United Kingdom

David

Detached Villa with Private Pool

Family from Cheadle, United Kingdom

The Villa was excellent lovely &amp; clean, pool excellent size. 
Only little criticism could do with some shelves in the oven &amp; new trays. Not a problem but would be handy. &amp; new rack in BBQ. 
Otherwise lovely would definitely book again. 
Thanks 

Family from Harlow, United Kingdom

Arboleas is a quaint little village, with a small but well stocked super market and this Villa is only about 10 minutes away.  The Villa is well placed as a base for searching further in-land and also not too far from the coast.  There are a few nice beaches within 30 - 45 minutes drive. 

When we tried to get in touch we the key-holder from the contact details provided we were told they hadn't held the keys in over 6 years so couldn't help us get into the property.  Fortunately we had English contact details, so we made the international phone call and the owner was eventually able to get in touch with the new key holder.  To give them the benefit of the doubt, they said they had emailed us with the new contact details, but for whatever reason we didn't receive that particular email.  

Still, we were finally able to get into the property.  On first appearances it looks great.  But upstairs the toilet was broken with the cistern lid off (a plumber was due to fix it on the Wednesday; they didn't show up, although I didn't fancy the idea of having to deal with a plumber whilst on holiday anyway).

The area around the shower upstairs and downstairs was filthy with lots of hair shavings and muck.  After seeing that, it was clear the entire house hadn't been cleaned properly before our arrival, with cups in the cupboard clearly put away without being washed and pots and pans requiring cleaning before use too.  Sinks in the kitchen and bathrooms had not been touched either.

For a self catering holiday the kitchen utensils were wholly inadequate, with only one small knife to chop with.  The only frying pan was a small 12cm one, suitable for frying an egg and not much else.

On day two the hot water ran out after 2 showers.  The key holder phoned the owner to find out why there was no hot water only to be told we can't all expect to have showers before the heat ran out.  To clarify, we were a party of 4, myself, my wife our 11 year old daughter and 10 month old baby.  Our baby wouldn't have a shower so we just needed hot water for three quick showers.  The villa is advertised to sleep 8!
The key holder tried to use the immersion heater, but that just cut off the hot water supply completely.  She told me to check it the next day.  It didn't work and when I questioned it, I was given a story about the entire village has had it's water supply cut off.  "It happens sometimes," I was told.  I replied that the cold water continued to run fine, then the answer was that" only the hot water had been cut off!"  Clearly this was someone who thought I didn't have a basic understanding of how a boiler system worked.
So the rest of the holiday involved baths by filling up with water from a kettle!

On a minor point, as we weren't planning on watching TV anyway, there are photos showing a Sky TV box advertised, but as soon as we walked into the living room we were told there are no TV channels, at all, and the Sky box doesn't work.

The mattresses are terrible.  Old and seen too much use.  None of us had a good nights sleep.

I've given this an Overall score of 2 stars as the location is pretty good, and it wasn't too expensive to stay there.  

To sum up, this is a holiday home managed by people who can't be bothered to manage a holiday home. 

Family from Cullompton, United Kingdom

This was our second time of coming to this property and enjoyed it even more the the first. The house has got a new property manager and could see the difference in the cleanliness compared to last year. From the moment we opened the door, you could smell the fresh bedding, clean bathrooms and the Kitchen was spotless.
The area is lovely and would definatley come here again.

Family from Manchester, United Kingdom

This villa is a fabulous place to stay as a family. We all thoroughly enjoyed our stay and will definitely be booking again. 

The area is very quiet - we wanted a chilled out, staying around the villa as a family kind of holiday which the property was perfect for, while there is a bar in walking distance, it's not somewhere with lots of nightlife. There are enough restaurants nearby however that you could eat out every night and not get bored (the Happy Garden in Albox serves the best Chinese food any of us had eaten in years). 

We had a minor issue which I can help any future visitors avoid before they book! The property is alarmed, do not mistake the alarm controls for something to do with the air conditioning or an alarm clock and press the buttons to try and stop it flashing or it may well result in the alarm going off in the middle of the night and you having to disturb Carol to help you turn it off! We couldn't unlock the door leading out to the balcony but there are floor to ceiling windows which can be unlocked and opened so it didn't cause us any problems. Someone in a previous review mentioned the slippery tiles around the pool - this is something that happens around most pools but we put down a beach towel near the stairs for people to dry off a bit before going off dripping everywhere if that's something anyone finds useful. 

The villa was very clean and the housekeeper, Carol, is lovely and very helpful. We're all suffering greatly from holiday blues after having such a lovely time and looking forward to our next visit. 

