We had a wonderful relaxing week at Vale da Lapa in April with our two young sons. The villa was spacious, well equipped and cleaned every day if you want it to be.
The swimming pools are great and the boys loved them. It was quite quiet the week we were there, so we often had them to ourselves. We also used the spa facilities and these were great too.
The restaurant had a good menu for lunches. We didn't go in the evenings, so I don't know about the menu for that.
The staff were really friendly and really happy to help with anything, including sorting out our airport transfer that had not confirmed our return trip.
If you want to explore the area quite a lot then you will probably want to get a car. We just went into Carvoeiro town a couple of times, which is about a 5 minute drive and about €5-10 in a taxi. It has loads of great restaurants and a lovely beach.
We loved our stay and would love to go back again.