Messages

Thank you Cat! I sent along the details in a PM. Welcome to co-organising

I just asked the manager about the number of adult versus child beds. I did not want to overwhelm her with questions about the pool at the moment as it seems fine from the photo and is mentioned in the listing. I agree they could have featured it a little better in the photos. It looks like it is a fair way down from the porch, but that may just be perspective.

I'm 99% certain that this is the house, based on the trees and the pool shape:

https://www.google.com/maps?q=38.801384,-9.385575&num=1=h&z=19

[EDIT:]

We have been given provisional booking of the Sintra Property for 3 days while we come up with the initial payment of 680 EUR. They are asking me to do a bank transfer, which I am unable to do from my US account. I asked if they can accept Paypal, since that is how we will all do our own payments, but have not heard back at this moment.

I may need someone else to step in and handle the payment if it turns out they cannot accept Paypal.

EDIT:

Paylpal is possible, but only one payment, as this payment has a surcharge of 3.5% of the total amount.

My advise is, if you want to pay via paypal, it is better to transfer all the money to one of your groups accounts, and then one person makes the payment.

Please let me know how you would like to proceed.

Is anyone willing to step in to handle the payments? We only have three days, and even if I do manage a bank transfer (they claim plenty of US bank transfers), those days will have elapsed by the time Paypal payments hit my account. I can forward the information to any takers.

Doodle Poll Part II

Yeah, I agree. The bus idea was meant for some of the further out places. I had assumed we could rent cars locally.

After further reading between my top two choices, I have decided to put my vote 100% behind the Sintra house. It is less than 1km from the historic centre of Sintra, and there is a tram that can take us to nearby Praia das Maçãs. Additionally, it is one contiguous chalet and from what I can tell from the description, the owner does not live on premises.

EDIT:

That single 387 km journey is priced at 795 EUR, or about 45 euros each. It was worth checking!

[EDIT:]

LOOK!!

I'm still waiting to hear back from the Quinta da Foz property and the bus company, Frota Azul. As of this post, we have three properties available from July 19 to 26, and two from 12 to 19 (Saturday the 12th specifically poses a problem for some). Any thoughts on these properties?

EDIT:

I quite like the Sintra Manor House.

Wow, congratulations Dirk and Christina! Sorry that I won't see you guys two years in a row, but this is great news

How non-negotiable are these 12th to 19th dates?

[EDIT:]

My only issue with it at the time was that is was 5 separate properties. I'll contact them though. The communal areas are good enough that we should all have an easy time socialising. My only concern is finding a place indoors. We can probably rearrange some areas for the week though. I will contact them right now.

Sorry for all the confusion and linking a new property every few posts, but just seeing which ones bite first before I collect everything in a single organised post.

EDIT: I will post all property inquiries here! Sorry that some are not from the list. They are new suggestions offered for our group size when I make submit queries.

The owners of Villa Cipreste (#9) say they can only accommodate 16 people despite listing themselves as 18.

AVAILABLE JULY 19 TO 26

Sintra Manor House is available for 3,400 EUR plus 500 EUR security deposit. It is 40 minutes from Lisbon airport. <PHOTOS>

Quinta da Foz Inquiry sent. Very spacious private property consisting of three buildings. 1 hour from Lisbon airport. <PHOTOS>

Indoor Pool Villa Available for 2,978 GBP for up to 20 people (actual price is in Euros but for some reason only quoted in approximate Sterling). 33% down and remainder 60 days prior to arrival. Indoor swimming (). Pool table. No lack of common areas. Owner's apartment is on the first floor of the main house, but is separate.

Villa in Alcantarilha Available for 2,419 GBP. This property is also priced in Euros but quoted only in Sterling. Personally, not a fan of this property but we need options!


AVAILABLE FROM JULY 12 TO 19

Villa in Barrio is available for 1,995 GBP. This property is in the far north of Portugal, and will involve either a hefty drive from Lisbon, or flying to Porto. This property is just under an hour drive from that airport.

5 Cottages (#2) 2,950 GBP. Exclusive use of all communal areas and the pool. 25% required to book. Remainder 8 weeks prior to arrival. Did not mention damage deposit in email.


Hiring a private coach from Lisbon Airport is 795 EUR to Ponte de Lima

http://www.travelopo.com/property/2126427

This does not seem to have an appropriate communal area inside, but the BBQ place looks nice.

Yeah this place doens't seem to ideal after noticing there are several small kitchen areas and one larger one, also the property  is one large structure, but seems segmented a bit with different entrances.


I was given another suggestion by the manager, but did not link it because it was two adjacent properties, but looks like there are plenty of communal areas. Has an indoor pool though :S:

http://www.travelopo.com/property/2035854

Having a separate accommodation area wouldn't be the end of the world I guess, however less ideal. We might need to put aside stuff like that at this point. It worked in France and in Italy with minimal issues.

The property manager contacted the owners and was informed the property is now booked out she did give me an alternative listing that looks worthwhile though. Sorry to add yet another property, but we should look into it at least:

http://www.travelopo.com/property/2126427


In the meantime, I shall do the initial contact with this property and also see about #9, if they can accept 18.

Yeah I looked at that front garden on Street View, and it looked like an incredibly inviting place to just hang out under the tree. It is blocked in by a little stone fence too. I am going to declare that area the Erana's Peace of this Mittens.

Bagsy a bed to myself!  And a room, if numbers allow!

I'm afraid that bagsying is most likely not an option this trip You are welcome to bagsy a single bed in a twin room though! What is your toilet routine like?

Thank you for your reply and that is great news that you would like to proceed to book property ref: 1717265.

I will contact the owner to secure your dates and as I soon as I receive their confirmation (this may be tomorrow morning) I will forward you your booking confirmation invoice email complete with internet and A/C costs.

