Casa Carambila

We had a wonderful few days here. Everything was spotless, the views were lovely, and the service was impeccable. The hostess was attentive the whole time and made sure we had what we needed. I highly recommend it.

Everything was great and super clean. We had a lovely time and will definitely come back.

The layout, location, and amenities all have a lot going for them. The house sits in the mountains at almost 700 meters, with a lovely distant sea view, and the pool gets sun throughout the day. Still, several issues made our three-week stay difficult. The mattresses sagged badly. In the master bedroom, lying on our backs was comfortable enough, but the dip around the hips made it impossible to lie on our sides. We moved to the third bedroom and pushed its twin beds together, but they were worn too. Those beds did have one advantage: we didn’t feel every movement from each other. The master bedroom’s double bed had only a simple iron frame, which didn’t feel stable, and we didn’t sleep very restfully. The living room sofa was worn out, or at least uncomfortable for anyone above a certain weight. There was also an unpleasant smell from the shower drain and the bathtub in the other bathroom. Covering the drains with wet cloths reduced it somewhat. We noticed a bad odor outside as well. A sofa sits in the outdoor area under a roof, but the unsealed drainage pit at the terrace edge has a large gap, so the smell kept coming out and made the sofa unusable. Black mold was another concern. Because of the roof’s poor slope, moisture gathers on the slanted shower ceiling and encourages mold. Near the entrance in the main room, the roof also seemed damaged in several places. On our first rainy day, the residual current device (RCD) kept tripping, leaving us without lights or TV. Other problems were more minor, but still worth mentioning. The jacuzzi is a nice feature, though its water wasn’t changed during our stay and the filtration could do more to keep dirt from building up. The kettle was broken, so we bought a replacement ourselves for a few euros. Only two of the four burners on the outdoor kitchen’s gas stove worked, and only two of the three bedrooms had air conditioning. Getting to the house also took some care. We had an SUV with high ground clearance, but there’s a concrete speed bump just before the house that regular cars used by locals regularly got stuck on.

The owners were warm and welcoming, which made arriving and leaving easy. For me, this place works well for a short break, though I don’t think I’d choose it for more than a week. It’s a well-arranged house with a clean, maintained interior and space for six; a larger group would feel cramped. Outside, there’s plenty of room, a barbecue, and a small pool with amazing views that stretch to the sea. Competa is quite close, but the drive involves lots of bends, followed by potholes on dirt tracks on the way to the house. A regular car can make it, though the rough approach limits getting around a bit.