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Reviews From Guests
For As Andorinhas
Jodie from England. Airbnb. March 2024
Beautiful place that was beyond what you couldimagine from the pictures. A real escape with beautiful views and a peaceful environment. Using the fire is a must when visiting in the cooler months and a great addition to the property. Ruth was a brilliant host and very responsive, helping with any questions or problems we had.
Steve from England. March 2024
Well, I read the reviews and when I arrived I was not disappointed! A lovely spacious villa. Iain and Ruth really have thought of everything. The location is stunning and the views spectacular. Feels like “real”Portugal. I particularly enjoyed picking grapefruits and oranges for breakfast.
Absolutely delicious. Also, the new hammock was great!
We played golf at three courses:
Espiche near Lagos: Set in an area of wilderness which is being developed.
The course has a new and modern feel. The challenge is its narrowness and the terrain. Beware of straying off the fairway-you probably won’t find your ball!
Alto in Portimao: By contrast this course is mature. It is very well maintained. Fairways and Greens were in beautiful condition. For part of the round we were followed by an Eurasian Hoopae. Spectacular!
Gramacho near Carvoeiro: This course was highly recommended and possibly for that reason slightly more expensive. It clearly had lots of use. The back nine holes were especially good. The 11th is an interesting hole; off the Tee you Drive over water, stone walls and rocky outcrops.
We enjoyed all three courses with perhaps Alto being the marginal favourite.
All-in-all a fantastic experience.
Review taken from Facebook review.
Jussi from Finland. Airbnb. March 2024
Great views over Portimao city and the coast. Peaceful, beautiful and green place. Good location up on the mountains of Monchique. Very nice traditional Portuguese house, pool and garden.
Dennis from the Netherlands. Airbnb. February 2024
Great location with loads of privacy and tranquillity. Nice living room, kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom, full of comforts (public, nice sofas, even a workspace). Really great views of the coast in distance! Both during the day and in the evening and night. Breathtaking. Nice places to sit in the house, the sun or the shade. The hosts are extremely friendly and have described and explained everything to the last detail. We'd love to come here more often!
Eduard from the Netherlands. Airbnb. December 2023
We had a great stay. The location is amazing. The house has a great view. The house is cozy with a nice fire place. We spend the Christmas holidays and the house was the perfect setting.
Contact with Ruth was smooth, friendly and helpful. Highly recommended.
Monique from Switzerland. Airbnb. November 2023.
Had wonderful days, both located by the pool and sitting by the fireplace. View is really fantastic.
Guest from Cupar, Scotland. October 2023
Very helpful, were given lots of useful information about car hire and directions to the villa as well as activities to get involved with in our stay.
Five star rating. Would Recommend: Yes
Tips for other travellers: The Pirate Boat Trip to the Caves from Portimao
(Review taken from Freetobook)
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Neil and Wendy from Wales. October 2023
We stayed at As Andorinhas in early October and couldn't have asked for a better holiday! The weather was fabulous and we spent many hours enjoying the fantastic views, the pool and poolside and spacious house. We also enjoyed dining out locally, the nearby beaches and a boat trip to see the dolphins and caves.
Highly recommend !!
Steve. September 23
We stayed 13-20 Sept 2023 and was honestly blown away!
A beautiful location with the most outstanding view!
The villa is spacious and has more amenities than most, internet, tv, dvds, cds, books, games etc.
Pool is fab. Plenty of loungers and chairs.
Bbq provided and great gardens with fruit of all kinds.
Beds were comfortable and the local representative very helpful
We had a mixed bag of weather from sun to rain but the peace and quiete were exceptional, even with the occasional minor “bang” from the distant quarry in the morning if the breeze is blowing towards the villa.
Views are amazing, overlooking Portimão, Lagos and out to sea.
I can't recommend this villa highly enough!
Patricia from Portugal. September 23
Once again we spent a wonderful few days at your house in Monchique. We feel such peace...we return with our batteries charged for another week of work.
Jose from France. Airbnb. August 23
Great place with a view of Portimao.
Filipe from France. Airbnb. August 2023
We had a great time in this amazing and peaceful home. Many thanks to our hosts
July 2023
Enid: The villa was comfortable and spacious, the pool was great and the views were fantastic. We managed to eat all meals bar one outside, which was really enjoyable. Lovely to spend times with friends and share experiences.
Roy: We appreciated the information and support from Ruth, very well managed. Internet connection was excellent, no problems logging on at all. It was great to see the swallows swooping around the terrace.
Gina: What a luxury having our own private pool, absolutely loved it. We also enjoyed picking lemons from the tree and making our own lemonade. Loved the villa gardens.
Bob: A smashing holiday, enhanced by the wonderful weather. Swimming pool and views second to none. Fantastic meals at the local restaurant, Luar da Foia, so good we went twice. Great selection of cds and dvds.
