The positives:
- the sea view, which, from the balcony, was absolutely sensational;
- the sound of the mighty sea;
- two fantastic and child-friendly paddling beaches 15 and 30 min away respectively by car;
- a handy mini-supermarket two min walk from the townhouse;
- a fish restaurant above the mini-supermarket;
- having mostly Portuguese holiday makers around us;
- very relaxed atmosphere;
- takeaways available from the golf reception area;
- friendly staff throughout;
- lovely landscapes and towns;
- some sunshine to remember.
The negatives:
- the townhouse - the one we stayed in was next to a privately owned, Portuguese townhouse, whose living room and balcony was next to one of our two bedrooms. As Portuguese, with typical Mediterranean lifestyles, they were up until late at night, often until 2 am. The children slept outside on the balcony until past midnight, despite the often chilly conditions, then moved inside. We were therefore disturbed for 7 nights out of 10, when they finally left. We contacted the reception, who tried to help, but due to it being a private property, could do nothing;
- due to the unusually cold weather, which included rain and mist due to its location (from third week in August), it made for a very chilly sunshine holiday;
- the swimming pool was unheated and ice-cold;
- the beautiful beach was for surfers only and not for swimmers, as the current is way too strong;
- it's a half hour journey by car to any nearby supermarket;
- the area's restaurants were very expensive with mostly golf players;
- the nearby Marriott Hotel's indoor/outdoor swimming pools cost up to 50 Euros for a day's use for two adults and one child (you have to use or buy a swim cap as well);
- the Marriott Hotel's kids club wasn't exactly next door and therefore not user friendly;
- the area is mostly for golf players, and not aimed towards children (we had a 7-year old with absolutely no other children to play with);
- no tourist shops, which some might prefer.
As you can see, in our case, the negatives outweighs the positives. For someone else, maybe it's the other way round, especially if you are a golfer or a dedicated surfer. Then it's pretty perfect.
