Villa in Sao Mamede Natural Park. private pool

We had the most wonderful stay at this gorgeous villa!

As a group of 10 adults we had plenty of room and the villa was equipped with enough of everything we could need!

The pool was beautifully clean as was the whole garden area.

Irene was an great host who went above and beyond to make our stay memorable. We did the wine tasting at the villa which I would really recommend!

Overall a fantastic, peaceful stay!

I stayed here in July 2019 with a bunch of old university friends. We were taken in by the advert, but it was when booking the property that I thought we'd definitely made the right choice - Irene's communication was helpful and prompt throughout.

That remained the case after we arrived: Irene was friendly, readily available, and highly attentive to our needs. Check in and check out were a breeze, and Irene even helped us organise a couple of activities for the week - the highlight was a brilliant wine tasting session with a local expert. It really felt like Irene had gone above and beyond to make sure we enjoyed our stay.

The villa itself is wonderful, and impeccably located. It was clean, spacious, and possesses wonderful views of the surrounding scenery - nestled as it is in a picturesque Portuguese valley. Great value, too - less than £150 a head for the week (there were nine of us) seemed like an absolute bargain!

When we could bring ourselves to leave the villa, we were spoilt for choice on what to do: swimming in the nearby lake, taking in the views atop the hill fort at Marvao, and riding horses through the local countryside were all thoroughly memorable experiences.

In short, a great holiday - I'd be hard pressed to find any faults worth mentioning. I'd encourage anyone who's undecided about booking this villa to take the plunge - you won't regret it!

I loved the villa, loved the location. Super quiet, lots of space, had everything we needed. Irene and Nick were always very helpful and friendly. I totally recommend this house. It was just what I needed for my holidays.

Our small group of four spent two weeks in this renovated farmhouse and we became increasingly enchanted by the place the longer we were there. The house and studio are ideally situated in a fertile valley which appears to have changed very little in the last 500 years. The only sound that breaks the silence of the place is the gentle tinkling the bells that track the sheep and goats grazing in the adjacent fields.

Although the location feels quite remote, it is only a ten minute drive to a well stocked local supermarket and two small villages with an ample supply of restaurants and shops. There is very little car traffic on the ancient local roads which makes them ideal for bicycling and hiking.

Our stay was during the first two weeks of March, but were are blessed with an early Spring with everything breaking into bloom around the property and warm sunshine nearly every day. If it had rained more than it did we might not have been so comfortable as the primary source of heat for both the house and the studio are wood stoves. These require a fair bit of attention to keep the fires burning so as to radiate enough heat in the primary rooms. With our unseasonably good weather we were able to let the fires go out during the day and only lit the stoves in the evening after the warmth of the sun had dissipated.

Irene and Nick really looked after us! They prepared a delicious home cooked meal for us on the day we arrived........just what we needed after a long drive.They responded promptly to all our small requests. They even cleaned the pool for us when we thought we might go swimming, however, it never got quite warm enough.

The kitchen is small but very well equipped so we were able to cook a majority of our meals there. Irene was very generous with basics and even left us a sack of fresh local lemons. The out door terrace is huge and well furnished with a good mix of sun and shade and a mesmerizing view of the landscape.

You can see we had a great time and were very taken with the casa the owners and the area. Thanks again for making our stay so positive!

Most enjoyable short break with home from home comforts! Wanting a short break from our stay in the Algarve, we chose this area for some different scenery as all country loving walkers. The weather was in our favour 18-22 during the day though the days started white with frost. Our early morning walks round the nearby lake saw the beautiful sunrise and amazing photos were taken by all, another group passion. marvao and Caswtelo de Vide were historic and lovely to walk around with some amazing buildings and Jewish Quarter. The accommodation was extremely comfortable with log fires lit and a lovely meal on arrival. It was equipped with everything you could want and more. Lots of info on the area and a great informative host. We had a BBQ and ate round the fire pit on the large upstairs balcony with 3 large sofas. We all agreed to visit again when we could enjoy the pool after some heated walks! Thank you for a big hit short break, one of our best.