We had a brilliant time at the house. Our group had 16 people, including 4 children between 4 - 10 years-old. We stayed in for a over a week and visited surrounding areas. Sintra is the closest town and is about 30 min by car. The vila is located within a quiet zone, near other vilas and at the end of a small road, asphalted, but before reaching it you will need to drive in unpaved road (around 400m) – which was in good condition and well maintained. There is a small convenience store about 10 min walking, near a small coffee/bar (this is not the same as an English pub); and a beach about 20 min walking. We needed car to access the center of the near village, fish market and supermarket (about 15 min ride). We decided to hire a cook to cater for dinner during our stay – Fatima, who was recommended by Margarida and Joao. One of the best decision we made.
The house is spacious, and other than the kitchen, which was big but only had a small round table for breakfast (sitting 4), all other communal areas were big, with comfortable furniture and suited our needs.
The garden is beautiful, large, well maintained, with several very old olive trees, play areas with table tennis. The pictures don’t do justice. Even not being able to really use the swimming pool (it isn’t heated), the children thoroughly enjoyed the grounds. They found a pond with water lilies and tadpoles and spend a few good hours there. For those with young children, please note that there are no barriers restricting access to the swimming pool or the pond.
The house is split in two levels: ground flour with hall, 3 bedrooms (including a master bedroom with ensuite) and 1 bathroom, cloakroom, living room (with log chimney), dining room with table sitting at least 12, kitchen – all rooms but the cloakroom had windows allowing direct sun light and ventilation; several doors to access the garden and veranda, and a staircase to a converted basement.
The basement had 3 bedrooms (two ensuite, including a large bedroom with 7 single beds), and a very large play area, as well as double doors that allowed access to the beautiful garden. The bedrooms located at this level have very little natural light or external ventilation. We had to air them at arrival to remove the typical smell of enclosed rooms.
I contacted the owners a few times before arriving to get local information and arrange a some small details, and always had a very quick and good response. I really recommend this place.