Location and setting Casa da Rosa is an exclusive and luxurious home from home on a hilltop in Vale da Rosa - Valley of the Rose - just 2kms from the city of Loule, 15 minutes drive from the airport and the wonderful beaches around Almancil, and 20 minutes drive from the historic seafront cities of Faro and Olhao - from where you can experience the wonder of nature that is the Ria Formosa. Loulé is a bustling historic city with many bars, restaurants, shops and a wonderful fresh food market. Loulé also has a great choice of supermarkets. Casa da Rosa enjoys complete privacy in the 12,000 m2 of land in which it sits. With its 6000 m2 of beautiful gardens, heated private pool, impressive pool bar, and extensive terraces with incredible views of the valley and the sea, you will feel completely relaxed and at peace here. Casa da Rosa facilities Casa da Rosa is ideal for large family celebrations, multi-family holidays, and holidays with large groups of friends. Outside peak summer season, it is also an ideal base for golf, hiking, biking and driving holiday groups. Because of its beautiful location and views, it also makes a wonderful wedding venue for smaller weddings of 30-40 people. Casa da Rosa is designed and equipped to feel like a very exclusive and luxurious holiday villa but, at the same time, a home from home from the moment you walk through the door. Casa da Rosa is recently completely renovated and furnished - from kitchen to living room, bedrooms and bathrooms, and all outside spaces. Casa da Rosa comfortably sleeps 12 adults in 6 King Size bedrooms - we can also provide two extra single beds and three cots if needed. All the bedrooms and lounge/dining room have remote controlled air-conditioning. The master bedroom has an open bathroom with a freestanding bathtub. Casa da Rosa has free 1GB optical fibre Wi-Fi throughout the house and in the pool, pool bar and terrace areas. There are televisions in the lounge and all bedrooms with access to YouTube and Netflix - and also a MEO TV subscription in the lounge. There are 6 portable Sonos Wi-Fi speakers - with the Sonos app you can play music from your phone or tablet to one or more speakers. There is also a PlayStation 4 in the games room/bedroom. For outdoors, there is a large grass playing field with badminton net/racquets, small football goals and a pétanque set, and a ping pong table on the covered terrace adjacent to the outside dining area. The kitchen is directly adjacent to the lounge/dining room and the outdoor dining terrace, and is fully equipped with Siemens appliances and all the necessary equipment and utensils - including a bean grinding coffee machine. Adjacent to the outdoor dining terrace is a fully equipped stone BBQ. From the living room and impressive pool bar you overlook the large crystal-clear heated private 12m x 5m swimming pool. This is a much healthier saltwater type pool which we test and maintain at least weekly - more often in the summer months. The pool bar offers shade during the day and an area to relax and socialise in the evening, and there is also shade offered by a sailcloth canopy at the opposite end of the pool. The pool bar has a mini-fridge for everyday use, but also a wine fridge that we stock with some of our favourite local wines that can be consumed on a paid for basis - we can restock during your stay. In the beautifully maintained and irrigated gardens you will find lawns, palm trees, olive trees, oleander and many other Portuguese plants, shrubs and trees. In the evening, the garden is enchantingly lit with solar powered lighting. Environmental impact As owners, we are committed to doing our bit to reduce the environmental impact of Casa da Rosa. A recently installed heat pump provides heated water for the pool and central heating - when required - significantly reducing electricity consumption. We use natural water from our borehole to irrigate the gardens and top up the pool - removing the environmental costs associated with using Utility sourced treated drinking water. And as far as possible, we use solar lights for garden and other outdoor lighting. We recently made the decision to charge our guests for the electricity they actually consume during their stay at Casa da Rosa on the basis this may contribute to reduced electricity consumption. We have clearly seen a drop in electricity consumption as a result of this. Therefore, at check out you will pay for your consumption based on metered usage during your stay and the EDP rates we are charged. We make no profit on this charge. Our purpose as your hosts Your hosts and owners are a family that live 20 minutes from Casa da Rosa near Olhao and Sao Bras de Alportel. We have been regular visitors to the Algarve for many years and have lived here for more than two years. As such, we know the Algarve well and can help make your stay as perfect as possible. We want you to feel at home from the moment you arrive at Casa da Rosa - so you will be greeted by one or more members of our family who will give you a tour of the villa and explain all its facilities. For those arriving at anti-social hours, we are happy to defer the detailed tour and explanation until the following morning if you prefer. Thereafter, we will maintain a discrete distance, albeit always there to provide support on anything you might need during your stay. We will also be there at the end of your stay to help with any departure arrangements. In addition, because we are here and part of the local Algarve community, we are able to help facilitate a broad range of additional services that you may need or desire during your stay. This may include things like: - airport transfers - local taxis - quality meet and fish - games tables, eg pool, table football, table tennis etc - barbecue service - local vineyard tour This is not an exhaustive list, so if you have any requests or needs, please ask us at any time before or during your stay. We will do everything possible to help. We very much look forward to welcoming you to Casa da Rosa