General: Thoroughly enjoyable holiday, lovely to meet Candida and Manuel who were very friendly and helpful, Manuel gave us some useful tips on parking in Monchique, really helpful.
Samantha (returning visitors). June 2023
Monchique, Portugal June 2023. Stunning place, incredible food and great company. Highlights: As Andorinhas Villa, the pool, the views, the space.. just heaven. Exploring the amazing coastline of the Algarve by boat, by beach and caves. Driving on the wrong side of the road. Spending lots of quality time with my mates.
Wanted to give a shout out to this incredible holiday villa. 6 of us stayed here for a week and we had an amazing time. One of our guests was vegan and the kitchen facilities were great as he had to cook a fair amount of his own meals. We also had quite a few home cooked meals here and there is so much space and plenty of equipment to use (loads of pans, crockery, fridge and freezer space). There are 2 fridges which was great because we had loads of drinks to put in them. The location of the villa is great too, it’s in a place called Monchique in the Algarve. Monchique itself has a fair amount of cafes and little shops. It also has a big supermarket with everything you could need for your stay. It was a really reasonable price to stay for the week, especially when split between 6 of us.
Patricia. May 2023
I send a beautiful photo of the night view of your house. It is a wonderful place where you can feel an incredible peace. We come with our energies charged for the week of work ahead. Thank you very much for your attention. We'll be back soon to rest another day.
Jenny. April 2023
A small group of us stayed during April for the first time, and we found the villa to be more spacious than we had first thought. Located half-way up a mountain side, we had some really beautiful views of #farao city and airport, as well one or two beaches. The weather was absolutely great so we could sit out on the patio or poolside and do stargazing at night, away from street lights, which was cool!
Although the pool isn't heated, at that time of year (April), it wasn't warm enough externally to stay in the pool unfortunately - unless you were really brave! LOL
All within easy reach to local restaurants, InterMarche supermarket, walks, cork trees, Storks nesting on top of electricity pylons, mountaintop views, everything was really amazing! We realised that the villa is ideally situated far away from the city, but in easy reach to as well as the various beaches like Praia De Ferragudo; and Portimao Harbour, where caught a Pirate Ship ride out to the sea to view some caves.
The villa was nice and cool inside for the hotter days still to come. Although the water pressure wasn't great, the temperature and all other facilities were. Board games played almost every night. Not overlooked by anyone. 100% thoroughly recommend you book your next holiday there! So, book your flight and hire car from the airport. The Portugese people are very friendly...
We will definitely be booking next year's holiday there!
Places like #Monchique and #Silves with all its beautiful architecture, castles, tiled fronts of buildings, rivers, etc.
I forgot, there was also an abundance of Grapefruit, Oranges and Lemons to pick freely from the garden. Beautiful scent from the Wisteria still in bloom in April.
Thoroughly recommend a visit to Luar da Foia restaurant! Food is very delicious and reasonably priced. Although we paid 40 Euros for Seabass, triple cooked chips and salad on Praia De Ferrgudo beach, it was still quite resonably priced given the location!
Jordan. April 2023
Our stay here was amazing, the photos do it not justice and the surrounding area of monchique is fabulous. The views from the villa are breathtaking. The villa was spotless and had all the amenities.
There are plenty of amazing food options locally , two highlights were Casa vintage which is a small tapas restaurant with amazing food and very reasonably priced. The second as mentioned by others was luar de foia, the food from this place was amazing and the service was great.
We made the most of the pool days and even in early April the weather was mid 20s , there was plenty of boardgames, movies and other types of entertainment. The separation of the bedrooms made it for a very private stay if you are traveling with other people who aren't family. The location of the villa really makes you feel like you're in your own paradise even though the town is a short drive away (yes you do need a car to visit this place , you'd struggle without!)
It was a simply unforgettable trip and we can't wait to visit again, one last thing! Taking a drive up the mountain at sunset is a must as there are some spectacular views.
John. March 2023
What a spectacular place it was to go, at the end of March to celebration an 80th birthday.
We were touched that long-standing friends could come out from UK to join us for just three days.
The sun shone all day and we were able to light the sitting room fire in the evenings.
Spring had arrived with the swallows returning from Africa and Swallowtail butterflies hatching.
There were still oranges, lemons and grapefruit on the trees in the garden.
We recommend a short walk from the villa along the road through the cork woods; its like venturing into a different world!
We also enjoyed walking in the formal gardens around the spa area.( Caldas de Monchique)
The hot springs there have been famous since Roman times!
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Stephen and Sheila. March 2023
A wonderful flying visiting joining friends. Great hospitality; marvellous views; a cold swim; a lovely walk up the road amongst the cork trees; and we enjoyed Monchique. Thank you.
