This is a gorgeous property, totally set up for a group to enjoy the stunning scenery and to completely relax and enjoy being together. We loved all the different viewpoints and the pool is a great size for swimming. The house was very comfortable and as we are a group who enjoy cooking, we were impressed with the kitchen equipment on offer. We loved the clanging bells of the passing goats, the braying of nearby donkeys and the bird watching opportunities. Everything about our stay here was pure relaxation and although we did venture out, we most enjoyed the relaxation that comes from being away from busy places. Thanks also to Doug- we never needed to call on him but he made sure that we knew we could.
Close to nice villages Pizarra and Alora.
30 minutes drive to Malaga and the fine beaches of Torremolinos and Fuengirola.
Great location when you like a quiet area.
We had a lovely stay!
The house is perfect and clean, the view is amazing and the pool is very refreshing.
We would definitly go there again!
Family Vermaelen from Belgium
The villa is located in a beautiful surroundings offering peace, tranquility and fantastic views in all directions. Both the villa and its outdoor space were very comfortable and equipped with everything we needed. The pool is very large and provided welcome relief from the heat of the day! The location of the villa allowed us to take day trips to Granada, Seville, Ronda and Gibraltar. Communication with the property owner was excellent and Doug was on hand locally to helpfully assist with anything we needed. Many thanks for a great stay.
Very smooth process from start to finish. Good communication with the owner, detailed and accurate directions to the house.
Overall a very good house, comfortable and spacious. Rooms are large and cool in the summer heat. The pool area in particular was great, a large and well maintained pool. Lovely views from the pool area and the terrace. A real delight.
Wonderful home. We missed nothing. Beautiful place. Even better than on the pictures. Everything worked, very good aircoâs. Gorgeous pool with beautiful view. Two large fridges.We couldât find anything wrong.
We had a wonderful summer holiday at a really beautiful house in a wonderful landscape.
The pool and the house were amazing - everything at its place and with an excellent service!
We would thank again for all the service and keep this in mind for further holidays!
One hint: it's recommendable to spend a bit more money for rental car and to hire a SUV or comparable - but it's worth it!
Regards
Ulrike&Arthur
Sebastian and Philipp
The villa was in the perfect location for us, far enough away from the crowds!
Excellent directions and entry instructions made it easy to find and gain access. A sturdy vehicle is required as the track is a little rough in places.
The villa is very well laid out very spacious and immaculately clean. The air con worked a treat though for sleeping having fly screens at the windows was much better.
The villa is very well equipped with all that you might need for your stay. Including good sturdy sunbeds. The pool is excellent for cooling off and having a good swim.
We lived off of the BBQ for the whole two weeks which was great.
Both the owner, Doug and Brian were very helpful during our stay.
We would certainly recommend having a holiday in such tranquil surroundings.
Family holiday, with 6 adults, had all that we needed. Particular note : huge areas of outside space; built in BBQ, extensive add-ons which we called on; video games that my adult kids âwent back to their childhoodâ playing, family games which gave us plenty of fun; two x fridges turned out great. Loved the remoteness and ability to get away from it all. Manager very attentive and helpful. Paul and Helen, very approachable and helped with some tips, ideas and showed genuine interest and friendliness. Fab, thanks guys.
Relaxing stay in beautiful villa with amazing scenery
Weâve stayed in a lot of properties in Spain and Italy over the year as we favour this type of holiday.
Itâs situated in country side and not much more than a 10 minute drive to Alora or Pizarra.
Thereâs loads of space with 4 bedrooms ( 2 en-suites), large kitchen, large dining/lounge area. Front, rear terrace, large balcony. The pool was the main attraction for my family - we spent many an afternoon there and sampled lots of restaurants in Alora, which is a very nice place with local charm. It has a nice family feel to it in the evenings. Pizarra looks nice too but mainly used the supermarkets here.
Thereâs lots of useful information in the guestbook for activities and Paul was very helpful throughout my stay. As too was Doug who occasionally visits to service the pool area.