One piece of information I'd have liked before I went (nothing to do with the villa so hasn't affected my review in any way) is that if you're using a sat nav be aware that some of the roads in Spain aren't up to the condition you might expect of roads in the UK - while travelling to or from a few places we were directed by google repeatedly down "roads" that either got to the point where they were completely impassable or were so small, steep and winding we found ourselves praying that nobody was coming the other way - if you can google the general area of any sights you'd like to visit and which main road gets you near it then use road signs to find it, you'd be better off. 

Family from Ellesmere Port, United Kingdom

Thank you once again, that's our third time now,just a perfect summer holiday.no complaints.Peace and relaxation of the villa,lazy days and the bustle of the resorts 30mins drive away.handy supermarkets,the wonderful hospitality of cati at catis bar. good value restaurants 15 mins drive.First visit to Lubrin, beautiful pueblo nice bar and good food.The family have enjoyed every fortnights holiday in 2013-14 &amp; now 2016.Would like to think will return again.

Family from Glasgow, United Kingdom

When we phoned from Madrid airport there was no record of us staying at the villa. Very worrying! However, we arrived and village is quiet and very pretty. The villa is a good space, private and opposite hills and on the other side a reserve with lovely walks through trees. The problem is that the villa had not been cleaned properly for a long time so we had to spend a couple of hours cleaning the place up, hosing and brushing down the outside, the bbq was in a real mess so we left it. The kitchen needed a real good clean - oven grotty, all the plates etc. needed a good clean, cupboards and drawers dirty. After we'd cleaned it all up it felt more like a place we could stay for 10 days. We had a good stay, the couple looking after the place were friendly (although i'm not sure who was responsible for cleaning the place), area was lovely, beaches near Vera beautiful and we had a good stay. I think the owner needs to invest a little in new kitchen equipment, fresh sets of towels, better information (for example, we didnt know you sholdnt drink the tap water and only found out after visiting the shops, no info on local pharmacy or medical centre) some gardening and I think the place could quickly get back to 4 or 5*.  Overall id say book the villa but my 3* score is currently a fair score. 

Family from Leicester, United Kingdom

Overall an excellent villa although not much else to do apart from relaxing. Really quiet and peaceful,  a lovely little retreat.

Family from Stockport, United Kingdom

Had a wonderfull two week holiday, staying at Rambleside. The Villa is as described with lots of room and a large pool, which with the tempratures so high, we all needed to be in and out constantly.The little hamlet is very quite, and the only noise you will hear is the sound of your own fun. You do need transport even for the shops, but all places we found easy to get to. Mini Hollywood ( OASIS ) is well worth a visit, please note though if you go in the week, there are not many options for eating there, although you can get, burgers etc. Will definatly return to Rambleside and recommend. Rebecca and Chris are very helpfull, and the pool is cleaned once a week.
I will have one moan if I may !!! The tiles around the pool are VERY slippy when wet, my 4 grandsons slipped on many occasions, and two of us adults took a tumble too, just be very cautious when walking around the pool wet.

Elaine Evans ( Highlands)

Family from Nairn,, United Kingdom

Wow wow wow! We stayed here with my teenage children for 9 nights this August. The villa was superb and the kids spent most of their time in the pool playing volleyball. The villa was clean and well equipped, with extra touches like books, DVDs and board games for when you need some respite from the heat. There is ample parking, with gates to secure the plot, plenty of terrace space and pool loungers. The pool was clean and a good temperature to cool off in. The air conditioning in the villa worked very well, which was a blessing given it was between 34c and 37c every day we were there. Whilst the villa is in a small cluster of houses, it isnt overlooked at all and feels very private with the bonus of neighbours near by if there is a problem. The views of the mountains were stunning and it is peaceful and quiet. The only people we saw were the occasional dog walker once the sun went down. I was worried it wouldnt be as good as the photos but it really was even better. I have stayed in 5* hotels around the world and several holiday villas, châteaus and farmhouses and I  cant praise this villa enough! If you are looking for a high quality villa, with peace and quiet, then look no further. We noted a couple of things which we felt would be useful at the villa, It would be great if pool towels were available, we didnt realise they werent until we read the information pack on arrival and also it would be safer to have plastic beer and wine glasses for around the terrace/pool area. That said, these are just little observations, and you really cant fault this place, it is everything described on here and more. We are already trying to work out when we can go back there which is a first as we usually like to try somewhere different each year! Any chance of a volleyball net for the pool next year please?

David

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