Anna. March 2023
I’ve been here twice-it’s SO wonderful. 1st time with teenagers and 2nd with elderly family as a peaceful birthday retreat. Very different- both wonderful times. Definitely can recommend!
First visit was in August when it was really hot. Spent a lot of time in the pool cooling down.
Second time was end of March and though cooler we still got sunburned and swam. We used the fire in the evenings when it was chilly.
The garden was bursting with flowers and fruit was literally dripping from the trees (grapefruit, orange, lemons, loquats). Spring is a wonderful time to go if you don’t like being hot all the time. It made walking the lanes bearable to.
Preparing our freshly picked fruit in March. What a treat.
Lesley. October 2023
We had a fabulous holiday here. It is so peaceful and beautiful. We enjoyed staying at the villa some days, and exploring 3 different beaches other days. Absolutely perfect.
Ruth. October 2022
Stunning view from the property! Also spacious and very well equipped with thoughtful amenities.
Exceptionally enjoyable and memory making! I would thoroughly recommend this fascinating and enjoyable resort! The Gorrie's were on hand before and during our stay with helpful information and advice.
Chloe. September 2022
What a wonderful villa in the mountains with the most incredible views! The rooms were so spacious and had everything we could possibly need and more. Ruth and Iain are amazing hosts - they provided us with really useful information such as recommendations of local restaurants and activities. I would 100% stay here again!
Samantha. September 2022
Hard to put into words just how gorgeous this place is. The villa, the pool, the view, the surroundings were all stunning and breath-taking. The place was clean, tastefully decorated and really thoughtful touches. We enjoyed playing games, the pool, the spacious living area. The kitchen is huge and has everything you’d need for cooking etc. the bathrooms were huge. Iain and Ruth were a delight to deal with from start to finish, with helpful guides to make the most of the villa and surrounding areas, restaurant recommendations etc. and making sure we had everything we needed while there. We’ve already started discussing booking our trip next year. Thanks for sharing your spot of paradise with us.
Anaise. September 2022
The villa was amazing! The space was great and practical for a group of 6, plus the views were incredible. It is in such a good location for getting to specific activities and towns/sights. Would definitely recommend to anyone thinking about visiting Algarve!
The Jarratts. August 2022
From start to finish our dealings with Iain and Ruth were very professional, friendly and warm. They want you to not only enjoy your stay but also all that Portugal has to offer. You get lots of information regarding your holiday and queries are answered promptly.
The villa is quiet, spacious and has everything you need. Apart from a trip to the local supermarket there is no need to stray from the house and pool. In the daytime you can see the 15 miles to the coast. At night the stars are much brighter than the city.As a family we had many hours of fun in the pool, enjoyed picking and eating the peaches from the garden and spotting the local wildlife (booted eagles hovered overhead most days).
The villa was bigger than expected with a large lounge, kitchen and dining area as well as outdoor eating areas. Air con in the bedrooms and living rooms meant the villa was a wonderful cool place to retreat to when it got too hot outside.
A car is a must. We travelled to the west coast and went surfing. On another day we visited the South beaches and used the speed boats. Restaurants in the area are nice, particularly enjoyed Luar de Fola with it amazing views.I asked my teenagers for an honest opinion. Our son would like a BBQ and our daughter some lights on the steps to the third bedroom but apart from that they said it had been perfect and would love to return.
The Callards. August 2022
What a beautiful place to stay! Bigger than the photos show...
Peaceful and relaxing. You do have to drive to shops etc. but it's easy to do.
The owners are brilliant to communicate with and happy to answer all our questions and gave fab advice. The villa is really well equipped (games for the kids and the kitchen has everything you need) and fantastic for those with poor mobility (although there are shallow steps down to the pool).
We definitely recommend this place and will be back one day!
The Staceys. August 2022
Amazing view of the coast. Loved every minute staying here. Leo (17)
Absolutely beautiful location with stunning views. Everything was clean and ready for our arrival and all the rooms were spacious enough for our family. I loved the pretty gardens and pool overlooking the mountains - the view is even better than it looks in the pictures! Would love to return, my family and I haven't ever had a better experience staying in a holiday villa. Charis (19)
I adored late night swimming in the dark with the wildlife ambience and cool breeze in the warm weather. Sam (14)
Wow! That was our first thought when we entered the stunning As Andorinhas under a starry sky to the sound of crickets chirping on the lawn. The children were straight in the pool! The living/dining room was much bigger than we expected and with three double bedrooms and a fully equipped kitchen, there was plenty of room for us. The grounds have lots of delightful little pockets - lawn, verandas, the poolside etc. all of which helped us not feel on top of one another if we wanted some peace to lie in the sun or read. The nearby restaurant (5 minutes drive, just on the junction with the main road to Monchique) was a real treat - and the town itself is very charming. Big recommend! James.
