Portugal

Dianne

We booked this break as a little relaxation for us before our main family holiday later on in the year, it sounded exactly like what we needed. This "luxury apartment" is far from that, it is very tired, dated and worn and the images on this site are very different to the ones in reality
We spent the first 2 days cleaning the kitchen to try and get rid of the hundreds of ants across the worktops, cooker and sink, including all the utensils. We had to constantly clean up and it felt far from the relaxing holiday we envisaged. The "new" oven they had recently bought had no instructions so we had to go online to try and use it, that failed and we wasted money and time on food we could not eat, the microwave convector was far too complicated so we lived on pasta and bread or ate out, which is not something we had budgeted for having booked a self catering holiday, we enjoy cooking and buying locally and eating on the veranda etc when we stay in Portugal, we could do none of these things, even the BBQ was full of dust when we took the lid off.
Due to a family bereavement we had to take one of our children with us last minute, whilst we appreciated Dianne accommodating us, she made no mention of any extra costs until 2 days later when she charged us £250 as she stated she had travelledl to Spain in order to buy a bed. Even though there is a brand new IKEA store 15 minutes away, the bed was an inflatable mattress we seen was sold in the local Continente! 
Dianne then (when we queried this) told us it was for electricity and water. This was something we had no choice in paying, and whilst we appreciated she may have to add additional costs we felt that was a lot and not something she had previously mentioned, therefore having changed all out flights etc we had no choice but to accept. She wanted this paying direct to her and not click and stay, which we did.
By the 3rd day the pool that was meant to be relaxing was somewhere we could not even sit by due to the wasp nest in the garden and the pool had leaves and dead insects floating in and you couldn't swim in it and at no point in the first week did it get cleaned, not even to fish the insects out, which we then had to do, it also had a slippery moss or something on the bottom which one of us slipped on and hurt our ankle. 
On the 3rd evening all of us noticed huge lumps on our bodies, we had all been bitten by mosquito's, this amazed us as we have stayed all over Portugal for more than 22 years and not once been bitten, these bites became extremely sore and filled with blisters, we had to drive to Albuferia to buy expensive insect cream as the pharmacist informed us they were infected, and buy insect nets and several mosquito plugs.
At this point we also had not had any clean sheets, towels etc so we had no choice but to txt Dianne and ask if we could speak with her re all of the above, she did not contact us to discuss but txt to say she would be changing the sheets etc the next day, we had to go and knock on her door to discuss these issues. To our astonishment her home is fitted with numerous mosquito plugs and when we asked why she never mentioned we would need these she gave no response. Had we known they were needed we would have brought them with us and saved all 3 of us being bitten and being in a lot of pain. At this point she mentioned she had seen the ants outside and offered some spray.
After this we were unable to open the property windows due to the number of wasps, mosquito's and other flying insects and had to have the air con on to Cool the rooms, thus leaving us with sore throats and as such we could not stay in the property, nor felt comfortable enough to stay near the pool so we went away from the property to relax and swim.
After 5 days the pool was cleaned, we were eventually able to sit by the pool albeit having to surround ourselves with wasps, but we could try and relax with only a couple of days left of our holiday.

On leaving it felt like she couldn't get rid of us fast enough and didn't ask about our stay or anything at all.
We would not recommend this apartment at all in the condition it is in now, there was plastic beading hanging off the make shift kitchen wall, holes in the wall where we realised all the ants came through, the chairs are white  and had grubby hand marks all over them as did the white cushions that had obviously had blackcurrant or something spilt on it. The awning outside was great until we realised it has a tear in it and we were scared of damaging so stopped using. The wardrobe door kept coming off every time we opened it and although there were numerous solar lights around none of them worked which made it precarious to go up the stairs in the dark at night after being out all day.
The apartment could have lots of potential but it just felt like it was just something that generated an income and not a holiday home where the guests are looked after and the property maintained, it needs a really thorough clean inside and out, it is is need of a lot of updating, there is just stuff everywhere in the garden and cats roaming around, which we do not mind but again is not mentioned in the description, which if you are allergic would again ruin your holiday. The wasps nests need dealing with as this really hindered our time outside and the description needs updating, if only to inform perspective bookers about the obvious mosquito issue at the property.

CASA LAGO

United Kingdom

Couple from Liverpool, United Kingdom

Had a wonderful stay at Casa Lago Soalheira.    The well equipped apartment is modern with everything you need and was emaculate.    The apartment is light and has views over the local countryside.    The bed was very comfortable and it has air conditioning.  I went for a dip in the  swimming pool.    Diane is a fantastic host and made me feel welcome.   I can thoroughly recommend a stay at Casa Lago.

Michelle

 5/5
Perfect Location!
The flat is in a great location, which is 5 minutes from the town of Loule, about 20 minutes from Vilamoura beach, and away from the hustle and bustle of mass tourism. Dianne is a wonderful host, and has a great list of suggestions to see while in town. The flat has all the amenities anyone could need. Managed to arrive just in time for Noite Branca, which is the end of summer celebration in Loule. It was a great time and very lively with music and street food. Thank you so much Dianne for the wonderful stay!! Will definitely recommend.
09/08/2019 at 8:34 PM

Luxury Villa apartment 5 minutes from the best restaurants + Historical Loule

We had the best honeymoon ever staying at Dianne's place, the accommodation was nice clean and well kept, the grounds are beautiful, gorgeous pool with very pretty garden overlooking a stunning view. Host was extremely helpful and accommodating. Would highly recommend. Love Alex &amp; Judith.

Date of arrival - August 12, 2019

Daniel Martín-Maestro Guillén

Madrid

Nice and quite place
Very comfortable and clean apartment with everything you need for a long stay.
A small pool and garden are available and the terrace with BBK for your lunches or dinners.
A good place to enjoy the quiet and nature with wonderful mountain views. Near Loule, a beautiful city with all the necessary services,

Dianne, she is the owner, was very friendly and willing to help us.

Thanks for everything.

Lovely place	
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Loulè is the best place to visit Algarve because it has a central and quiet position and this Villa is really a lovely location.
Dianne sent us the directions to reach the place by email, she greeted me and my boyfriend very kindly, she showed the accommodation and gave us all the informations about it.
The garden, the pool and the view from the terrace are magical and I can recommend this location to everyone who loves the nature and the beautiful things. The last evening we had dinner on the terrace to enjoy the view!
If one day I'll go back to the Algarve, I'll definitely come back here!

Date of arrival	
05 August 2018

Dianne

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