Sao Rafael Beach Resort, Nr Albufeira, Centre de l'Algarve

Thank you for taking the time to post this review. I'm pleased you had a good time. I agree that a car or Uber is needed to explore further afield from the resort. We have found Uber very good with reasonable costs too.

Thank you for your review Andrew. i'm pleased you enjoyed your stay and you are welcome to visit again! Angela

Thank you for your review Neil. I'm pleased you found the apartment comfortable and I hope you had a relaxing break. Angela

Thank you Simon for taking the time to post this review. I'm so pleased you found the apartment comfortable for your holiday and that you enjoyed the location. You are welcome to stay again! Angela

Thank you for taking the time to post this review Hannah. I'm so pleased you enjoyed your stay in our apartment - you are welcome back anytime! Angela

Thank you for taking the time to post this review Louise. I'm pleased you enjoyed your holiday despite the medical issue. A hire car does provide more convenience and options to travel further afield. You are very welcome to stay again. Angela

Thank you Ian for your kind review. I'm pleased you enjoyed your holiday and found the apartment comfortable. Angela

Thank you for your kind review Melvin. I'm pleased you enjoyed your stay in our apartment and of course you are very welcome to stay again! Angela

Hello Raymond Thank you for taking the time to post this review. I’m very pleased you had a relaxing stay and that you found everything in the apartment as expected. I always try to give accurate descriptions. Thank you also for leaving the apartment in a good condition. You are most welcome to stay again! Angela

Thank you very much for your review Matthew. I am pleased you found the apartment suitable for your family needs. It is a lovely location for children. Also happy to hear that you were satisfied with our management team. Angela

This is an untruthful and false review by guests who were refused the return of their full security deposit due to the disgraceful state in which they left our apartment upon departure. The apartment was immaculately clean when he and his family arrived; one week later when he vacated it was in a very dirty, unhygienic and untidy state. Our manager met him upon arrival and no negative observations or complaints whatsoever were raised about the condition of the property. Subsequently, we had to pay for extra deep cleaning, evidence for which in the form of photographs, manager’s report and receipts were submitted to HomeAway who agreed that he should pay for this cleaning. We have since refunded one third of his deposit. We have been letting our modern, well furnished, and well maintained property for over 14 years and received many objective and positive client reviews over this period and have never before had any problems of this kind. We have an experienced, diligent and resourceful property manager on the ground who not only meets and greets clients upon arrival but who is also readily available for resolution of any issues at the resort. He reports that this is the worst abuse of a property that he has ever seen. Mr M and family vacated before our manager could check them out and hold them to account for the state in which our apartment was left. However, he has compiled a full report, available for independent scrutiny upon request. Previous guest reviews are genuine – HomeAway allows owners to post guests comments but not personally review their own property. Many guests who have been good enough to post a review have commented extremely favourably on the standard, cleanliness, condition and maintenance of the property. All appliances are in good working order and indeed were during Mr M’s visit. The apartment is on a holiday resort and therefore there will obviously be a degree of noise from other owners/guests; however this is a relatively quiet resort. There are photos on the HomeAway website showing the sea views from the apartment so guests know exactly what to expect. Furthermore the beaches are anything but polluted. The environmental organisation Quercus has said that 15 of the Albufeira coast beaches, including Praia de Rafael & Praia dos Arrifes, have excellent water quality and EEC Blue Flag status. The apartment is now back to its original clean condition - suffice it to say Mr M will not be allowed to rent our property again.

Dear Rainer I am sorry you had some issues with the apartment which I must respond to:- 1. The sea view – my photos on vrbo show exactly what the sea view is like. 2. As the apartment is on the first-floor fire regulations forbid use of BBQ’s on the balcony, though some owners do not respect this. 3. No guest has ever found it difficult to get used to the washing machine & extra fridge not being located in the kitchen. The apartment is spacious but not huge! 4. The sofa is NOT worn. It was professionally reupholstered in January 2025. We stayed in the apartment in May before you arrived and neither the sofa nor cushions smelt of old sweat. 5. In over 20 years of letting our apartment no one has ever complained that the King size (5ft wide) master bed is not big enough for 2 people. 6. I can assure you that the bathrooms were professionally installed. The traps have been inspected and are as per installation specifications. The drainage system on the complex is prone to tree root blockages and even though they are regularly cleared by the condominium, blockages and therefore smells can occur, if items other than toilet paper are flushed. The whole resort suffers this way – not just us. Blockages can be caused by nearby apartments which then effect ours & I always mention this in the information documents I send to guests. We always ensure there are plenty of cleaning products, including bleach, left for guests so that they do not have to buy their own! 7. Finally, I must point out that when our manager went into the apartment after you vacated, he found that the freezer dial had been changed causing the appliance to seize up. As a gesture of good will, given you were clearly unhappy with my property, I will not charge you for a replacement. Angela

Thank you for posting a review Marsha. I'm pleased you enjoyed your holiday despite a few issues. It's a shame that you didn't let me know about the TV as any problems can usually be resolved very quickly and remotely by a call to the TV engineer. Similarly with the drainage smell in the bathroom - I could have arranged for someone to call and check it out. I'm sorry you found the sofa bed unclean. No one prior to your stay had complained but I will make sure this is checked out. Thanks Angela

Thank you for your kind review. I'm pleased you enjoyed you stay at our apartment and you are welcome to return!

Thank you for your review Miguel. I'm pleased you liked Sao Rafael. The property is 27 years old and in all that time I have never had any other guests say that there was insufficient room to store their belongings, so I'm rather mystified by your comment to that effect! Angela

Thank you Stefan for taking the time to post this review. I'm pleased to hear you and your family were comfortable in the apartment and enjoyed your time at Sao Rafael. You are very welcome to stay again. Angela

Thank you Elena for taking the time to post a review. I'm pleased you enjoyed your stay at Sao Rafael. Angela

Thank you Nada for your kind review. I'm pleased you felt comfortable in the apartment and that you enjoyed your stay. Angela

Thank you for your review Joaquim. I'm pleased you and your family enjoyed your holiday in our apartment. The occasional unpleasant smell in the bathrooms is not a fault within the apartment but is due to the whole drainage system at Sao Rafael needing to be upgraded. It is a problem over the whole resort from time to time. It is down to the local authority not the Condominium and it is very frustrating that they are being extremely slow in doing this work on the drainage system.

Thank you for your kind review Jorge. I'm pleased you all enjoyed your holiday at Sao Rafael and that you were comfortable in our apartment. You are most welcome to stay again! Angela

Thank you for your kind review Sonja.