We arrived on madeira and didn't find the location of our booked apartment. Since the owner was not there nor able to talk properly in English we decided to book another location. Which was the best decision! We booked by mobile phone and got proper instructions immediately. room was ready when we arrived there one hour later. The property was lovely, the apartment spacious and with a open fireplace! We really felt at home from the first minute.

The warm water faucet wasn't working properly, but I'm sure if we told that the landlord, he'd fixed it. but we managed anyway :)

The property is on a working vineyard in a quiet rural location. It is spacious and well equipped inside with good kitchen equipment and appliances. It is very leafy and there are resident Madeiran Firecrests to watch. There was a basket of produce including homemade bread which was very good. The views from the property while restricted are of interest in that it is a working agricultural environment. It is an hour or so walk down to Sao Vicente (use the caminhos as short cuts) but there are several two to three hour walks around the valley directly from the property. The nearest levada walk (PR16) is 30 minutes walk uphill but beware it has tunnels with very narrow paths in it.

Our rating is based on suitably for time of year. Our stay was in February and we felt this property was not wonderful in winter. I can imagine it would be a cool and quiet spot in the summer. It is north facing in a narrow side valley and gets very little sun and is extremely damp outside. Judging by the moss everywhere and the filthy state of the outdoor furniture it had not been occupied for some time. Heating is an open fire, a woodstove and a radiator. We set the open fire (first time filling the room with smoke as the chimney was not drawing) but couldn't be bothered to keep the wood stove going as well. The radiator took some chill off and we used a fan heater (which we always carry with us in winter) in the bathroom and bedroom. The kitchen was so cold butter left out to soften was rock hard. There are a couple of amusing dogs but one of them used our patio as a toilet. There are two adjoining apartments Casas 1 and 2. We were in Casa 2, which is overlooked by the patio and outside dining area of Casa 1 at the front of the apartment. When we sat out for lunch we had to go round the gloomy side of our Casa with no view for privacy. Booking.com shows the patio of Casa 1 in the description for Casa 2. We thought we had booked Casa 1 as a result. Casa 1 is much better appointed. Entering and leaving the property by car is frightening because the gate is on a double blind corner and the gate itself is right on the road - it would have been so easy to have the gate further back on the drive for safety. Despite receiving a message that the TTM rep would meet us at the property at a set time, he wasn't there and took 30 minutes to arrive with the keys. The TTM bureaucracy is a pain - instead of simply relying on Booking.com data they have their own systems that are totally unnecessary and you are bombarded with urgent messages by email and text to update their system.

Casas do Lanco in Sao Vincente is a property which is rented by an agency called Maderia Travel. Anyone who choices to stay in this place should be aware of the following: Despite telling them when we would arrive at the property we had to wait 45 minutes for someone to arrive from the southern part of the island with the key. The owner does not live at the place but there are four non stop barking dogs on .These are allowed to freely run around everywhere, i.e.your terrace which is outside your living room and your bedroom, also your front door etc. As we had booked to stay for 4 nights we contacted Maderia Travel to see if they could do anything about the constant barking. Their reply was "The dogs belonged to the property and that there was nothing they could do about." They did offer us a choice of four unsuitable properties that they obviously had not been able to rent out. There is an incredible overwhelming smell of sewage in the bathroom. There was no possibility of opening the very small window that was at ceiling height in the shower area. The bathroom was a collage of old broken chipped tiles and an array of multiple other kinds of tiles. The replacement toilet leaked around the base. The heating was a fireplace and a small portable electric heater that needed to wheeled around from each room. This heater could not be plugged into the kitchen. The kitchen has only a single one plug outlet so don't think about having a hot cup of coffee if you are wanting a piece of toast! It is supplied with only the cheapest and most basic of things. The property is advertised as Casa 1 and Casa 2, they are not separate properties but are a house that has been divided in half. You can hear EVERYTHING next door. There are two old metal gates at the top of a sharp inclining driveway that must be manually opened and closed every time you leave or come onto the property.