Family accommodation in Porto Covo: three bedrooms, sleeps six
Porto Covo is a village of studios, couples' rooms and campsite pitches. Three separate bedrooms and three bathrooms is a genuinely uncommon thing to find here — which is the whole reason this page exists. Below is exactly what the layout is, what it is like with children, and the one thing about the pool you should know before you book rather than after.
The layout
Where six people actually sleep
The number that matters is not “sleeps six” — every listing says that. It is how six people sleep. Here it is three real bedrooms:
- Two double bedrooms and one twin. Nobody is on a sofa bed and nobody is sharing with a child who wakes at six.
- Three bathrooms. With two families or three couples, this is the difference between a relaxed morning and a queue.
- A full kitchen and a washer-dryer. A week with children generates laundry, and the nearest large supermarket is fifteen minutes away in Sines — so being able to cook what you bring back matters more here than it would in a town.
Be told this before you book
The pool has no fence
The pool is private, heated and on your own roof terrace rather than shared with the complex — which is the best thing about the apartment and, with small children, the thing to plan around.
There is no fence around it and no lifeguard. There are also stairs up to the terrace. A toddler cannot be left unattended up there, and we would rather you knew that now than read it in the welcome book after you have paid. Families with confident swimmers tend to find it the best feature of the stay; families with a two-year-old should think about it honestly.
Ivy switches the heating on before you arrive — message her, it is not automatic.
Ask, do not assume
Cots, highchairs and equipment
We do not list equipment we have not confirmed is in the apartment. Plenty of listings claim a cot and produce something unusable, and arriving with a one-year-old to find out is not recoverable.
So: message Ivy with the ages of your children before you book and she will tell you exactly what is there and what you should bring. It costs you one message and removes the only unknown that really matters.
With children
Which beach, and when
Porto Covo has thirteen beaches along about five kilometres of coast, and they are not interchangeable — particularly with children.
- Praia do Banho is the sheltered one, protected from the north and north-west wind that turns the main beach choppy on summer afternoons. It is the calm-water answer.
- Praia dos Buizinhos at low water, when the tidal pools open up. Children stay in them for hours.
- Praia Grande has lifeguards in season and the most sand, but takes the wind full on. Mornings are usually calmer than afternoons.
- Praia das Gaivotas is reached from Praia do Banho at low tide and can cut off on a rising one. Lovely, and not the one to take small children to without checking the tide.
Our beach-day planner works out which beach suits the tide and wind at the hour you want to leave, and flags the UV window when children should be out of direct sun. Nothing else local publishes it. More on Porto Covo with children.
Practical
What makes a week here easier
- A gated complex with no through traffic. Children can get from the door towards the pool and the gardens without crossing a road.
- Parking included, which is not a given in the village in August.
- Fifteen restaurants in walking distance, several of them the kind of long unhurried fish lunch where nobody minds children. All fifteen, with the day each one closes.
- Check-in from 16:00 at the Pestana reception, open 08:00–20:00. Arriving later with tired children? Tell Ivy in advance and she arranges it.
Common questions