I am really struggling here, nothing would ruin my holiday more than to turn up to a smelly villa or apartment. It is a lot easier booking a house in Florida because they are all non smoking. I have just searched on one site that has a filter preference of no smoking and it came back with 1 villa.

The other thing I am having a problem with is the price, you get so much less for so much more money. A lot of the apartments look like they were furnished in the tasteless seventies.

So unfortunately the slant of my nose!! is making life very difficult when it comes to choosing a villa or apartment. I am also having a problem trying to work out which is the best area for us.

We have three children between 11 and 6, at best all we could hope for by way of evening entertainment is dinner and a short stroll, then we would probably go back to our accom and chill with a dvd or book. We would like however, to be close enough to beaches and shops not to have to use a car. In this instance I started to think that Albufeira was the place to go, however, still slightly concerned by comments like, the algarves benidorm, or blackpool with sun. So then thought about Vilamoura but concerned that there might not be quite enough going on there.

Lagos! You know when you really like a name for a baby, then you see a brat with the same name and you go right of it. eg, I really wanted Louis for my last child, saw a Jerry Springer show with a pimp on called Louis, put me right off. Well, Lagos is the same, I keep thinking it Lagos in Nigeria which my husband tells me is the pit of all pits. Also wondering whether that is too far from Faro airport. It does not seem to feature much in any of the brochures either which could be either a good thing or a bad thing.

I was determined this year to try and find a holiday which would enable the children to find other children to play with over the two weeks. Of course like all the hotel companies the majority cater for the family of four, leaving those of us who had an extra little blessing out in the cold. However, as blessed as I am with my three little cherubs (more like horned devils!) I do not want to be squashed into a little pokey two bedroomed place. I want three bedrooms min, is that too much to ask.

So I have finished my rant, nearly booked the flight last night but slightly concerned that picking a Friday arrival is going to limit our options as the majority seem to want Thurs or Sat.

So help help help please. I am nice really just frightened of committing myself to a lot of money and making a big mistake on accom or location.

Many thanks