We have just returned from a 6 night stay at the beautiful Vale De Lapa. We honestly couldn't have been happier with our stay from start to finish. When we arrived we were welcomed by an attentive, helpful reception team who gave us all of the relevant information. When we booked we booked a garden view room accidentally, however when we were checking in we were told they had put us in a pool view room as we had a child and that is usually easier for guests. We found this so intuitive of them and just a really nice touch and it was so much easier to be close to the pool and restaurant. The villa itself was very spacious and immaculately clean and tidy. It has 2 balconies, 3 bathrooms a kitchen stocked with all the equipment you would need (no food items though such as oil l, salt pepper etc so you would need to pick some up) a huge king sized bed, amazing black out blinds, daily housekeeping, plenty of closet space and air conditioning. Being close to the pool we had direct access to the pool and restaurant which was a huge plus. On site - there is a bar serving food and drinks (lunch menu till 6pm, evening menu starts at 7pm) which can also be consumed at the pool during the day. We ate at the restaurant in the evening 3 nights out of our 6 and we were so impressed each time. Wine options were great as were the cocktails. There is a set menu each evening which we found great value! There is a spa which is on the expensive side however it is worth it as I had a fabulous full body massage and it was perfect! There are 3 pools, a large outdoor one, a toddler pool and a heated indoor one. All of these were really good! Location - it is about a 30min walk from the town (up hill on return) we did this about once a day sometimes twice and it is very walkable depending on fitness levels. We did get a taxi 2 nights out of the 6 and this was about €7. There is also the little town train that comes by twice a day (once at 10.10am and once around 6.40pm) bringing you to and from the town which our daughter loved and is free for residents. We did also have a car and that made getting to nearby areas very easy. Service - for me this was the stand out area. It is easily 5 star. From the moment we walked in to the moment we left the staff couldn't not do enough for you. We want to specially mention Rui, Luiza, Fabio and Charlene. They made our trip so special by giving us great recommendations to local attractions, fantastic service in the restaurant and pool and most importantly interacting with our toddler, they made her feel so special and she was very sad to have leave, as were we all. If we are ever lucky enough to travel to The Algarve again we would not think twice about staying here, it was absolutely perfect.