Casa do Cerco

The best part was spending time outside watching sailboats and sunsets while playing cards. The view from almost anywhere in or around the house is stunning: ocean and coastline, sunrises and sunsets, moonlight and stars, distant city lights, and waves crashing all day. From the private gate across the road, you can watch the waves hit the lava rock with huge splashes and see the birds. There’s a small ocean swimming area with changing rooms about a minute’s walk away. The house itself has a lot of character, with yellow walls, red tile floors, solid wood doors and trim, and artistic white tiles that speak to the history of wine production in the azores. It has four bedrooms and four bathrooms and can comfortably hold about eight people at most. The kitchen works well and has a full-size refrigerator. The tap water tastes and smells fine. There’s a washing machine and an outdoor line for drying clothes. Dan the superhost left us a lovely bottle of wine, a huge fresh loaf of bread, and a wedge of local cheese. Internet was strong in the family and dining room and on the back deck, but unavailable in the bedrooms and bathrooms. The major issue was a powerful smell when we entered the house. Some of us thought it was mildew or mold, while others thought it was some kind of chemical. Whatever it was, it was overpowering by the front door, stayed the whole time, and nothing covered it up. The house was also full of flies and gnats hovering overhead. We tried to get rid of them, but they kept coming back. The gnats mostly stayed in the kitchen. We told the host, who said it was very hard to get rid of the flies. We wish we’d been told before arriving. The downstairs east bathroom also had a constant odor, possibly from bad plumbing or P-trap problems, or possibly serious mildew or mold. It carried into the closet of the downstairs east bedroom. It was humid and uncomfortably warm, with no air conditioning. Oddly, the smaller secondary house on the property does have AC. Even with the windows open, almost no breeze came in. The house cooled a little in the middle of the night, but not much. There were two old electric fans, and neither worked well. The washing machine was tiny, and clothes didn’t dry very well on the line right by the ocean. The three bedrooms advertised as having twin beds had beds shorter and narrower than regular twins. They’d only be comfortable for children or smaller adults. I’m 6’ and my feet hung off the end. The bathrooms were tiny, with showers smaller than a cruise ship bathroom shower. One downstairs bathroom had an extremely narrow tub. In the other, the shower door only opened halfway because of the sink placement, which was also right by the entrance, making it awkward to get in and out. The black stones from the driveway to the front door were slippery when wet or when our feet or shoes were wet. Our checkout was at 10am, but the cleaners arrived at 9:15 while we were still packing. They waited patiently on the back deck, were very nice, and told us not to rush. They even helped us take one last family photo on the property.

We visited in July 2024. It was a great place near the ocean, and we found some nice restaurants about 5 minutes away by car. After exploring the area, we enjoyed a swim in the pool.

A beautiful spot for watching the sunset.