Is there a security deposit at Quinta Cipreste, and what else does the villa charge for?

The villa sets its deposit and it is written into your agreement before you book. Ask us and we will tell you the figure for your dates. Two things you can add if you want them: pool heating at €300 a week and a grocery shop waiting on the day you arrive at €50 for the stay, plus whatever the shopping itself comes to. Neither is on your quote unless you ask for it.

When do we arrive, and can we book a shorter stay?

Friday to Friday, a full week. Four nights outside the holiday periods, seven through them. Tell us your dates and we will tell you what it allows.

Which airport do we fly into for Quinta Cipreste?

Faro (FAO), about twenty-five minutes away by road. Lisbon is about two and a half hours north, and some groups take it on purpose: the drive down through the Alentejo and onto the coast is a good one, and there is a direct train from Lisbon to Faro if nobody wants to drive. Add the Driver and you are met at arrivals and driven in.

What comes with the villa, and what can I add at Quinta Cipreste?

The whole villa, yours alone, 5 suites for 10. Add the concierge, a driver, a chef and a coach and we plan the week and come back with one price.

When do I pay for Quinta Cipreste, and what if we have to cancel?

30% of the week confirms the booking, within 7 days of it, and the rest is due 8 weeks before you arrive. Booked inside 8 weeks, it is the whole amount within 3 days. Booked inside a week, it is a transfer straight away. Cancel more than 6 weeks out and the villa keeps the 30%. Inside 6 weeks it is the full amount. They will try to re-let the week, and where they manage it they charge a small fee instead.

Is there a minimum age to book Quinta Cipreste, and can we bring children?

The booking has to be in the name of someone thirty-five or over. Children are a question rather than a flat yes or no, so tell us their ages when you enquire and we will confirm with the owners before anything is held.

Does Quinta Cipreste have its own padel court, and is it private?

Yes. The court is inside the villa's own fence, in the garden across the meadow from the farmhouse, and while your group has the villa nobody else can use it. It is laid on turf with glass ends, trees behind it and the hills beyond, and it is floodlit, so a game after dinner works in December as well as in June. Rackets and balls are courtside, there is a bench in the shade at the end of it, and the pool is a few steps away.

Is the Algarve worth it out of season, and when is the best time to play padel there?

The Algarve's quiet months are the best months to play here. November averages around 20°C with six or seven hours of sun a day, March is about the same with seven, and by April the days reach 23°C and the rain has thinned to a handful of days. December is the wettest month and still averages close to 17°C. What that means on the ground is that the court is comfortable at any hour from October to May, the pool heats on request rather than closing, and the coast empties out: the beaches below Boliqueime in March belong to whoever walks them. High summer is the exception here, when the middle of the day is for the pool and the court waits until six.

What does a week at Quinta Cipreste cost for ten people?

The whole villa is from €3,450 a week in the quiet weeks of November and December, which is €345 each with all ten beds taken, and €3,750 a week from January to late April. High season runs at €5,250 to €5,350, and July and August at €6,950. A week is seven nights, Friday to Friday, and four nights are possible outside the holiday periods. Pool heating is €300 for the week, and a grocery shop waiting when you arrive is €50 plus the shopping. The concierge, driver, chef and coaching are added to the week and quoted with it, so you see one price before you book.

Villa With a Private Padel Court in Boliqueime, Sleeps 10

The Villa for a Group

Sleeping, and the two that share: A double bed in every room. The two on the ground floor share a bathroom, so the pair who stay up latest take those and the rest of the villa sleeps through it.
Kitchen & the long table: Two long tables to choose between: one in the arched loggia, one outside with a cypress at the end of it. Ten sit at either, which is the argument for a villa this size: one table, one conversation, every night.
Flow, and where the group gathers: The rooms open one into the next and out through the arches, so the day drifts from the hallway to the loggia to the pool terrace without anyone deciding. The group finds its own corners by the second morning.
Design, and what was kept of the farmhouse: The restoration kept the farmhouse's arches and its terracotta floors, and furnished against them rather than over them. Every room of it is made to be lived in.

The villa across the pool, palms and parasols along the terrace

The pool and its parasols seen through banana leaves

The outdoor lounge under its parasol beside the pool

The pool terrace and its thatched parasols, the countryside beyond

The kitchen island, a wine rack and open shelving beside it

The long view down the pool, palms and parasols along it

A guest sitting up in bed beneath woven wall discs

The freestanding bath beside it, on a terracotta floor

The timber gate in the white wall, an olive tree beside the drive

The villa from the garden beds, the pool terrace below it

The arched loggia, rattan chairs and a bowl of oranges

1 / 10

The Setting

Seclusion, and who else is near: Reached through a timber gate in a white wall, an olive tree standing beside the drive. Cypress on every side, and a wild meadow between the villa and the court.
Nature, light & views: Olive terraces, cypress in lines along the drive, bottlebrush and bird of paradise against the white walls, and the inland Algarve light that comes in low through the branches from about four o'clock.
The year here, month by month: The reason to know this villa is its calendar. The inland Algarve keeps its warmth through the months the rest of Europe writes off: the court is comfortable at any hour from October to May, the floodlights earn their keep in the short days, the turf drains when it does rain, and the pool heats instead of closing. The month by month figures are in the calendar below.
Quiet, and the noise a short drive away: Countryside quiet, of the kind where the loudest thing at nine in the evening is the pool filter. The villa takes no loud parties, which is what keeps it that way. Loulé's market, Albufeira's tables and the beaches are all a short drive when somebody wants the noise.

