What The Others Might Not Mention

It is our belief that in order for you to enjoy your villa holiday, you should be in possession of as much information as possible. Even with the most careful screening of properties and locations and the most honest evaluation by our staff, sometimes things happen which are outside of our control.

With the best will in the world…

We have very stringent rules when selecting properties and are careful to ensure that the area surrounding the property is free of any building work or other potential nuisance. However, we have no control over building regulations and occasionally, to our horror, a building site appears overnight right next to one of our villas. When possible, we will offer an alternative should this happen. In the busier areas, other people's music and barking dogs can cause offence. Our overseas representatives will always tactfully try to ask the offenders to lower the volume (dogs or music) but are not necessarily met with a positive response!

Don't shoot the messenger…

Sadly, flight times are sometimes changed and a flight originally scheduled to depart early in the morning may be rescheduled to an afternoon, or evening departure. If you are one of the unfortunate few who have a bad experience, please bear in mind that we book flights purely as a service to our clients, have absolutely no control over airline schedules but will always advise you of any schedule changes as soon as the airline tells us.

Inanimate objects…

Inanimate objects have a habit of breaking down at the most inconvenient time. If a piece of equipment stops working during your holiday, we will try to replace it as quickly as possible. To create maximum inconvenience, this usually happens on the Friday evening before a bank holiday when, despite our best efforts it is impossible to repair or replace the offending machine.

Safety first…

No swimming pool is ever completely 'child proof' and all children should be supervised when playing on the pool terrace. For toddlers, we strongly recommend the use of arm bands. Always check the pool depths in advance and be aware that many rooms, including bedrooms, have direct access to the swimming pool. Most of the villas have glass doors so if you have young children, we suggest you arm yourself with a packet of sticking plasters to mark the glass. No swimming pool is ever completely 'child proof' and all children should be supervised when playing on the pool terrace. For toddlers, we strongly recommend the use of arm bands. Always check the pool depths in advance and be aware that many rooms, including bedrooms, have direct access to the swimming pool. Most of the villas have glass doors so if you have young children, we suggest you arm yourself with a packet of sticking plasters to mark the glass.

Road rage - Villa Agency Style…

The local authorities are constantly striving to improve roads to meet the growing demand. Often a diversion is set up overnight and despite our persistent pleas to be forewarned, regrettably, like everywhere else in the world, local councils are a law unto themselves and to date have yet to give us any advance notice. Our maps and directions are frequently updated but it is a cause of much frustration to us that almost as soon as we revise maps to show alternative routes, the diversion or road closure is changed yet again. On a positive note, we have never yet mislaid a client!

Nature and wildlife…

Please be aware that the Portuguese countryside may not be as you expect! Instead of green fields and hedgerows, constant heat often leaves the landscape brown and barren and instead of frolicking lambs, you are more likely to see the occasional goat meandering along the roadside.

Battling against the elements…

We know how important first impressions are and ensure that all pools and terraces are cleaned and swept before clients arrive. However, within a few minutes, a gust of wind may cover them with leaves and bougainvillea petals.

Power crazy…

Cuts to water and power supplies are not infrequent so we would suggest that you stock up with bottled water and some candles for emergencies. If power cuts occur during the evening or at weekends, it is usually impossible to arrange plumbers and electricians so it is best to be prepared, just in case.

Back to basics…

Portuguese plumbing is very different from ours. Each villa contains a folder of information with details about what should not be flushed down lavatories, but sadly not all clients heed this advice. The systems can take a while to malfunction and it may not be those people who disregard our advice that are affected - it is the clients visiting the house later in the summer who suddenly find themselves without a loo or two!

Better safe than sorry…

It is an unfortunate fact of life that the incidents of theft from villas is on the increase and we would recommend that you are as vigilant on holiday as you would be at home. Do not take valuables on holiday with you and remember to close and lock windows, doors and shutters when you go out. It is also advisable to keep the front door locked while you are enjoying the pool.

Bugs and pests - not necessarily of the insect variety…

The growth of tourism in Portugal means that traffic noise is on the increase. It is not always possible to guess from which properties you might hear traffic noise as, if the wind is in the wrong direction, even the most remote farmhouse might be affected. Barking dogs have always been a problem but a more modern inconvenience is the large number of discos - often with laser shows - and a variety of other attractions, such as clay pigeon shooting and bike rallies, which have appeared in the last few years. Ants, mosquitoes, wasps and flies arrived long before the tourists and even before the Moors. There are certain, sensible precautions but they will never be eradicated altogether.

Give us a chance…

If anything is less than perfect during your holiday please, please tell your villa manager straight away. If you are still unhappy, contact our area manager or our UK office. Please give us the opportunity to put things right on the spot as we can almost always rectify a problem, if we know about it. On the rare occasion that we receive a complaint it is generally because our local staff were not informed.

And finally…

If these points paint a rather less than glamorous picture, then we have done our job. We believe that honesty is most definitely the best policy and it would be less than honest to imply that Portugal , like any other country, is without its nasties. Take heart - in 99 out of 100 holidays none of these things cause any problems whatsoever and the huge amount of our clients who return year after year are proof of this.