This villa is set in beautiful gardens and well maintained by Telma, who was very pleasant and helpful.
However, we found the villa itself to be disappointing. We were there during a hot August week. The villa soaked up the heat like a sponge during the day so was very hot in the evenings. There is no air conditioning, so it was very uncomfortable. Each room had an old plug-in fan. Two fans were defective and the owner only replaced one of them. We were so uncomfortable that we tried to buy a portable air conditioning unit from Wortens for €500, but there was a 4 day wait for delivery. We closed all the shutters on the villa and opened the windows at the coolest times, but this failed to improve temperatures inside. We actually looked to move to other accommodation but could not find availability. Normally you would expect a "traditional villa" to stay cooler in the heat.
We also found the furnishings to be uncomfortable and dated. The beds had poor quality mattresses. The villa has a capacity of 10 adults, but there is only seating for 4 in the lounge area! This seating is not as pictured on the listing. Most of the showers are over baths which drain poorly and feel dangerous to climb out of over marble steps. The toilets are in small, dark, windowless rooms that feel more like cupboards.
The villa is accessed via two dirt tracks. This means a car is essential, as the listing says. However, my teenage kids would normally take themselves in to town when we stay this close to a centre, but the roads made that impossible for them to do from here unfortunately.
We felt the check-out process was very rushed. It is listed at 11am, but cleaning of the property actually started at 9am meaning you don't have a half day on your final day. I ended up leaving some clothes in the wardrobe in the rush to leave. The owner has kindly said he would post these back to me, but has said this will only be done in two weeks time, after my deadline date set by VRBO to review the property!
We have been holidaying in Algarve villas for the last 15 years so have a lot to compare to. The gardens really are fantastic and if you spend all your time outside I'm sure you will love this place. However, the listing describes the villa itself as a "luxury condominium". This is simply not the case and at this price bracket you should expect to be comfortable.