From a journalist from Practical Parenting Magazine, I understood that you would like to receive reviews of parents who have spend
their holiday in an accommodation suitable for childer under 1 year old.
By sending this email I hope I can give you some useful information contributing to your survey.
We are a family (39 and 43 years old) with two sons, Job (18 months) and Rens (3 months), habiting in Amsterdam, Holland.

We have just come back from a wonderful holiday at Quinta da Alfarrobeira in Portugal, near Lagos. The accommodation offers two guesthouses, one is attached to the main building, the other one is a separate two-bedroom house. We stayed in this last one, also offering us the private use of a kitchen with all kinds of suppliences, and a bathroom, patio, terrace and so forth. Together with the owner and the guest(s)  from the other house, we used the swimmingpool.

Quinta da Alfarrobeira is an old estate (18th century), but is being fully renovated by the present owners. They care for their environment and practice an ecologica way of farming. As a guest one can experience a complete other way of life, the one we probably all desire eventually. Especially when your holiday is booked as an attempt to get away from a crowded and overbooked diary and citylife. And enjoy each other and your children in full.

At first we thought the accommodation was not entirely what we were looking for;  the few small stairs and terrace frigthened us as our oldest son (18 months old) was not used to this at all. But the hostess, always open for improvement and very willing to do all the necessary requirements for us to feel comfortable, made all kinds of small fences. Therefor the house was made 'safe' . Ironicly after a few days our son was able to open/close the fenses himself but by that time he already had gotten familiar with them, using them carefully. It needs to be said that our Job learned very much the fourtnight we stayed here; every morning he would shout from excitement for another new day, and fell a sleep exhausted from all the adventures he had experienced. He played with us, the animals, the other children and of course non stop in the swimmingpool.
Rens enjoyed the kind breeze at warm days, while sitting at the terrace. He loved the quietness of the area which offered him a situation not requiring to many adjustments on his part. And offering us an opportunity to read some books and magazines, while the kids were both sound a sleep. Or just to speak and enjoy each other.


The easyness, the warmth and the total feeling of welcome we received at this accomodation can be specified as unique. Of
course we could have settled for a standard-luxurous holiday in a massive hotel with entertainment shows for children. But than we would never have reached this level of internal peace and enjoyment of familylife, as we have experienced at Quita de Alfarrobeira.