RIVABeach House

The location is great, in the Areia Branca area, just a few minutes from the beach. Perhaps a bit far to walk with small children but we managed to find a decent parking spot each time. We didn't eat out but there are several nice-looking restaurants close by. The kitchen is the best-equipped kitchen I have ever had in a rental. ALL the appliances are available, including air-fryer. Plenty of plates, serving dishes and cutlery and a nice big fridge/freezer. There were also a couple of pool floats/mattresses and a donut ring for our use. The pool is very nice with a barbecue area. Perhaps another chair or lounger or two would be good but for us it was ok.

Arrival/Departure - The check-in has to be done in person so there was a lot of texting back and forth about timing and when I was able to confirm a time, suddenly the host wasn't available. The same happened with departure, where we were told 10 am over and over again and then suddenly the night before, 11 am. We couldn't wait that long so in the end were told to drop keys off at their office. Why not have a lock box like most other places do? It's ridiculous. Comfort - The pillows were the worst I have EVER seen, and there were no spare ones, so only one per bed in the single bedrooms. I'm not sure what we would have done if we wanted to use the sofa-bed as there was no spare bed linen (or pillows!) even though my check-in message said the house had been left ready for 5 guests. Luckily, we were only 3. The towels were of very low quality too and the single mattresses not great either. Decor - The lighting throughout was garish and way too bright - really made everything look ugly and cheap, even though the sofa was comfortable and the TV was nice and big. No bedside lamp in one of the single bedrooms (so you have to get out of bed to turn the light off) and no aircon in the other bedroom. The house is fairly cool with windows on both sides but the option should be in all bedrooms, or at least a ceiling fan. Additionally, there are some small bedside rugs (fake sheepskin) which are HIGHLY DANGEROUS and slip very easily on the polished tile floor.