There was also a good selection of toys and consoles for children.
I wouldnât hesitate to return here and hope to next year.
From the initial query about booking to handing the keys back, everything was brilliant. Before and throughout the stay, communication with Paul was great and with his responses fast and detailed. Directions to the villa and instructions on arrival were clear and easy to understand.
Once at the villa the first thing you notice are the views of the mountains, these were absolutely stunning. The villa itself is well furnished with everything you need and I donât think the photos do it justice. It has a great layout and was very clean throughout. The WIFI was more than capable of dealing with three teenagers online on all their devices, so canât be faulted.
The pool was lovely and more than large enough for the whole family (5) to float around on their floats. This was cleaned every other day during our stay by Doug who was polite and very knowledgeable about the whole area. He left his number and I have no doubt would have been at hand had we needed him for anything.
The locations was superb, nice and private and only a short drive (10mins) to the nearest shops and only an hour or so to other places of interest ie Ronda, Marbella.
Thanks to Paul and to Doug for your assistance and advice. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and have already recommended it to our family and friends.
This is a lovely villa, very well equiped, clean and everything is to a high standard. The owner/property caretaker are very helpful.
But 3 points are worth bearing in mind.
1 - The property is very remote. It on a hillside, to get to the property you have to drive 1 mile up a 'road' littered with huge potholes (ie max 10 mph), then a further mile up a dusty rocky track (again max 10 mph) that's more suited to a 4-wheel drive vehicle. This makes 'popping to the shops'/leaving the villa etc a bit of a hassle.
2 - The neighbouring houses have dogs that bark all night, so bring earplugs if you want to sleep
3 - The pool is not that warm, we went in early Sept and although the weather was hot sun/30 degrees every day, the pool is pretty "bracing" and too cold to really loiter in it. This is probably because the villa is almost 1,000 feet above sea level.
We have just returned from our holiday at Cortijo Contrares. We have all thoroughly enjoyed our stay (5adults 2children aged 6 & 8). The villa is well equipped and a mix of traditional Spanish and modern convenience. It is rural and not within walking distance of anything but we found this to be a positive. It meant we could enjoy family days around the pool without any problems if the kids shrieked a bit! We took full advantage of the barbecue. The road in to the villa is a bit bumpy but we only had ordinary family cars (Kia) and as long as you drove slowly it wasnât a problem. The views from the property are stunning and with two âtwitchersâ In our party, the variety of birds visiting the gardens and in the skies above, was a welcome addition. We visited Pizarra, and the lakes at El Chorro, and Alora which is beautiful with a village feel. There are plenty of places to eat but we particularly enjoyed Mariaâs Place where we enjoyed some stunning tapas dishes. We had regular messages from Paul the owner both before and during our stay, and Doug was on hand to keep the pool looking good, and answer any questions we had about the villa and the surrounding area. One of the best holidays ever.
Een prachtig gelegen villa in de bergen met een panoramisch uitzicht.
Een prachtig gelegen villa in de bergen met een panoramisch uitzicht. Een mooi zwembad en veel plekken om te zitten, zowel zon als schaduw.
Het huis is van alle gemakken voorzien. Doug is zeer behulpvaardig en zorgt voor veel dingen. Een fijne plek om te ontspannen.
The villa is perfect, very comfortable and extremely well equipped. The indoor and outdoor spaces were fantastic.
The pool was an absolute delight and a godsend in the high August temperatures.
Communications with Paul from beginning to end were brilliant. Doug was there extremely quickly to help with the odd small issue and also on hand to give local hints and tips.
The road leading to the villa is not a problem at all, just requires careful driving. The car rental suggested by Paul was perfect.
We would highly recommend this space for anyone who enjoys peace, time to be with your family undisturbed and who want to enjoy exploring both local and more tourist driven attractions.
Heel vlotte communicatie met Paul. Ter plaatse stond Doug steeds paraat. Heel complete ruime vakantiewoning met heel mooi uitzicht! Behoorlijk centraal gelegen voor uitstappen. Het was wel wennen aan de hoogteverschillen.
