Estrela do Mar - by LovelyStay - Lovely, Sun Filled Villa

Overall a pretty good stay, nice location for driving around the island, well equipped kitchen, good living room, awesome views, the bathrooms were good. The staff responded quickly and were helpful. Lots of cool madeiran wall lizards around the terrace. Melton’s kitchen nearby :)

One of the bedrooms had a strong damp, moldy smell so we ended up not using that bedroom at all. Was not a deal breaker for us but might be for some people. The villa could use some touch up here and there. Cockroaches in the garage (dead or dying ones, so poison was/is used).

Location, facilities, comfort

Spacious rooms with breathtaking views. 3 bathrooms, 4 toilets, well equipped kitchen with cooking necessities and sufficient plates and glasses, dishwasher tabs and washing liquid. A lot of privacy.

Frequent power failures limited to the street we lived in, multiple followups were required before it could be fixed. We had a blackout during the New Year's eve. Swimming pool could not be used during the whole stay. Lovely stays charges you money for heating the pool 'without guarantees' and does not prepare the pool for you. The water regeneration did not seem to be on. There was no indication of the pool heating having been switched on. The pool never reached about 16 degrees during the whole stay and there is no support provided as they did not 'guarantee' that the pool will be heated. The windows lack proper insulation therefore it gets very loud during windy and rainy nights that might hinder your sleep. No office space or tables to work from. 2 out of the 3 shower cabin doors were in a precariously broken condition so we had to stick to using just one of the bathrooms. Slippery parking garage in times of rain. We ended up parking on the road most of the days which seems to be fine in the locality.

Die Aussicht vom Haus ins Tal und über den Ozean ist phänomenal. Die Küche ist hervorragend ausgestattet. Die Badewanne in einem der Bäder mit Blick in die weite Ferne ist nicht zu überbieten.

Der Herd in der Küche und die Waschmaschine waren eine echte Herausforderung, da für diese Geräte keinerlei Bedienungsanleitungen bereit lagen und nur durch eine aufwendige Recherche im Internet und etliche Versuche in Betrieb genommen werden konnten.