My wife and I came here for a week as a birthday treat and having arrived late on a Friday night/Saturday morning and picking up the keys was pretty straight forward. We opted to upgrade our room on the Saturday to one with a balcony rather than a terrace and what a difference to our holiday that made! Our room overlooking to pool area had sun loungers and a table on the balcony which was brilliant. The apartment was light and spacious with all we needed for cooking our daily meals. Dealing with the hotel staff has been such a breeze and would definitely stay here again in future. Echoing some of the other reviews, it is definitely handy to hire a car to get around as the place is pretty quiet (which is perfect for us - but not for everyone) but taxis/Uber are cheap enough if you plan on having a few drinks out. Aldi is a 5 minute drive away and is well stocked with all cooking essentials we needed. Armação de Pêra is just a 30 minute walk from the complex and has a lovely beach and plenty of restaurants that look lovely. Word of warning though - walking there does require walking on a fairly narrow road with no footpath. All in all would definitely recommend Villas Barrocal as a great place to stay (providing you get an apartment with a balcony, as this is...My wife and I came here for a week as a birthday treat and having arrived late on a Friday night/Saturday morning and picking up the keys was pretty straight forward. We opted to upgrade our room on the Saturday to one with a balcony rather than a terrace and what a difference to our holiday that made! Our room overlooking to pool area had sun loungers and a table on the balcony which was brilliant. The apartment was light and spacious with all we needed for cooking our daily meals. Dealing with the hotel staff has been such a breeze and would definitely stay here again in future. Echoing some of the other reviews, it is definitely handy to hire a car to get around as the place is pretty quiet (which is perfect for us - but not for everyone) but taxis/Uber are cheap enough if you plan on having a few drinks out. Aldi is a 5 minute drive away and is well stocked with all cooking essentials we needed. Armação de Pêra is just a 30 minute walk from the complex and has a lovely beach and plenty of restaurants that look lovely. Word of warning though - walking there does require walking on a fairly narrow road with no footpath. All in all would definitely recommend Villas Barrocal as a great place to stay (providing you get an apartment with a balcony, as this is much better in all aspects than the original room we were due to stay in!)More