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It was such a simple plan – two families with three boys between us (4, 2 and 1.5 years old); an agreed destination of Portugal (on the basis of a short flight and short transfer times); self catering (husbands’ BBQing); and a pool with a safety fence (essential) – but it took us an age to find anything that met what we thought was a basic and sensible wish list.
A large number of the villas that fell into our budget did not have the ability to install a safety fence, and there was also a large discrepancy between the bedrooms, meaning that one couple would have the benefit of a large suite while the other would be in a twin room, with the beds pushed together!
However, we struck gold when we found Casa de Baixo, which is in the hills above Vilamoura, just outside the small town of Boliqueime.
It has 4 bedrooms, two identical doubles and two identical twins; a heated children’s pool and a 15m pool, with safety fences available on advance notice free of charge; a stack of big boy’s toys including a ping pong table and pool table; a fantastic BBQ area; free hire of travel cots, buggies and highchairs; and all set in beautiful grounds.
On arrival, each of the boys had a present waiting for them and this attention to detail continued throughout the week.
We booked through Sun Hat Villas but the villa is owned and run by Almondbloom. Both offer access to childcare/nanny (the amazing Rita had all three of the boys eating out of her hand one afternoon); personal chefs if you really want to treat yourselves one night; and take outs, once you have had your fill of BBQs!
A few very minor issues – there are a lot of stairs in the villa and the flooring is all tiled so little ones do need to take care; as you are in the hills it can be rather gauling reclining by the pool beneath a large cloud when you can see the coast bathed in sunshine; and everything is a drive away, but the beach at Vilamoura only takes about 20 minutes by car.
All of us agreed that we couldn’t have wished for anything more – a truly relaxing holiday.
A guest blog from the lovely Kate Williams who travelled to Casa de Baxio with her husband and 18 month old son.
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