Villa Orada

The villa was a good size for 7 of us and would easily accommodate 8 adults. The option to pay and heat the pool was a bonus. The area was lovely. The Marina was a beautiful place to eat and drink and if you wanted a bit more night life, it is only a 7 euro taxi away or you can jump on the road train.

It's quite tatty. The images do not reflect the furniture that is currently in place. The villa isn't even that colour anymore! Some of the sunbeds were broken and had had a terrible attempt at being cleaned which had left jet wash lines all over them. I can understand them not providing cleaning products, as we can purchase them ourselves, but at least provide a mop! There was a bucket outside but no mop. I don't expect to have to purchase a mop when staying away. . Thankfully I could borrow one from my brother's apartment in the Marina. The Aircon in one of the bedrooms wasn't working when we arrived on the Sunday and I messaged the rental company and was told someone would look at it on Monday (which was fair). No one arrived and I messaged again. I didn't get a reply until the Friday evening, which was then too late to do anything about it. My €700 security deposit was only repaid today after waiting 26 days and chasing them several times. It was only after Booking com got involved that it was returned.

Everything

Nothing

The lock box was very easy to use

Entry to the villa was very simple, we were given a code for the key safe and let ourselves in. The Villa is very spacious and is a good size for 2 families with multiple bathrooms and 4 decent size bedrooms. The master bedroom has a wall in wardrobe and ensuite both of which are nice touches. There is a large balcony to the rear of the villa which with extra seating would be a nice place to sit of an evening with a book and glass of wine. The outdoor pool is a good size for children to play in and ours loved it although it is freezing unless you are prepared to pay €300 for the host to heat it for the week. The pool table and table tennis in the basement were also very much enjoyed by our children. The location was a big plus point for us as it’s a 5 minute walk to the marina which has bars and restaurants plus a supermarket and boat trips available. The Villa is located a 20 minute walk to Albufiera Old Town or 5 mins in a taxi for roughly €10. Aldi is a taxi ride away which is cheaper to stock up on essentials than the supermarket round the corner but that did serve us well for the odd item we needed and fresh pastries for breakfast.

We had a few issues whilst staying at the property which we raised with the host at the time. Some were fixed, others were not because there was language barrier between us and the maintenance people sent to the property. There was no supplies provided on arrival and I feel a basic welcome pack would be helpful, even if it was only a couple of bottles of water in the fridge. The outdoor furniture was literally falling apart although this was replaced on our last day after we complained so other guests will be able to enjoy those! Also the mattresses on the beds were extremely hard and so very uncomfortable for some of us. It is also right next to a working building site which we were not made aware of with the workmen’s portaloos very close to the outside area of the villa. The very loud drilling which was on and off throughout each day of our stay was not pleasant. We have since complained to the company who look after the Villa as we did not get the property advertised or expected but have had no response. This is disappointing as the villa has the potential to be really nice but our stay was let down by a lack of care and attention to the property.