Monte Santo Resort

[joanne]

I think the thing we all forget is we are not in England, we bought a Villa on Solferias facing a large plot of scrub land (we would never have bought at home facing it) and were told that it would never be built on, 3 weeks after we moved in the diggers appeared facing and a Villa is there now, which is nearly finished, we all have different tastes, wants etc, we all have our own idea of what we think is nice etc, so as Sharen said I am sure if anyone was given one of the appartments they would not say no.....

[Rossi's idol]

Can I re-iterate that we do not pay Monte Santo prices as we find them extortionate. We have no intentions of letting the place, it was bought as a holiday home for ourselves so there is no threat from us to anyone who may be in the rental market, good luck to you.
As for living in the community, every day we walk into town and spend our money in the local businesses, just like everybody else. At night time, we spend our money in the local restaurants, like everybody else and the suggestion that we are in some way 'rich' is laughable. Lastly, I don't think anyone has seen me on my balcony 'cos if they had, they'd wouldn't have seen any jammies!!!

[joanne]

Agree Rossis Idol, we the same bought for us only etc, think lots of sour Grapes out there, you can think of them when you sipping your wine on your Balcony in the sun....

[KenC]

We are the same too having bought our property for our own use and spend nothing on site with daily if not twice daily walks to the centre of Carvoeiro. We are very happy with our choice, have complete piece of mind when we are not there and think the grounds look great now that the plants are starting to mature. If living in there is like being in prison I'm thinking of some crimes to commit!

[EMM]

I think that the arguement against the " MONTE SANTO " development is not the cost, or its use of what was scrubland ( that could happen anywhere ),

It is that this type of development is a bit like " international cuisine ".
It is souless , overpriced lacking in taste and you could be anywhere in the world once you are inside its walls.

As neighbours we also have on the other side the Pestana developments which also have a hint of the " Prisoner " about them.

As others have said it is horses for courses.
We have our cockerels crowing from 4.am, dogs barking at any time of the day, neighbours with very relaxed views towards planning rules and what to do with their old cars.
Neighbours fruit trees drooping with lemons and oranges.
The daily bread man, regular veg man etc.

When we arrive this weekend we will Know that we are back in PORTUGAL .

[sanreen]

I cannot beleive how out of hand this topic has gone. DaveSenior innocently asked if anyone had any information on Monte Santo Resort. He had seen pictures of it and thought it looked nice. EMM let him know a bit about the resort and Rossis Idol let him know he was an owner and liked the resort. Why then did other members come in for the slaughter. I wouldnt buy holiday homes in areas other members have homes and they may not buy where I have mine, but I wouldn't run their homes down. Please let others enjoy and be proud of their place in the sun.

[Rossi's idol]

And I'm sure you'll really enjoy yourself. Some of the main attractions to us as a family have been identified in the posts. I accept what you say to a degree about being anywhere, but we aren't, we are in Portugal. The arguments against the likes of Vilamoura and to me, Albufeira, were the strong deciding factors behind our buying in Carvoeiro. We didn't want that type of atmosphere and I can also accept the fear of the character of Carvoeiro changing, especially to the residents and also those who have spent a long time there.And finally, thankyou Sanreen, you have beaten me to it. I was about to comment about Dave's simple request for information, I think he got more than he bargained for!!!

[Graham]

We went for a nose around in February - true, the entrance does make you feel like you are trespassing but I have to say that the communal areas - pools etc - looked very stylish if that is what you are after. The thing that struck us most, however, was how friendly the staff were - even though we were just having a nose the restaurant manager insisted on showing us menus and the gym / health spa staff wanted to show us all their toys and talk us through all the services on offer - I think you have to compare it with somewhere like Vila Vita Parc rather than a Carvoeiro townhouse and in my opinion it stands up to that kind of competition. (Doesn't mean that we don't still call it Stalag 17 however )

[blue]

We don't rent our homes out either so certainly don't feel threatened in any way, I was commenting on the estate from a purely aesthetic point of view. If that type of development is what rocks your boat, great! Most of us who are lucky enough to live here permanently would rather not see the area overrun by these Legoland style estates, there are alternatives if only a little more thought were put into it. Unfortunately I think they're going to spread like a rash.
If I was making an enquiry about somewhere I was thinking of spending quite a lot of money on renting for a holiday I would want as much feedback as possible, negative as well as positive, before making my decision. I'm sure that many people will think this estate is very beautiful & everything they want or need, it depends what type of holiday the individual is after.

[DaveSenior]

Holy Cow.

As one of the last posts mentioned, I got more than I bargained for. You guys talk A LOT

It's nice to see such an active forum, and people so passionate about what they believe in.

There were lots of posts which were fair and balanced, and for that, thank you. That said, I would like to make the following points:-

- Like most people, I work hard. I want a relaxing holiday in luxury, money is an issue, but comfort is more important
- The reason why resorts like Monte Santo exist is because people buy them
- Following on, the reason why people buy them, is because expats tell them how wonderful it is to live in portugal
- I would suggest that, on its own, living/staying in a 'real portuguese house', does not make you more 'integrated with the community'. Nor does spending your cash in the supermarket.
- I'd rather see from my glass-fronted prison balcony an olympic size swimming pool with a bar in the middle and my G&T waiting for me, than scrubland covered in goat turds.
- Security to keep the riff-raff out seems like a good idea to me. Do they have guns?

PS. I arrive on Sunday. G&T anyone?

[holiday1]

Great post Dave. Different strokes for different folks. Your money, your time, you relax and do what you want to do. Hope you have a really good one

[bruce]

Dave happy holiday from me as well, I would willingly give them a trial run

[EMM]

Have a good holiday and if you see us faces pressed against the fence ( hope they have not electrified it yet ) looking on in envy please take pity and " flick us a crisp ".

[ramanam]

FYI,

My wife and I stayed at Monte Santo mid May for a week and we liked it so much we are returning in November for 2 weeks this time.
The town of Carvoeiro, even with the construction going on was lovely.
So much nice places to eat, we look forward to coming back to the area as a whole,Sesmarias and Ferraguda also.
Concerning Monte Santo, the bad press I see on hear is not justified, the staff, surroundings and overall layout of the resort was breathtaking and will only improve with time.
The main entrance is a little bit disappointing but once inside you start to feel so relaxed.
We have stayed further East of Algarve,Albufeira area and there is no competition.
From us the area and the resort gets full marks and we only seen some of it.

Can't wait for November to come round and our return to Carvoeiro and Monte Santo.!!!!!!!

[Bruce Wallis]

The arguments against the likes of Vilamoura and to me, Albufeira, were the strong deciding factors behind our buying in Carvoeiro. We didn't want that type of atmosphere and I can also accept the fear of the !

I agree....each to his or her own.....I do have to have a whimsical smile at the fact that Rossi's idol, came west to Carvoeiro to avoid the type of monolith developments around Vilamoura.....only to buy into the only bit of Vilamoura in the Carvoeiro area

Whatever.....welcome all of you. You have chosen a lovely area to buy in......and once leave the international cocoon of Monte Santo, you are in Carvoeiro, not Vilamoura.....so maybe you are the clever ones after all