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[HOUSE TOUR & REVIEW] Villa Quinta Por Do Sol, Portugal


Guys. Can we just take a minute to appreciate this absolute GEM of a house I stumbled across whilst searching for large family villas for my mum's 60th birthday celebrations!


That's right, my darling mamma is turning the big 6-0 soon and we wanted to have a big family holiday to celebrate. As lovely as this sounds, it required A LOT of hard work, planning and preparation – mainly because my family is HUGE. In total, there were 31 people 😲😲 which was a mixture of the 'the oldies', 'the youngsters', the kids and the babies.


I had to ensure that what ever villa we chose...

A) Accommodated for such a large number of people living under one roof for a week

B) Was fairly close to shops, restaurants and the beach

C) Had a pool and other entertainment/games rooms to entertain ̶m̶e̶ the kids

D) Was pretty much perfect to be honest


Not too much to ask I guess...


Whilst this definitely proved challenging, eventually I managed to find Villa Quinta Por Do Sol – a huge family villa serving 15 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a family pool, a games room, a garage and enough parking to host a small boot sale! Villa Quinta Por Do Sol is situated in Albufeira, Portugal, a short distance from loads of restaurants, a supermarket, the beach and two strips (New Town & Old Town) and at first glance, it literally ticked all the boxes! You can imagine our excitement when we arrived this beauty.


The villa's layout is as follows:


Ground Floor:

Stairs to first and lower ground floor.

Kitchen/Kitchen-Diner

Reception room

Bedroom 1-6

Access to the front & rear gardens & pool


First Floor:

Stairs to the ground floor

Large terrace area

Bedroom 7-10


Lower Ground Floor:

Stairs to the ground floor

Garage / Games room area

Bedroom 11-15


Exterior:

Swimming pool area with deck chairs

Large driveway

Rear garden with lawn and patio areas

Front garden

Source: https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p6863724?k_clickid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksprof_id=246&ksaffcode=25094205&ksdevice=c&gclid=CImtjp7lqdQCFQ0z0wodLx8Lmw#summary

Source: https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p6863724?k_clickid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksprof_id=246&ksaffcode=25094205&ksdevice=c&gclid=CImtjp7lqdQCFQ0z0wodLx8Lmw#summary

Source: https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p6863724?k_clickid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksprof_id=246&ksaffcode=25094205&ksdevice=c&gclid=CImtjp7lqdQCFQ0z0wodLx8Lmw#summary

Almost all of the rooms had beautiful en-suite bath/shower rooms as well as sliding/walk-in wardrobes. Each room had air conditioning (life saver in 40 degree heat!!) and a few sets of drawers for your undies and essentials also.


The kitchen clearly was built for large families and groups as there was a lot of storage space and two fridges (thank God)!


The pool area was lovely, a deep end for the mermaid swimmers and a shallow end for the babies. There was plenty of room in the pool for our 6+ inflatables and we even made use of the space by purchasing an inflatable pool volleyball kit! For those who are less about the swimming and more about the bronzing, there are several deck chairs around the outskirts of the pool and a couple of parasols and tables and chairs. There was also an outdoor BBQ area, perfect for chilling during those sweet summer evenings!


It's safe to say, there was more than enough room to accommodate all of us and extra efforts were made by the staff to accommodate for the kids (i.e. high chairs, cot beds, spare beds, etc).


Now. Let's talk about facilities...

The games room is a great place to start! Although some of us didn't spend as much time down there in the evenings as we had planned (mainly to be considerate to those who has already gone to bed). There was a lot of space to play table tennis and pool/snooker and also a lot of space to park cars in the garage (which we did rarely as there was so much off street parking space available).


The villa had pretty much everything you would need for a self-catering holiday.. I'm talking washing machine, dishwasher, two fridges, integrated appliances, ironing boards, extra towels, fireplace, Wi-Fi, TV, Bluetooth surround sound... As far as facilities go, they pretty much hit the nail on the head!

Spacious pool and deck chairs

Views of the courtyard from the first floor

Taking in the morning air from our balcony

Of course, my sister's balcony could only be used for a mini photoshoot - duh!

But what about the staff?