This link I was given has larger and more photos of the property than the Owner's Direct version, as well as a more up-to-date booking calendar:

http://www.travelopo.com/property/1717625

I went ahead and emailed the owners of #3 and got a fast response. The property is available from July 19th to 26th at the rate of 2,750 GBP. It turns out that this is the ONLY week left this summer. We need to act fast.

I asked for an official rate including everything before posting back here. There are a few extras like internet (25 GBP) and air conditioning (250 GBP) and pool heating (250 GBP).

Pool heating seems unnecessary, but air conditioning may be a good option depending on what everyone's preferences are. I can't remember if we've had air conditioning in the past, besides Florida maybe? Should we opt for it? or live without?

33% of the total is required as a down payment, then the remainder 60 days ahead of check in (May 20th).

While I am waiting to hear back officially, based on the rate, deposit, and internet I came up with 3,275 GBP, which is 182 GBP each if we have 18. 27.77 is the individual damage deposit, so it works out to nearly 155 GBP after that is returned. If we decide to go with air conditioning, it will add almost 14 GBP each.

What does everyone think of the extras? Should we go for internet and/or air conditioning?

So villa #s 1, 3, and 9 seem like the most popular on the Doodle poll. 2 is up there too. 4-8 got a lot of "No" and "If need be" votes. Should we pare down the list a bit as a result?

#1 and #3 are slightly less than 7 km apart, so either location will involve flying to Faro or a train from Lisbon.

#9 is 50 km from Lisbon airport, so should hopefully not be too difficult to arrange mass transport.


I am still hoping for #3 It is the only one on the list with 100% approval, and it appears to genuinely accommodate 18 persons. #9 says "sleeps 18" on the sidebar, but the description says "up to 16".

I agree that getting around and having close amenities is important, but proximity to Lisbon is less-so.

From wikiTravel:

The Alpha Pendular - a high-speed train, runs at least twice a day to and from Lisbon. About 2,5 hours, â,¬20 one way, â,¬25 on first class. The Inter City trains run more frequently but take a little longer, with more stops - about 3.5 to 4 hours.

This may prove worthwhile not only for a day trip activity but also if flying to Faro ends up more trouble for some people.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Algarve

It sounds like there might be a little more going on there than it looks like from satellite images. If we don't have an issue with cars, enjoying the rural while being not too far from civilisation seems possible here.


I just checked into flights to three different airports from London to get an idea (for at least some of us ) on return fares. These are what I found today for July 19 - 26. I mostly found Monarch and TAP airlines, along with a few easyJet, but those involved out-of-the-way airports.

Lisbon: 256 USD    155 GBP
Faro:    360 USD    218 GBP
Porto:  276 USD    167 GBP

This one that Berian posted in Vale Covo has my vote! http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/portugal/P15306.htm?src=LS

I would be a bit nervous, though not completely against sharing driving duties. Mostly it is the preference for manual transmissions (which I am over ten years out of practice on) in Europe that deter me.

As for location, I voted Portugal in the poll, but am open to other ideas. One idea I just had is a return to Spain. Sure, we spent 2006 there, but that was our last year "roughing it", before we turned to villas, so it would be an entirely different experience. We could (please! ) stay somewhere other than Benidorm, and the number of villas there outnumber almost anywhere else on these sites.

I am of course all up for new places, but revisiting different places in former locations is still a good option.

Thoughts?

As for language - probably only...France? I think that was the only time we haven't had a native speaker with us

While not native, in France we had Ivy as a fluent speaker. About halfway though the grotte tour, she took over for the guide after they decided it would be simpler to hand Ivy the notes I think we managed nicely with the french we knew between us, and my only difficulty was trying to tell a clerk I wanted a baguette, but that only took a few seconds of pointing.

I agree, and tried avoiding any listings that said it was a collection ofr apartments. A decent sized kitchen is essential.

Also, a pool > proximity to a beach, but we should have little issue getting to the sea at some point from the looks of things.

[Croatia]

I took a look at some properties in Croatia and Portugal. There seem to be plenty of options available to our common group size. Some have good availability while others are nearly booked out.

The exact locations are something I overlooked as I am unfamiliar with Croatia, but I'm assuming most of the properties aren't too difficult to reach.

Any other ideas for locations?

Croatia

Location	Sleeps	Rent	Each	Deposit	Notes
Villa Nichole	14	4,060 EUR	290 EUR	500 EUR
Susnjevica Villa	14	2,370 EUR	170 EUR	300 EUR
Villa Moncitta	15	2,795 GBP	187 GBP	20%(?)	Only available July 19 - 26
Zminj Villa	15	2,800 EUR	187 EUR	300 EUR	Only available July 26 - August 2
Trget Villa	16 + 2	3,300 EUR	184 EUR	400 EUR
Villa Katarina	14	3,395-3,495 GBP	243 - 250 GBP	300 EUR	Available July 19 - August 2, will not rent to under-25s
Vodnjan Villa	21	2,600-3,900 EUR	124 - 186 EUR	300 EUR	Available June 21 - July 19

Portugal

Location	Sleeps	Rent	Each	Deposit	Notes
Viana do Castelo	23	2,280 EUR	100 EUR		A 4-star review mentions an inadequate kitchen for 18
Villa Cascais	18	4,500 - 4,800 EUR	250 - 267 EUR	650 EUR	Availability calendar is not maintained
Ulgueira Farmhouse	20	2,750 EUR	138 EUR		Looks isometric
Costa De Paiva	17	2,220 EUR	124 EUR
Sesimbra Villa	18	3,000	167 - 188 EUR (?)		May involve renting a nearby property for more than 16