Wat een prachtig vakantiehuis. Alles is aanwezig! Een geweldig zwembad, magische uitzicht en een plek om heerlijk tot rust te komen. Echt een aanrader, wij komen zeker weer terug! Paul en Doug bedankt voor de goede service en het warme welkom.
We have just returned form an amazing stay here and are already wondering when we can next go back! The property, nestled up in the hills is completely secluded and private, perfect for those wanting to get away from it all. The pool is incredible and plenty large enough for a proper swim. Loads to see and do nearby and plenty of great restaurants, although we ate in using the BBQ lots of times. Paul was super-responsive to messages and queries and Doug who looks after the pool and general maintenance is very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this villa, I can't think of anything we'd change about it. Thank you Paul.
Thanks Paul for a great vacation. The house is spectacular. It has absolutely everything you need to have a pleasant stay. At night it cools and you can admire the stars. The pool is the closest thing to paradise. And thanks to Doug, the person who takes care of the pool and is there whenever it is needed. A highly recommended site!
Stayed at the villa in early September and had an amazing time. The communication with the owner beforehand was polite, friendly and made us all look forward to the stay.
The house has been very clean upon our arrival, the pool area got cleaned 3 times a week and we had a guy to call if any problems should ever arise (they did not). Kitchenspace was nice and tidy, the outside area made for wonderful breakfast with a fantastic view.
The only downside to the house is the road leading there, but that is only the last ~1000m and if you are prepared and rented a little bigger rental car, there is no trouble with that (we had a nissan qashqai)
pizzara holds all kinds of supermarkets for everyday needs. Alhora even has one open on sunday.
The drive to and from Malaga is easy and we even drove the 2 hours to sevilla and didnt have trouble on the road at all.
The Caminito del Ray is about 40 min away and if you stay here you should definitely get ticktes.
To sum things up, we had a great time and would definitely do it again.
Thanks to Paul & Doug :)
We had such a lovely two weeks at Cortijo Contrares which was very well equipped and very clean. We spent most of our time lounging by the lovely, large pool and relaxing on the terrace or one of the many other seating areas enjoying the views. Doug was delightful and was amazingly helpful with everything we needed. Would advise renting a car that can manage a bumpy track as itâs a 10 minute careful journey from the villa to the main road. Overall we had a truly relaxing and enjoyable holiday.
Just returned from our second visit to this stunning property and I can't wait to book our next trip. The location is breath taking, the villa is incredibly spacious, the peace and quiet is just what the doctor ordered and Doug was as wonderful as ever! If you want to escape to a little piece of heaven I would highly recommend this property !
Helen and I both work as doctors in the UK and so have a fairly hectic life with our 3 young daughters. We always rented villas in Spain for our own holidays and so have stayed at many different properties over many years. We hope that we have taken all of the good aspects of places that we have stayed at and brought them to our own so that others can enjoy.
We had thought about buying a place in Spain for many years and so have looked around many areas in Andalucia prior to settling here. We feel that this area offers the best of all worlds. It is a little off the beaten track as far as the popular tourist destinations are concerned. This ensures that you feel that you are in the real Andalucia whilst having all of the other benefits that the coastal areas offer within a short drive. Our main intention when looking for this place was to find tranquility and privacy which we have certainly achieved with Cortijo Contrares. We also wanted plenty of surrounding land which ensured that no matter what happened with any planning laws that we were protected.
Cortijo Contrares was a dream for us that came to reality and every time we go out to our place we find that we are able to relax and turn off within minutes. Every month is slightly different from the glorious sunny days in January with cool nights and the log burner roaring in the lounge at night to Spring when the countryside is green and colourful with all of the flowers and the fantastic birdlife. We also enjoy the strong and powerful sun of the summer and lazy days around the huge pool and terraces with long evenings barbequeing until the sun sets over the Alora hills. Autumn again brings a different climate with warm days and cooler evenings which provide the best time to do long walks from the villa around the surrounding hills.