This was your quintessential summer lake cottage experience. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but the perfect place to disconnect and relax by the water. I would definitely stay again.
Ich war jetzt zum zweiten Mal Gast in dieser Ferienwohnung. Das Bad und die beiden Schlafzimmer wurden renoviert und auch Klimaanlagen wurden installiert. Leider gibt es keine SchrĂ€nke fĂŒr die Kleidung. Auch ist die Ausstattung der KĂŒche etwas spartanisch. Es gibt keinen Toaster und keine richtige Kaffeemaschine, dafĂŒr aber eine Kaffeemaschine fĂŒr Kapseln. Auch der Herd ist sehr schwach, so dass es 20 Minuten dauert bis das Nudelwasser kocht. Aber dafĂŒr ist die Lage einfach paradiesisch. Ich werde bestimmt auch ein drittes Mal hier herkommen, vielleicht ist ja bis dahin auch die KĂŒche saniert.
The cottage is jus like the photos and de location is amazing.
You should rent a car because Sete Cidades is a very small town with no much supplies available.
Beatriz was quite nice in answering to our questions.
Dieses Haus besticht durch seine Lage am See. Nur wenige HĂ€user in der NĂ€he und bis zum Ort sind es 15 Minuten zu FuĂ. Das Haus hat einen sehr einfachen Standard, aber auch genau dadrin liegt sein Charme und Charakter. Die KĂŒchenaustattung ist eher mĂ€Ăig und der Putz blĂ€ttert an einigen Stellen. Auch die Verteilung der Lichtschalter habe ich bis zum letzten Tag nicht verstanden.
Abends auf der Terrasse hört man nur die GerÀuche der Natur.
FĂŒr mich ein echter Sehnsuchts Ort
And by this, I mean it was much much worse than it appears online. First of all, property manager takes at least a day or two to respond to any questions you might have. That's understandable as we were coming from the states and in a different time zone, but less explainable once we arrived and tried to contact her during normal business hours. Then when we actually got to the property we tried asking her is there was laundry services on the property and never got an answer. I'm guessing there isn't and she didn't want to tell us this?
Upon arrival, we were greeted with a very old creepy looking bearded up lake house. It took us a while to undo all the shutters and see it's charm in the daylight. It could be a nice place if it was cleaned, gutted out, painted, and had furniture that didn't smell like it'd been sitting out in the rain for years. And the appliances. Old, dirty, possibly unsafe? There are lots of signs around the house proclaiming "manager use only". Okay? If you're that concerned about guests taking liberties with you picnic blanket, perhaps keep it somewhere else?
Also, the smell. Horrid. It's a very old place and the first thing you're assaulted with as you walk in is the unmistakable stench of mold. Every cupboard or door you open makes it even worse. We washed every dish we used in scalding hot water (there isn't a dishwasher of course) before eating with is because they not only looked dirty but had been sitting in mildew and dust for who knows how long.
And the bugs. So many bugs. If you're a budding entomologist this is the place for you. We saw flies, spiders, ants, mosquitoes, and a variety of Portuguese insect natives.
Location: the place really is on the lake shore of the blue lagoon and is very scenic. The nearest town is about an 8 minute drive away but be warned, it is not much of a town. If you want groceries or a decent meal you will have to drive 40 minutes to get to Ponta Delgada proper. No big deal, except these roads have very little signage and it's quite difficult to get anywhere without GPS. Do not stay here unless you get a rental car, the taxi trip is 49 euros one way.
You get what you pay for, and unfortunately this place isn't a deal. Would not stay here again.
The house was okay. I definitely made the mistake of staying here without a rental car. It's located far away from pretty much everything, so a rental car would be a must if I had to redo. The house itself was nice for a few days, although there were quite a few ants. The house is right next to a lake, so I expected some bugs, but the number of ants seemed excessive.
A lovely setting whereas the house could be so much more
We enjoyed the stay at the house a lot as the view over the lake is amazing and in the house we had enough staff to cook our own meal and prepare everything for breakfast. Also the rooms were decorated nicely.
Free WLAN was in place. The best was always to sit outside on the terrace and to enjoy the sun set as well as the lake view!!
Still as we arrived late in the season the house had sadly a bit of a smell like it occures when it is not used so much. After opening up all windows it was almost gone. The bath was okay but is not special. Everything was clean and enough towels were available.
