Myself and 9 friends returned from a weeks stay at Villa Magnolia last weekend. Paulo and Cristina (the owners) organised our booking as well as return transfers with a local firm who supplied a minibus large enough for our group. Upon arrival we were greeted by Paulo who welcomed us into his beautiful villla - we actually gasped as we walked through the front door. The photos do not do the place justice, it has high ceilings and is elegantly furnished throughout, with lighting on dimmers to create ambience appropriate to the occasion.
The lounge and dining areas upstairs are spacious and modern, and the kitchen has everything you could need, from the huge american-style fridge to the dishwasher and double gas/electric hob. We prepared three meals a day for ten people almost everyday and rarely found ourselves without clean glasses, cutlery or utensils.
The entire back of the three storey property is comprised almost entirely of huge glass patio doors, leading out to dining terraces on the upper level and balconies from two of the bedrooms on the middle level.
The middle floor is where all 5 bedrooms and four of the bathrooms are located. The master bedroom is huge, with en suite and a large walk-in wardobe. The bedroom adjacent to this is a twin bedroom decorated with children in mind (not a problem to our friends!) which is also en suite. It has patio doors which open out onto the large terrace, symmetrical to the third bedroom (also en suite) which is situated opposite this.
The fourth bedroom is the smallest, it is separated from the fifth bedroom by the bathroom they share. The fourth bedroom is smaller than the others however it is still a good sized twin bedroom. The fifth bedroom is larger and slightly better appointed with more wardrobe space than the fourth. All in all the rooms are quite different but all of a good size and standard.
The lower level patio doors allow access directly from the games room to the outside area. The games room has a large pool table, a table football table, a dining table and chairs to accomodate 12 people. It is a large enough space for the entire group to spend the evening together without feeling cramped. It also has a utility area with a worksurface, washing machine and sink; this area would be perfect if it also had a fridge to save going upstairs for drinks during the day! There is also a bathroom on this level comprising a toilet sink and shower which is useful during the day.
The pool area is fantastic. The pool itself was much bigger than we expected and spotlessly clean, with a patio surrounding it on three sides with 10 sun loungers for lazing the day away on. There is an outdoor eating area which could easily seat more than 12 people, and a brick barbecue for cooking on.
The villa is located within a quiet street off of the main road but is set well enough from neighbours that you do not feel overlooked - we also didn't have any complaints about the noise we were making despite playing music quite loudly and neither could we hear any noise from other villas. The stereo system provided is not compatible with ipods so if you want to play your own music you will need to bring speakers - we brought a small travel set with us and they worked fine.
There is a supermarket within a 15 minute walk however this does involve climbing an incredibly steep hill so if you feel you will make use of a car it is definitely worth doing. The larger supermarket at the main shopping centre was around 12 euros in a taxi and we found we could get pretty much everything we wanted there.
The beach we also got taxis to as we were unsure how to get there and were told it was very cheap to do so - it was around 6 euros. So it probably isn't very far to walk, however it is a very hilly area so prepare yourself for a bit of a climb if you don't want to spend the money on a taxi! It was well worth the trip, the Sao Rafael beach is named as the 4th best in europe and it is beautiful - a very small private beach set in a little bay - however a word of warning, the tide rises very quickly and the waves are huge so you will need to be a strong swimmer and don't leave your belongings too far down as it only takes one strong wave to sweep the lot off of the beach - as we discovered! However the fun we had rolling around at the water's edge more than made up for it.
We ventured out to experience the local nightlife on three evenings. The owner Paulo also owns a restaurant called Bravo in the Old Town, it serves a wide variety of steaks and we all enjoyed a lovely meal there. We sampled the bars and clubs in the area and also on The Strip which were all pretty much the same - cheap drinks, free shots on entry, current chart music - ticked all of our boxes! I would say it doesn't really liven up until well after midnight and there were still a few places open at 4am.
All in all, this was a fantastic holiday in a stunning villa. If you're looking for somewhere to relax with family or friends by your own private pool I can't think of anywhere better. We are already talking about booking to go back next year.
Liked best:
The property had the wow factor - we were bowled over by how beautiful it was.
Liked least:
There was nothing we disliked - if we had to find one tiny improvement to make it would be the addition of a fridge and some glasses downstairs so you could use it as a pool bar.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
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