Herdade D' Amoreira | Eco Refuge Houses | Sw coast — Hotel in Aljezur

Not a private villa with a private pool and not on the seafront (as advertised on booking) - disappointing value for money

If you’re looking for a private villa with a private pool, this is not the place. What you’re actually booking is a room or apartment in a shared house with a shared pool, where you can hear all your neighbors — unlike what’s advertised, written black on white. Attention, the photos for each room doesn’t match what you are getting, the advertisement is not matching each accommodation.

Here is for instance the specific description for the Jasmin villa that we booked: “This villa features a private pool. The villa's kitchenette is available for cooking and storing food. This villa is air-conditioned and has a washing machine, heating as well as a terrace with garden views. The unit has 3 beds.” Also the photos for this specific Jasmin “villa” when clicking on the accommodation options feature a view of the pool. Unfortunately when booking you only have the text and photos as a reference, and the hosts and booking to seem to acknowledge that.

If you’re unlucky enough to book when the house is full, you will definitely feel uneasy and without privacy. For the price, it’s very disappointing — the listing feels misleading, and the experience doesn’t match what’s promised. The first night the house was full and we could hear everything the Neighbours were doing. Luckily we got to be alone the rest of our stay which was the positive point.

While the villa is Instagrammable and well located, the value for money just isn’t there. The space feels overused and not well maintained, with cheap materials and worn furnishings that don’t reflect the premium price point. It’s definitely not the relaxing, high-end experience you’d expect based on the listing.

There are also security cameras all over the property, which made us feel watched and uncomfortable, especially in what was meant to be a private setting.

During our stay, there was a major power outage in Portugal. While understandable, the hosts’ reaction was very alarmist, urging us to stock up on canned food due to a supposed cyberattack. This added a lot of unnecessary stress to an already difficult situation. They also complained about a difficult communication with us while there was clearly at some no phone network and we had both run out of battery.

When you’re not offering a private villa, hospitality becomes even more important — and unfortunately, it was lacking. We had to approach the hosts to say hello, and the woman didn’t even acknowledge us or even say hi when passing by. Only Pedro was responsive and helpful despite having the feeling of disturbing him, when we wanted to talk to him directly. At least, he moved us to the room with the view that was advertised on booking and agreed not to charge us for the extra cleaning (they offered to transfer the sheets that we used for the 1st night). But after leaving and receiving our review he asked us eventually for 80euros for the cleaning fee.

Overall, we would not recommend this property for the price. If it were offered at a lower price point, it would be more acceptable — but as it stands, it simply doesn’t deliver on what it promises.

Update after host response - We didn’t throw any party, we were in bed after 10pm because of surfing and we are brother and sister. This is really a serious accusation, you are clearly lying and you have many cameras to see that nothing happened on the property and that we’re very quiet and respectful guests. You really show that you are dishonest now to discredit our review, whereas we only pointed out true and verifiable facts. We will escalate it to booking. Yes the “villas” are indépendant (if you mean have their own entrance) BUT I will let the customers judge by themselves on the pictures I uploaded how independant or “private” they are. The fact that you are lying now shows that you are dishonest and able to...

We spent two wonderful days here as a family of four (two adults and two children) and felt completely at ease from the start. The apartment is part of a beautifully designed and lovingly maintained property with a very special atmosphere. Everything – from the pool to the garden and the apartment itself – is natural, stylish, and of high quality.

The apartment is well equipped, very clean, and offers everything you need. The beach and the nearby town are easily accessible by car, and other beautiful beaches are just a short drive away.

Communication with the host was excellent – clear, proactive, and very friendly, which made everything easy and smooth. We felt incredibly comfortable and can highly recommend this place to any family looking for a relaxing and...

We had an amazing stay at Erdad d’amoreira in Aljezur. From pre-booking and communication with the owner to the smooth self-check-in, everything was effortless and perfectly organized. The property itself is exactly as shown in the photos—what you see online is truly what you experience on site.

Pedro, the owner, was extremely responsive and helpful, answering all our questions quickly. We were initially concerned after reading a few older negative reviews, but our experience proved them completely unfounded. Everything was clean, comfortable, and exactly as described.

We would highly recommend this property and will definitely be coming back soon. Thank you, Pedro, for making our stay...