What we also missed is a mosquito/midges protection in case we had to open the window. So it got warm inside of the sleeping room as we could not open the windows during the night. If we did so the mosquitos/midges left us no sleep.
The setting is absolutely amazing, in the crater of an old volcano with mountains all around with beautiful views across the lake.
The open plan living, dining and kitchen area make full use of these views with large glass panelled doors back and front.
The weather is very unpredictable and it is worth making the short trip to the coast where it is more often than not, sunny when it's raining and dull at the house. When the cloud lifts, there are many easily accessible view points and walkways in the area which are well worth a visit.
There is a track/ road between the cottage and the lake which is by no means busy but, be prepared for the dust thrown up from cars travelling to the picnic site along the road and the quad bike tours which pass occasionally.
Hot water for showers, etc. is supplied by a very efficient boiler which means there is no reason to argue over who gets to have a shower first!
The village is a very pleasant short walk away where you can hire kayaks or swim. There is also a very nice modern tea-room which sells wonderful cakes.
We enjoyed our stay but there were several things we felt could have made it better. The house is definitely in need of TLC: the kitchen is very small and the cupboards are full of old pots, pans, etc. leaving no room to store food, the same with the counter tops. Apart from the 'new' couch, which is clean and comfortable, the rest of the furniture is rather old and worn out with several of the wooden chairs in need of repair to make them safe to use. The bed mattress is very thin and though the dual aspect views in the main bedroom are stunning, the quality of sleep we had, was not. There was also no-where to put our clothes, despite there being an alcove perfect for a small wardrobe. The cupboards in the second bedroom were filled with 'manager only' belongings and blankets.....
The property has so much potential (without the need to hike up the rental price) but needs new mattresses, bedding and curtains (bedroom) and the existing hardwood seating which can be used outside, needs to be repaired and made fit for use.
When booking and confirming details about arrival, etc. the owner was very helpful and friendly. It was arranged for the keys to be handed over at the airport which went smoothly. Provision of a little map (hand drawn?) would be useful as it is not obvious on the tourist map, where the track to the house is. Beware of house driveway as sill of car can be easily scraped!
Rustig gelegen vakantiehuis aan de rand van het kratermeer Lagoa Azul. Het huis is zeer ruim met twee slaapkamers en een veranda waar het heerlijk ontbijten is. De mussen en vinken komen je zeker gezelschap houden. Ideale lokatie voor het tot rust komen in een schitterende natuurlijke omgeving met op de achtergrond het geluid van koeienbellen.
Voldoende mogelijkheden om mooie (bos)wandelingen te maken.
De horeca in het dorpje is wat beperkt, maar bij Lagoa Azul hebben we heerlijk gegeten.
Het gebruik van een eigen vervoermiddel is zeer aan te bevelen.
Dit huis zagen we, al wandelend, ligt inderdaad schitterend. Maar omdat een maand na de bevestiging en betaling de eigenaar aangaf om onduidelijke redenen dat we alsnog niet hier terecht konden (overigens zaten er bewoners in zagen we toen we er waren)moesten we omboeken naar een alternatief dat we veel minder vonden - een luxe huis weliswaar maar op een veel mindere plek - en weinig keus want inmiddels was verder ook niet veel meer te vinden. Wij baalden dus enigszins. De klantenservice hierover van home away was overigens meer dan prima en begripvol maar wel sturen zij terug naar deigenaar of naar wat nog beschikbaar is (en hoe korter voordat je gaat, hoe minder keus natuurlijk). enig risico dus als u dit huis boekt?
Perfekter Ort fĂŒr einen erholsamen und ruhigen Urlaub
Das Haus liegt optimal fĂŒr einen ruhigen und erholsamen Urlaub. Das Haus ist groĂ und gemĂŒtlich. Der Garten rundum gepflegt und sauber. Alle 4-5 Tage wird das Haus geputzt und auch HandtĂŒcher und BettwĂ€sche gewechselt.
Das Dorf Sete Cidades ist zu FuĂ in 15min gut zu erreichen.
Worauf man sich einstellen muss ist, dass das Haus nur mit dem Auto zu erreichen ist. Ebenso kann es sein, dass die hohe Luftfeuchtigkeit nicht jedermanns Sache ist. Wenn das in die Urlaubsplanung passt, dann liegt man mit der Wahl dieser Lodge genau richtig. 100% empfehlenswert.