Retiro do Viriato

Our host Claudia met us as our car Navigation wouldn't pick up the address, even though a Portuguese hire car operator tried putting it in for us. She was a lovely lady and went out of her way to lead us to the property

If you like basics this is the holiday for you: Washing machine consists of a plastic tub with rubbing board and a rope line. Oven was broken so we had portable oven on a stool which was dangerous when you opened the oven door and very slow. No extractor fan. Lighting in kitchen was poor. TV was only in Portuguese and there was no heating (unless you wanted to light a big open fire but there was no wood) so evening were spent sitting under blankets reading. The mattresses were hard, plenty of blankets which were heavy. There is an open wooden ladder/staircase to basement level with no handrail or gate at the top, not good for the eldery or young children. The patio/ balcony had wonderful views over the valley and mountains and would have been tranquil, only to be spoilt by the continual barking of two German shepherd dogs in the adjoining property, who barked day and night. We also had to change our hire car for a smaller one to make it easier to access the property. The cafe in the village, which we were told had lovely meals was shut the whole time we were there. I booked in a hurry and had not read the reviews before booking, if I had I would not have booked. If you think I am over critical of a villa in the mountains of Portugal I would just like to say I live in a mountainous region myself.