During our stay, we only really saw members of the Columbia Villas team once or twice. Upon arrival I spoke in length with a gentleman who kindly showed us around the house and answered any questions we had. He also showed us how to use the key code system, the alarm system and the electrical items around the TV. We found this very helpful as the TV initially seemed a little fiddly when swapping between TV and Bluetooth (music).


Whilst out and about I had collected several taxi company business cards as we were intending on getting a lift to places like the beach, the strip and the supermarket (the supermarket was within walking distance but as we were shopping for 31 people, we needed a car to transport all of the bags back to the villa). I must say, I have never faced more difficulty when trying to book a taxi that in Albufeira. I'm not sure if it was the busy season or just a general lack of care for the client but we found ourselves stranded on more than one occasion because the taxi's did not come when they said they did, if not at all. They also left the phones ringing to the point that the phone would cut off and were on some occasions quite snappy and rude. After a few days of this nonsense, we decided to arrange taxi's going forward with the company we used for our transfers (a company who works with the villa owners). They were very friendly and helpful, although sometimes did not pay attention to detail as far as the number of riders goes. All in all, I would recommend using a trusted taxi firm such as the one's connected to your villa/host.



And the location?

The villa was fairly well located. Although, I feel as though the distance to a few of the local amenities were made out to be a little closer than they really were. In fairness though, everything we really needed was either within walking distance or 5-15 minute drive. The furthest place we travelled to by car was Slide and Splash – a fantastic water park which was about 30 minutes away from the villa.


Places within walking distance to the villa included:

  • Supermarket (Approx. 10 mins)

  • Corner shops (Approx. 8 mins)

  • Restaurants (Approx. 3-10 minutes)

  • Bus stop (Approx.6 mins)

Places within a short driving distance to the villa:

  • Supermarket (Approx. 5 minutes)

  • Praia Da Oura Beach (Approx. 15 mins)

  • New Town/Strip (Approx. 10-15 mins)

  • Old Town/Strip (Approx. 10-15 mins)

Source: https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p6863724?k_clickid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksprof_id=246&ksaffcode=25094205&ksdevice=c&gclid=CImtjp7lqdQCFQ0z0wodLx8Lmw#summary

Source: https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p6863724?k_clickid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksprof_id=246&ksaffcode=25094205&ksdevice=c&gclid=CImtjp7lqdQCFQ0z0wodLx8Lmw#summary

Source: https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p6863724?k_clickid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksid=50ab7dc4-1a45-4384-bb82-86f00c9f2142&ksprof_id=246&ksaffcode=25094205&ksdevice=c&gclid=CImtjp7lqdQCFQ0z0wodLx8Lmw#summary

Villa high-lights:

I'd say the best points about the villa are:

  • Size: Villa Quinta Por Do Sol quite comfortably accommodated all 31 of us. It didn't feel too cramped as I feel like we all had somewhere to go to chill when needed.

  • Facilities: I can't think of a time during our stay when I became bored of being in the villa. There was always somewhere to go and play cards/dominoes, somewhere to play games such as pool or table tennis, we also had a front and rear garden for outdoor activities, the pool and the TV and Bluetooth sound system.

  • Parking space: There was definitely enough room in the villa to accommodate cars for all of us. At one time I believe there was a car and three 8-seater mini buses in the drive and still space for more!


Villa low-lights:

As fantastic as our stay was, there were a couple of bits that lessened the mood:

  • Lack of communication/organisation from the villa's associated taxi company

  • Snagging issues within the villa itself – e.g. cigarette burns on the outdoor tables from previous stays, unvarnished wooden tables which cause me to get a piece of wood stuck in my finger when trying to clean the table after supper, bits ad bobs here and there which were either incomplete or missed all together when rebuilding the villa such as broken door frames

  • Lack of privacy – quite a few of the bedroom and bathroom doors did not lock or even close properly


Final thoughts?

All in all, I think this villa would make a great family home or even a great stay for large or multiple groups of people. There is plenty of space and lots to do both in and around the villa. The local amenities and transport is not too far away, some within walking distance. If you are interested in staying at Villa Quinta Por Do Sol, you can check out the booking pages here!

 

Big thanks to Jim at Columbia Villas for administering this trip!

 

You can view the (quick) house tour video here!

 

Psssst... Some of the images used in this post came from this source and are clearly stated. All other videos and images are my own.

 

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