Location - easy to find, hosts were friendly. Convenient local shops, store and bars. Short walk from Sao Rafael beach, which is small, but seclude, one bar/restaurant on the beach. Lots of feral cats! Apartment was clean, toiletries, kitchen well appointed, nice patio area to enjoy glass of wine and chill out in the evenings

Being ground floor, lot of people walking past the patio area, affected our feeling of privacy. Decor was rather dark - but well maintained! - when we prefer light, bright surroundings on a sunshine break. Some starter goods in the kitchen - tea, coffee, milks would be nice on arrival. There was chilled water in the fridge. It's a bit of a walk into town - 10-15mins to the Marina, another 10mins beyond to the old town. Forget the strip - full of English stag and hen parties - terrible, embarrassing!

Rooms are spacious for this compact villa, and lounge/kitchen too. Pool small but more than enough to lay around and float in to cool down. Upstairs and downstairs bathroom/toilets clean and well equipped and great to have both. Kitchen adequate for simple meals with oven, hob, big fridges/freezer and microwave. Staff excellent, helpful and friendly. Nearest beach is a small scenic cove with a good restaurant. The mariner is 5 mins by car/taxi and has some shops and lots of really good restaurants. Old Town is about 10 to 5 mins away but has loads of everything as well as a nice beach. Highly recommend these villas.

The tiles outside on the patio by the pool were really slippery when wet.

It was great to receive a friendly welcome at reception (and to have that repeated whenever we needed to go to reception) and then find we had underground parking which led directly to our apartment. Very clean and spacious, with a great view. The private pool was also very nice.

Nothing to dislike, however we were a little surprised that the washing machine was actually a communal one in the garage and we had to supply our own washing detergent. In itself this is not a big issue, but it meant we had to buy a box of detergent capsules containing 40 capsules and only used three. As we did not want to transport them across the other side of the planet we discarded them which is very ‘un-green’. I would have thought for the price it would not be unreasonable to have been provided with a small quantity.

Very spacious with a luxury feel. Tasteful decor. The kitchen was really good and well equipped. oven was super as was the coffee machine and other appliances. It was a surprise and bonus that there was parking under the property, very unusual. The neighbor hood was peaceful and it was situated in walking distance from the beach. Staff were friendly.

The interior of the house (501) was a little in need of a few touch ups. For example the white walls could use a touch up, where they are scuffed. The plastic seals on the shower door could use a deep clean. On the second floor, the curtain was coming off the rail a bit by the door to the terrace. ( insistently there was no umbrella on the terrace) My main concern was that the front door couldn’t lock. I realise you can’t enter the house from the outside without the electronic key, but to have a dead lock that doesn’t work, just feels uncomfortable at night. it all just added up to make the property feel tired.

Very clean tidy and spacious inside and outside though I never had the opportunity to use outside, as I was surprising my family who were staying at another complex not far away. The staff member who talked me through obtaining the key and getting access to the door cards was amazing.. she also realised I did not have a travel cot on my first nights stay, my 6 month old grand daughter had to sleep in the bed with me. (I requested a travel cot through booking.con who also did not forwards my email address onto the hotel either?)

Nothing at all, the property was perfect.

The location is perfect, 5min walk from the beach and 10min drive to the city centre. The rooms were spacious, the beds super comfortable, the rooms had blackouts on the windows which made super easy to sleep. There was a TV in each room, lots of mirrors, airco worked great! The pool is very spacious, everything around was super clean. We couldn't be happier with the place we stayed.

We had an issue with our key card, that didn't work one morning, but we went to the reception and got a new one right away. Any issue we had we contacted the reception and Catia was just the best help!!!

We stayed at Sao Rafael Holidays in the guesthouse for 3 nights from the 2nd to the 5th of January. We’re getting married in Portugal in September and went to visit the hotel as the majority of our guests are staying here so we wanted to make sure it was up to scratch. We were a bit sceptical due to some reviews we had read that I can vouch are definitely not honest!! Firstly, the staff were lovely!! Couldn’t do enough for us. The guesthouse itself was very clean. The beds were very comfortable and we were offered housekeeping services during our short stay. The shower was amazing in our room. Due to it being off peak season, reception was closed when we arrived but we were made aware of this a couple of days in advance and we were sent on instructions for check in which made the process all really easy! Breakfast was lovely! A selection of fresh fruit, yoghurt, breads, pastries, jams, spreads and then freshly made scrambled eggs and bacon. Variety of coffees and hot drinks as well as freshly squeezed orange juice. Overall very enjoyable. Location was great, we didn’t explore Sao Rafael itself but we were in and out of Albufeira and also visited Lady of the Rock. All very accessible by taxis. We used Bolt to book taxis and it was very handy. 5 mins max from Old Town Albufeira and 7 mins from New Town Albufeira. We had a really great stay and we cannot wait to come back in September!

I don’t think there was anything that we’d change!

Very pretty resort, nice buildings laid out in lovely landscaped grounds. Friendly staff.

While our apartment was nicely laid out and decorated, some elements of fit out had been skimped. There were not enough sockets, lighting was very poor, and there was no storage for items such as sweeping brush, ironing board, mop bucket, etc so these items were stacked against the wall in the hall and living room. No initial stock of coffee, tea, coffee or other basics provided (but bathroom well stocked with nice products, to be fair).

Having a private pool was amazing alongside your own space and secure entry. Rooms were great with comfy beds. We know the location well and prefer to be out of town so happy with this. Staff were pleasant and helped overcome any issues we thought we had with late check in and early check out times

The ladder in the pool wasn’t completely secure so felt a bit dodgy. We were affected by our neighbours who decided their family who were staying in the apartments would congregate at their villa who had only one volume level!!! At one point we had to shout at each other to have a conversation outside and then just left the villa for the day cause it was getting unbearable. For the record - I’m not against fun but when trying to rest - it affects your holiday. Please update policies on visitors to villas.

Arrived at the guesthouse early, reception staff checked but our room wasnt quite ready, no problems they looked after our bags and we walked 10 mins to a beautiful cove with beach bar, had a late lunch and then an hour on the beach. Walked back to the hotel to reception and were told very sorry we are currently decorating some of the rooms, Dont want to upset your holiday so weve upgraded you to a villa just up the road! as youve paid for B&B just pop down here for breakfast everyday. OMG the villa was amazing, beautiful view, private pool, super clean, towels, Aircon ***** Staff were super helpful and friendly, the buffet style breakfast was fresh, plenty of choice. We were a bit cheeky and asked if we could have a look around the rooms we'd originally booked, given a guided tour, the guesthouse rooms are also immaculate, we would have been more than happy to stay but really spoiled us with the upgrade

That we couldnt stay longer, had to come home for work lol