Surf Vilas by Laneez Ericeira

I liked the breakfast, and there are plenty of places to spend time, including the garden, pool, tennis court, and living area. The person who welcomed me was warm and chatty, and helped over Whatsapp when I arrived. Those were the good parts of my two days at Laneez. The rooms made it hard to sleep. On the first night, a motion-sensitive light kept turning on whenever the person in the neighboring bed moved. It seems someone fixed it by the second night, but it was surprising that it hadn’t been sorted before. My bed’s white curtain didn’t cover every side, so there wasn’t much privacy. The storage containers under the beds were about a meter and a half wide and long, and you had to pull them all the way out to open them. They were loud to move, so getting anything at night would wake everyone. I also didn’t get much of a community feeling here. That may not matter to everyone, especially if you’re out all day, but the other surf hostels I’ve stayed at generally feel open and communal, and this one didn’t. I’d been excited about the surf villas after seeing the photos, reading other reviews, and hearing about a friend’s experience. In reality, it felt very different, and after coming from another hostel in Ericeira, I went back there after staying at Laneez. I was surprised by the location too. I’d thought there might be a quick way up the hill from the surf house, but it’s a steep, winding road past construction, and the villas feel quite separate from both the surf house and central Ericeira. It’s probably about a 15 minute walk to the centre, which felt a bit far out to me. That’s fine if easy access to restaurants, surf shops, cafés, or breakfast places doesn’t matter to you, but at this price I’d suggest other places if it does.

The people working there and the surf instructors were all so sweet, helpful, and nice. It was easy to connect with everyone, and we really didn’t want to leave. The villa is lovely, with clean private rooms that have light and a terrace shared with the dorm guests. We’ll definitely be back soon. Thank you all!

Lovely people, a great ocean view, and breakfasts with so much to choose from. Really nice place!

The surf school was a real bright spot during my week at Laneez Villas as a solo traveller. They had three different lessons a day for 40€/hour, with friendly teachers, great vibes, and useful advice. I had a private room with a shared bathroom, but found the villas disappointing. Noise carried badly into my room, and a group of guests hanging out outside kept me from sleeping properly. The place wasn’t very clean overall, and the breakfast buffet was just okay. I have mixed feelings about Laneez.