Villa Elena

We were four adults staying at Villa Elena from February to March 2023. I’d give it 8/10, and we’d definitely come back. The patio gets loads of sun and has comfortable loungers, a large marble table, and stone benches by the bbq. It’s lovely to sit out there at night and look at the stars. The pool is smaller than it appears in the photos, but you can swim if you don’t mind turning around a lot. It isn’t heated or covered, so you’ll find bugs in it even though it’s cleaned every few days. The maids came every two days, around 4pm during our stay, and finished in under 15 minutes. They’re a very efficient team, and it’s good that the company sends them out together, which is faster and safer. Inside, the villa was clean and very well equipped. We arrived to a welcome basket with water, orange juice, coffee, bread, biscuits and more, which was a lovely touch. There are three spacious bedrooms, two twins and a double, and two identical, roomy bathrooms, one on each floor. The downstairs bedroom is a twin; upstairs there’s another twin and the double, plus a balcony overlooking the pool and patio. The stairs are fairly steep, so they may be difficult for anyone with reduced mobility. We all found the beds comfortable. The bathrooms have dual head showers with good pressure and temperature, though the hot water tank isn’t very big. It heats quickly, so leave a few minutes between showers. Towels, toilet rolls and good quality linens are provided. There’s a cosy corner sofa in the living room and a roughly 46-inch smart TV with apps such as Netflix. The kitchen has what you need to cook, and there’s a washing machine and clothes horse in the utility room. A few things could be improved. Key collection and check-in are in person at Apartamentos Acuario Sol. After a four-hour flight, carrying luggage another seven minutes uphill to collect the keys is a nuisance and eats into the start of the holiday. They’ll pay for a taxi from there to the villa, but the process still cost us the best part of an hour. Online check-in, with passports sent ahead and a card on file, would be much easier. Other villas we’ve used have remote check-in and a security box for keys. We were also given just one set for the gate and front door. With four adults and different plans for the evening, whoever was back at the villa had to stay up until the others returned so the doors could be locked. We asked for another set but couldn’t get one. The WiFi worked fine downstairs, but kept disconnecting upstairs despite several attempts to fix it. I had a few video calls to join, and it wasn’t fair to ask everyone else to leave the downstairs area. A WiFi extender would help. There are some minor issues, but this is still an excellent villa.