I believe we may have been one of the first groups to have stayed in this historical villa in Sintra (which is stunningly beautiful by the way!).
I am going to start with positives. The villa itself is very eclectic with an interesting history. We found an interior design magazine from 1985 showcasing the villa, and most of this original furniture is still in the house. Its high in Bauhaus design! It is also huge! There are multiple bedrooms and bathrooms spread over 3 floors, each with a different design. The kitchen, which is made from pink marble, is stunning. That said, it is an old house with old furniture, so dust is an issue. However, the house is very well equipped in terms of cooking utensils, delph, glasses etc. Plus a great fridge and coffee machine!
Pedro/Real was super communicative – he responded to all my messages very quickly. And he went above and beyond in terms of providing wine and food, free weights, an air-con unit (which wasn’t needed in the end), restaurant recommendations, and he even dropped over a cake one day! There were several new additions to the house, especially the outdoor area, like new garden furniture and a BBQ, and even a standalone pool (which we didn’t use as it was leaking and the filter wasn’t attached). They are obviously in the process of renovating the building and it will be amazing.
However, there were some negatives which explains my 3 star review. First, there was no keys to any of the outdoor doors (of which there were many!), which meant we could not lock up the house. The lack of a key meant that someone from my group always had to stay in the house to mind our laptops, passports etc. Apparently, there are security cameras (which we could not see), but still we felt very exposed and this would put me off staying here again until keys for the house are provided. Second, the villa is in a great location in terms of walking down to the town or up to the palaces, however it is located on a very busy road. The road is quiet at night (and the beds are super comfortable), but the noise from the road during the day is persistent and makes it hard to relax outside if you want to eat breakfast outside or relax in the garden etc. This may not be an issue for you if you plan on spending your day exploring Sintra and only using the villa at night.
I would recommend this place if you like to stay somewhere unique and have a big groups of people (we were 7 people), but just note the busy road and (at least currently), the lack of a key.