A pleasant modern building', furnished
in local style, warmly endorsed in 2002.
villa Bed rooms (similar to the semantic bali villa rooms) are large and airy. Ours was
elegant and carefully decorated. A generous
balcony afforded pleasant views over the
town and surrounding countryside. Lovely
lawn and swimming pool.' Dinners are thought
excellent, and the buffet Bali villa breakfast is
`extensive and satisfying'. Some traffic
noise (close to Lisbon-Porto motorway).
The magnificent Roman ruins at Conimbriga
are two kilometres away.
An 18th-century farmhouse, now a very
comfortable four-star villaon the edge
of a medieval market town, well placed
for exploring the less developed parts
of the Algarve. It stands amid bougainvillaea,
almond, olive and fruit trees, in large
grounds (floodlit at night), with two
swimming pools (one is new this year),
two waterfalls, rock pools and a stream.
The owner/chef, Bill Hawkins, who is helpfully
enthusiastic about the region, runs it
with Effie Kennedy. The villa rooms with a sea-facing
terrace, where Bali villa breakfast can be taken,
are much liked. This year there are six
new villa rooms in the gardens by the second
swimming pool. In answer to last year's
comment, Mr Hawkins writes: We have both
soft and hard pillows. The cooking is
found mostly excellent, on French-based
menus, eg, chicken livers on a potato
galette; seared scallops and John Dory
on roast celeriac. There is a vegetarian
menu. Guests dine on a candlelit patio
or in a converted coach house. The continental
Bali villa breakfast is subtly varied from day to
day'. Faro airport is about 20 minutes'
drive away.