Villa 206

Just a note to thank you for my wonderful week in Portugal.
The villa was a gem, my room was of five star quality, and the panoramic view was a delight to wake up to every morning.
I understand that my sister and her husband have already passed on their appreciation, and are talking about booking a return visit to Portugal through you.
I had a most enjoyable Saturday in Porto , and will no doubt return there for a weekend in the future - to continue my Port tasting...
Because I left early Saturday morning, I missed the chance to thank Rosa personally for her obvious kindness and thoughtfulness during my stay.
Thank you both once again for an excellent week - you really are quite a find, and I'll certainly pass on your details to my friends and colleagues.
Paul ( UK ) 29 Sept 2007

Just a short note to thank you both for all your help and welcome during our visit to Portugal last week. I am sorry I missed you on the first night but thanks for making the first arrivals feel very welcome. We had a great holiday, the villa was terrific and we found the area very peaceful.
Please also pass our thanks to Rosa ...she was great. Not only called in every couple of days to make sure everything was ok but came bearing gifts as well.
Thanks again... all the family were delighted with the villa and are already suggesting I should organise something similar soon.
Malcolm + Margaret ( UK ) Sept 2007

Villa 212

We just arrived back from Portugal to even worse welsh weather, and had a fantastic time, massage was lovely also. i just want to say the cook was fantastic and the villa if out of this world.  I really think the pictures you show on your web page don't do the villa justice at all, because it was amazing. we will definately be booking this villa again with you.
many thanks again"
donna  ( UK ) 18 Jun 2008

Just to thank you for your recommendation of villa 212 , It proved an excellent choice for a one off family gathering, the location was superb and the villa and amenities were first class and well beyond our expectations. Thank you for your kind assistance and also to Carlos for his warm welcome.
I would have no hesitation in recommending your company and look forward to returning to Northern Portugal in the future.
Yours sincerely
Tony ( UK )  01 Jun 2007

Villa 219

Thank you very much for your help re villa 219. We had a lovely three weeks and loved the location of the property and the garden/grounds and pool area.
Many thanks once again for all your help and kindness. You do a really good job and helped to make our holiday such a huge success. We really love the area and enjoyed our travels down to Pinhao etc however Ponte de Lima really is a very special town and we apprciated how lucky we were to be in that area!
Sue ( UK ) 28 Aug 2007

We enjoyed our holiday very much. We found the booking procedure, administration, directions to the villa and information at the villa very good. The villa itself was excellent. As it was so old and unusual it would have been interesting to learn about its history!
We would recommend the villa and Distinctive Portugal.
Best regards
Kay ( UK ) 11 July 2007

Villa 223

I have been thinking of you many times! Finally, I stopped myself to write an e-mail. After my holidays I have been in full speed at work and tonight it is 1st time at my home to play with computer and to start writing.... We have very very nice memories from your beautifull place, we had chance to visit.
Thanks a lot for your excellent and welcoming friendly services. Villa was perfect for our team, very much over of our expectations. The Cooks were fantastic , the food was extremely delicious. I cannot find right words to express myself, but I am trying to say that it was worth to visit and all of us had same opioin - we may come back one day. Please, pass my greetings to owner of the Villa as well as the cooks.
All of my friends have been promoting the place and your professional friendly services to take care of us! I have feeling that you will get some inquiries from Finland in near future.
Thanks a lot and I am passing greetings from all of us to you.
Ystävällisin Terveisin
Pertti (Finland) 05 Jun 2008

Thanks for your follow-through, and your efforts on our behalf. We did enjoy our travels in Portugal . We found the people friendly, and some of the places truly beautiful.
Our favorite places were the island of Madeira , the Douro River region, and Sintra. We were not particularly impressed with either Lisbon or Oporto , but we really didn't give the cities any time, either.
We loved the people, the accomodations, and the incredible restaurant at the Pousada QueLuz, but it was a bit difficult getting into Lisbon from there. Sintra was wonderful, and we could spend more time there. We found some beautiful azulejos there, and even went to the factory of Vuelva Lamego (I'm not sure I got the spelling right) outside of town. That was a big highlight for Julie, as she was disappointed with the selection in Sevilla, and really wanted to find some tile sets. And going to the factory store is more satisfying (and less expensive) than buying from the tourist shops in Sintra. But to be fair to Sintra, there was a good variety of shops, and one shop in particular offered a very broad selection of azulejos, but it had to order them from the factory and then ship to the buyer, which would have been much more costly. This way, we packed the tile sets in our baggage, and took them on the plane.
Madeira was particularly dramatic at night with all the lights, and we had a lovely dinner up behind Funchal at one of the skewered-meat restaurants.
It was recommended by one of the guys at the car rental agency, and it was our most enjoyable meal in Madeira .
There are two important things we would do differently next time, though.
1) New Year's in Madeira . For New Year's, it's very hard to get to Funchal from outside town, unless you go late afternoon or early evening and spend the entire time in Funchal. We couldn't get a taxi to town after dinner, and finding a parking place for our rental car there was even more hopeless. So New Year's was a complete bust for us. We were very unhappy about that. Some of the more enterprising Portuguese did find a way to get to town and saw the fireworks, but it was not easy. Next time, I would pay the extra amount and stay in Funchal. I would also avoid having a gala dinner/dance with a group of people on a package tour, and try instead to book a reservation at a fine restaurant for the pre-fireworks dinner.
Package tours are just not for us, we now realize, especially with a group of people who don't speak much of our language. Doing the Madeira trip right, however, would have cost a lot more money, but would have avoided the disappointment.
2) Douro wineries. The Douro area is spectacularly beautiful, in an almost primeval way. We want to visit there again. The pousada was quite wonderful, although enough out of the way that you pretty much wanted to have dinner there, since the roads are so treacherous to Regua, especially that time of year. We did visit the Vintage House Hotel and had a lovely lunch there. Off season, it's not too expensive, so if we had had more time, we would have wanted to stay there as well. We did tour that one winery you proposed, at the very end of the day, and had a good time there.
For the future, we would want to plan the winery visits much more carefully, and have that all clearly set up in advance. We were disappointed that we couldn't taste at more wineries. It was not the best time of year, as many wineries are only open during high tourist season.
We fantasize about renting a house in the Douro for a week with another couple or two, and really exploring the region. But if we're tasting, who will drive the car on those narrow, winding roads? We would need a small tank....
So those are my thoughts right now.
Best regards
Wayne ( USA ) Jan 2008