Vigia Resorts - Quinta da Encosta Velha

We started here for 3 weeks during school holidays and it was really fantastic. The property manager Ian was so helpful, nothing was too much trouble for him and the properties themselves were lovely and all a bit different which I liked. There are several pools and my children had a wonderful time. You will need some kind of shade if you've got children by the pool as there is now provided (depending on time of day). There was a supermarket a few minutes drive away, beaches within 10 minutes and everyone was very friendly. The village of Budens does not have much going on, a little grocery store and a couple of bars / restaurants but we were happy to hop in the car if we wanted a bit more that that. Although it occasionally got busy around the pool (during school holidays) it was not as bad as I was expecting and several times we were the only ones there.

No 106 is one of several Villas / Townhouses available through the James' Villas website. They are all located on a development surrounding the golf course. The area is very hilly so be prepared to get fit as you cannot park outside your villa. We booked online without issue and all flights etc. (From Birmingham) were included and proceeded without issue. The Villa itself is clean and spacious and of a high standard. The kitchen is well stocked with plates and crockery and contains a dishwasher and automatic washing machine. We had to purchase tablets, salt and rinse aid as well as some basic cleaning items - washing up liquid, sponges etc. as none were provided. The villa came with free wi-if with a router located in the main bedroom. The signal just about reaches upstairs but basically it only really functions when you are sat next to it. Speed was around 8 MB so fine for general use and with use of a VPN tunnel my son was able to occasionally watch sky go and Netflix without issue. The villa lacks a proper balcony - which is a shame as there is no way to sit out of an evening and the lounge can get a little claustrophobic. There is a small enclosed seating area off the bedrooms that leads to the communal pool but this is impractical for evenings - especially if kids have already gone to bed. The seated area also houses a large air conditioning investor unit for the adjoining townhouse that blows warm air into the area whenever your neighbours switch on their air conditioning i.e. All the time. The villa allows easy access to a communal pool open to the the adjoining 20 or so townhouses. This is reasonably sized but DEEP. Shallow end is around 4 Ft so your kids must be tall or swimmers to use it safely. The deep end is nearer 10 ft deep. There is a small splash pool for kids but it is no bigger than a paddling pool. We tended not to use this as the 'owners' tend to sit around this and you can get self-conscious if kids are noisy. Instead we used a large round pool directly across the road from the villa. This is open to all but rarely got busy. It is also deep and has no facility for non-swimmers. Shelter is limited and you need to bring your own umbrella - our villa already had one hidden in a wardrobe. It can also get windy as it sits at the highest point of the resort but this is normally welcome as July temperatures were around 32 Degrees. The atmosphere here is more relaxed and the pools are very clean. All in all this is a decent property let down by its design rather than specifics. In future we will look for a different house on the same resort.

Three girlfriends spent three days, accommodations were very clean, pool just outside the door, no complaints . The windows and doors were a little tricky to use but overall a wonderful stay. Spent the days visiting the surrounding beaches , a lovely place to stay.