Reception staff very friendly and helpful on arrival and with communication before arrival. Well equipped for what we needed. Short walk to a very nice beach. Two small shops nearby for food supplies, although choice limited. Short walk to the marina with cafes and restaurants. Longer walk into Albufeira with lots of shops, cafes and restaurants.

We went in May and it was fairly quiet so there was room by the shared pool, but not much room if it is being shared by many villas.

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.

Walkable distance to very nice and secluded beaches, nice restaurants in the area, decent breakfast, pool area, attentive staff and good communication, spacious bed and room in general, 4 min drive or 20 minute downhill walk to the marina (supermarket, restaurants, boat tours)

Would be nice to have a window net or better ventilation in the room (felt a bit stuffy and couldn’t open the windows to ventilate as the room would fill with insects), more hanging space for towel and clothes in general.

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.

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.

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!

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!!!

It looks exactly like the pictures if not better! Spacious, clean and insta perfect for pictures! The bedrooms are great with big showers and beautiful views. It’s a lil bougie and we loved it! Wonderful location with two beaches all walking distance and they both have amazing restaurants! One beach has a masseuse, she’s very good and has magic hands! We are so impressed we are returning same time next year only with more friends! Monica made our stay amazing!

We had to leave!

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!