It is closed off from road and has a locked gate for access to the property so is very secure. The neighbourhood penned in dogs barked a lot day and night. There is a big outside area and roof terrace, and the garden is well designed and planted, with a selection of fruit trees and fragrant plants and herbs. It is one of the nicest gardens I saw during our visit to the Algarve region. The pool is a decent size but wasn't clean on our arrival. The pool guy came two days later and cleaned it. There were a large number of satellite tv channels but we couldn't find any English speaking ones. I wouldn't recommend the house to families with teenagers as there was little to entertain them provided. There were some toys that may suit small kids in a box in the house. The house smelled damp for the entire visit and the bed felt damp too. It had been closed up all winter and maybe this was the reason but it was off putting. There are bars and restaurants quite nearby but we didn't use them so can't say what they were like. If you are looking for a relaxing get away from it all type of place then this house would fit the bill, and perhaps the musty smell wouldn't be an issue when it had aired out properly later in the season. Communication with Ana was good and Victor met us at the airport and led us to the house. He made himself available to assist us at any time we wished during our stay, even telling us we could ring him late at night if we needed him. We didn't but he was very nice, friendly and helpful. We were greeted with a welcome basket of local food and wine which was nice.