So much to love about this place! Really appreciated having lots of spaces for the family to spread out. Sunbathing quietly on a lawn, noise in the pool, a game going on inside. Keeping the lounge cool with the air-con was fab.
Once we got the hang of the driving and narrow streets it was easy to pop down to the intermarche on Monchique. They have a full range of supermarket stuff including brands from the UK. The pan-au-chocolate and baguette was a daily favourite.
My dad and I particularly enjoyed the wildlife. Many things we don't get in the UK.
The oak tree harvesting is also fascinating - we looked it up online.
I really hope we can come back at different times of the year. Anna.
John and Simone. Aug 2022
When we arrived in the dark and went outside, all I could do was to gaze at the sky full of stars - so breathtaking - awesome! The light of day revealed more and more of the views from the veranda; I felt so peaceful in this place and could well just enjoy our views and garden surrounds. I go home rested, relaxed and revived - Thank you! Simone.
I am struggling to express the feeling that you get when you arrive, that the photos scarcely prepare you for. The fact that you have climbed 3000ft through wooded mountains when you look over the Atlantic coast as though it were just below you.
It feels like entering a different world. John.
Ian and Lynda. June 2022
Just spent 10 relaxing days in this spacious, comfortable villa. The views are stunning, the pool was great fun, particularly at night with the pool lights on. The local resturants are high standard, favourite: Jardim das Oliveiras, tradiitional Portuguese fayre; you must try the wild boar. For us a 5 star experience.
Piers and Thea. May 2022
We hired a car at Faro airport and got around fine with it (once used to the left hand drive!).
We loved our stay there in May as a family with small children - despite the usual trials of parenting that happen anywhere!
The house is spacious, cool in hot weather, and well equipped with washing, cooking and entertainment facilities.
As Andorinhas combines all the amenities of a holiday villa in the sun with the authentic charm of rural Portugal all around in the hills. Being twenty minutes from the coast on the slopes of Foia mountain makes it a very peaceful place with a stunning view to the sea, but near enough to reach everything you could want to go to.
It was a delight for us all to pick oranges and lemons from the trees in the garden, and nearby, and enjoy the amazing taste of fresh oranges, and lemon in our water. The fruit was ready in May when we went, a probably earlier too.
The surrounding hillsides are covered with cork oaks as well as the introduced eucalyptus trees. The views from the top of Foia are fantastic, and the coffee from the cafes is good too.
The swimming pool is a huge bonus. It's clean and big enough to swim properly but small enough to keep kids safe. And it's private enough to skinny dip! The sea is still quite cold there in May and of course the salt and sand are the same anywhere, so a dip in the pool at home is such a simple pleasure.
We ate outside often on the big patio, dried clothes easily outside (hardly any dirty clothes to take home), bought groceries in nearby Monchique as well at Aldi en route to the beach. Life was easy there (apart from the kids of course).
We went to the Slide & Splash water park which is massive and includes the biggest pool we've ever swum in outside. Under 5's are quite limited for what they can do, but above that the slides are awesome.
We also went on a boat trip from Portimao along the coast to the sea caves, ending at Benagil and the chance to jump off the boat for a short dip in the sea - great fun. The caves and coast, with good guides, were very special from the scary to the beautiful.
One beach we really liked is at Praia da Luz, with its long curving sands and shallow waters. We went there the last time we visited Portugal.
Right at the end of the main boulevard in Portimao we found a lovely little beach that out little boy called a dream come true. Lots of steps down as usual but chasing the waves was great fun.
Near Lagoa is Praia da Marinha which is simply spectacular, a must to visit, though be careful of sea currents.
Another amazing beach is two miles long and in May very few people are there; past Bordeira on the west coast. Beware of the currents there too.
We also went to Cape St Vincent, Europe's most westerly point with impressive cliffs high over the Atlantic, and plenty of history. Sagres fort nearby is also worth a look in.
We ate cataplana at a seaside cafe, a delicious Portuguese seafood and potato dish, and of course sardines, the other Portuguese staple.
The local pottery is lovely and surprisingly inexpensive. Perfect gifts as well as useful at home.
If you like nature as we do, the lizards, geckos, frogs and a plethora of unfamiliar insects, birds, flowers and trees will keep you looking endlessly.
I could go on. But it's your turn to go and see for yourself.
Genevieve. May 2022
As Andorinhas is an amazing getaway in the mountains with stunning views and amazing facilities. We loved making the most of the pool and the sun loungers! It is a remote and peaceful location, but the local town, Monchique, is well worth a visit, and there is everything you need nearby.
The views are stunning, everything was well equipped, it was a peaceful haven and a great place to get away and relax. Spacious with lots of homely features inside. Amazing pool and gardens.
Susi. May 2022