The pool terrace from above, loungers and parasols around the water

Two chairs under the arch, the sun low over the drive

An olive tree with the evening sun coming through it

The villa across the wild meadow, framed by trees

A bird of paradise flower against the white arch

A cool hallway opening onto the garden seating

The villa and its pool seen across the planted garden

A bottle and a board set out on the pool wall

A towel and a straw hat on a lounger under the thatch

An olive tree among agaves and boulders in the garden beds

Coffee and a magazine on a table out on the cobbles

The villa's white forms and a pair of loungers against the sky

A guest beside the freestanding bath at the window

1 / 9

The Padel Court

Private: A private court inside the fence, reached across the meadow through the wildflowers on the bank. Your group is the only one on it, all week.
How it sits in the grounds: Laid into the garden with big trees behind the glass and the hills beyond the scrub at the far end, so the ball comes back against green, not against a fence in a car park.
Playing here, month by month: The court plays in every month of the year here, and the Algarve decides only when in the day you use it: early and late through July and August, and any hour at all from October to May, when the mornings are bright and the afternoons stay in the high teens. It is floodlit, so the short evenings of a winter week are still yours, and the pool follows the same logic, heated on request instead of drained for the winter.
Between games, and where to sit them out: A few steps from the pool, with loungers drawn up by the net, swing seats at the side and a bench in the shade at the end of the court beside the target boards, so the half of the group that is off can watch the half that is on without walking anywhere.

The net close up, the turf running away behind it

A racket and two balls on the turf, seen from above

The court with the big trees and open sky behind the glass

The court seen through the mesh of the fence

A racket on the turf in the shadow of the fence

Balls resting on the turf beside the net

The bench and the target boards at the end of the court

The court end to end from the side, the line across the turf

The bench in the shade at the edge of the court

A racket hanging from a branch beside the court

The court beyond the scrub, the hills behind it

1 / 9

The Kitchen

The kitchen, and who cooks in it: No chef comes with the quinta. The kitchen is fitted for one and simple enough to run yourselves: the stone island, a wine cellar, an espresso machine, a Quooker, and an outdoor kitchen under the pergola with a long counter and stools alongside it. We add a chef for one night or for every night of the week, if you want one.
Local food, a short drive: Boliqueime is minutes away and keeps the kind of tables the coast has priced out; Loulé's market is the morning worth setting an alarm for; and Albufeira and the beach restaurants are there when the group wants an evening out. We book them ahead.
The wine, and what grows here: Algarve growers, close enough to drive to on an afternoon with nothing else in it, and olives, lemons and oranges off the trees in the garden you are sitting in.

The long table outside, a cypress and the countryside beyond

The arched loggia, a long dining table under a rattan pendant

Coffee and a magazine on a table over the cobbles

Bottlebrush flowers in the garden above the valley

The outdoor kitchen under its pergola, the long counter and stools

Coffee and magazines on the cushioned bench

The long table in the loggia on its terracotta floor

1 / 6

The Relaxation

The pool, and the months it is open: Five metres by twelve, saltwater, thatched parasols and daybeds along it, and heated on request for €300 a week, so the swimming runs as late into the year as you want it to. At dusk the lanterns come on along the terrace and it becomes the room everyone ends up in.
Sauna and spa: Not at this villa. The pool, the ping-pong and the garden do the work.
Sleep, and room to wander: Quiet rooms with the shutters closed against the afternoon, shaded terraces, an outdoor shower under the palms, and three hectares to walk off a long lunch in.

The garden lounge, the villa and pool behind it

Bean bags and low seating at the pool edge

The pool, a thatched parasol and a palm beside it

A straw hat and a drinks tray at the pool edge

Daybeds and folded towels under the thatched parasols

Two guests under the thatched parasol by the pool

A tray and a cocktail at the edge of the pool

A beach bag with sunscreen and shells, ready for the coast

A bowl of fruit on the counter looking over the pool

A guest sitting outside her bedroom door, an olive tree beside her

A freestanding bath at a tall window looking over the hills

1 / 9

The Service on site

Who is on site: Sandra meets you at the villa and looks after the stay, and housekeeping is arranged through the week. A welcome bag waits on the counter with a towel, a magazine and a bottle of wine in it.
Keeping the grounds: Pool, court and three hectares of planted garden, kept between stays and tended through them.
What it asks of you: Almost nothing. The pool is clean, the court is swept, the beds are made, and the week is yours to spend. The one thing it asks is that the quiet holds: no loud parties, which is the only rule the owners set and the reason the place is worth coming to.

Sandra, who meets guests at the villa and looks after the stay

The path up to the villa through the garden

Two loungers drawn together, a tray and magazines set out between them

The pool at dusk, lanterns lit along the terrace

A welcome bag with a towel, a magazine and a bottle of wine

Magazines and drinks set out on a poolside table

Two guests with drinks at the edge of the pool

1 / 6

The Feeling

Arrival & sense of place: The timber gate, then the cypress drive, and by the time the olive trees close behind the car the week has started without anyone announcing it. The farmhouse opens straight into the garden instead of into a hall, so the first thing anyone does is walk through the arches and out the other side.
The shape a day takes here: Court in the morning while the terraces are still in shade, the pool through the middle of the afternoon, oranges and a cold bottle carried down to the water, and the long table once the string lights come on. Somewhere in there two of you will have taken coffee up to the roof terrace and stayed for an hour.
What it feels like: The pergola's flowering vine over the terrace, an outdoor shower under the palms, lemons left on the table beside the loungers. At golden hour the parasols throw their shadows the length of the pool and nobody goes in for a while.