We arrived home yesterday from 8 day's at this villa and it's easily one of the best, if not the best, we've ever stayed at. Villa was spotlessly clean, huge and so much better than we expected from the pictures. It even smelled lovely!
The back garden is a complete suntrap, having the sun until it sets in the evening. Despite going in may, it got very hot and the rattan seating under the huge wooden gazebo was a fantastic addition meaning it stayed cool in the shade until about 6pm when the sun finally dropped low enough to shine under. The children had regular breaks under here inbetween jumping and playing in the pool. The front terrace was beautiful to sit and eat breakfast looking at the sea, the sun shine there from about 8.30am.
My husband was apprehensive about booking due to the proximity to the road - a very busy, main road however, we couldn't hear it from the bedrooms - only the sound of breaking waves - fabulous! Yes, you can hear traffic around the pool but as the villa is set lower and with the trees too I can honestly say the noise didn't bother us.
The 'beach' is set mere steps away going out from a private locked gate around the side however it's mostly rocks and pebbles and sea can get a little rough, we didn't go in here due to all the rocks - walking further up the promenade will take you to similar beaches in the area though, none were particularly note worthy however we knew this about the area.
There seems to be a huge amount of work going on in and around Estepona, we looked on Google earth before going and most of the bars and restaurants we'd identified were closed down which was such a shame however these may be open again over the summer, it seemed very much a work in progress. We did visit Puerto de Duquesa (8€ by Uber / 11€ taxi home - taxi queue and plenty of availability - if you fancy a few drinks) which was really lovely - lots of restaurants around and Griffin's is highly recommended. Plenty of shops (Mercadona, Lidl and Aldi) within an easy drive, however it wasn't particularly touristy so don't expect many gift shops etc.
Pool was slightly bigger than expected and the children lived in it! Brilliant fun, there were a few items left from previous bookings which was nice and we also left inflatables, bat and ball and a frisbee.
The villa was really well stocked and honestly felt like a home from home. Norman was lovely and so helpful - Can't recommend it highly enough, absolutely brilliant.