Tapada De Sao Domingos

The location was perfect. We wanted to stay outside of town and the villa was beautiful with a great view. Spotlessly clean with a well equipped kitchen and a host that was so welcoming and helpful. We went in March so the pool was chilly but we used it anyways! In spite of arriving hours earlier than planned, Sebastião handled it in stride and took us a on a tour of the local area and got us our welcome basket of fruit and other local food items. He answered our many questions that cropped up during the week. We had an issue with the smoke detector the first evening that Sebastião fixed promptly (he’s just up the hill!) And we made freshly squeezed orange juice from the trees on the property everyday!

A couple of extra rolls of toilet paper! (Haha) Not sure if it’s possible or even practical - but since we were there between cold and hot weather, it would have been nice to have had screens in windows/doors so we could open them up to let fresh air in without fear of something flying/walking in.

beautiful villa 20 minutes drive from Porto, hospitable owner, ready to help every minute. very clean, nice interior, outdoor pool with a great view

it was a bit cold but that's ok for january in portugal. the house is heated by air conditioners

Pictures don't do this property justice. Property is beautiful and modern. Very close to city of Porto but just far enough away to offer a peaceful river front location. Host is very helpful and went out of his way to show us were the grocery store was and even booked us dinner reservations at a local restaurant so we could celebrate my husband's birthday when we arrived. He arranged for a cab into the city and back for us and had lots of suggestions of what to check out in the area. Would highly recommend and will be back ourselves.

Absolutely nothing was amiss

Lovely villa, good position with kind and thoughtful host.

We had to leave early for family reasons.

The location is close to Porto and other tourist locations but quiet, serene and has lovely views. You can take a local bus to Porto from the property gates or the host will organise a taxi if you don’t want to drive or park in Porto itself. The pool is natural water and in a lovely setting. Each house has a different viewpoint and benefits from the sun at different times of the day so your host could advise the most appropriate property. The water was refreshing but perfect for swimming in late September. There are local amenities including a bakery, restaurant and supermarket within a short drive. The bakery has croissants, and a cafe with crepes and pizza options. We also found an excellent bakery in Lever on the opposite side of the dam next to the cemetery. The supermarket has an excellent fish and meat counter. The river road is pretty to drive and has accessible swimming beaches on both sides of the Douro as another swimming alternative. The host is exuberant and on hand, checking in regularly as needed and providing local knowledge and sightseeing advice. The washing machine was useful although drying clothes may be more difficult out of season. Washing the towels mid week was helpful. Swim towels were provided. There was one insect plug-in charger; on reflection I would bring additional ones. The beds were very comfortable. We were grateful for the hospitality basket including bread, milk, fruit and homemade jam. It would be helpful to include butter.

It was difficult to turn into the property; the automatic gates are slow to open and the entrance narrow. The local traffic is light and confidence increases over the stay. Once checked in you have your own key fob. We self catered most nights. It would be helpful to have an oven glove, apron and a few ,sharper knives. It was difficult to BBQ without implements but the local sardines are worth persisting with it! All the manuals are available for the appliances but we struggled to access the TV. It is very difficult to buy fresh milk, UHT options seem the local preference.

We had a wonderful stay here in September. Sebastiao our host was incredible helpful, giving a quick introduction to the area, and then leaving us to get on with our holiday - but with help available should we need it. The location is great, easy to get into Porto and also quick to get onto the motorway to visit other places around (V Novo de Gaia, Braga, Aviero, the Douro Valley). The villa itself was clean and has everything you might need. The pool, terrace and view over the river are a delight.

Nearest supermarket is ok for essentials but we found a better one on the outskirts of Espinho. There are also a number of convenient LIDLs in town. Our guide books suggested that parking in Porto is tricky and expensive, but we found a number of reasonably priced car parks centrally which were expensive for Porto, but reasonable compared to parking back home. Parking at Porto Campanha station for example has a max fee of 10 Euros.

it was spacious, clean, had everything we needed