12/08/2026
Sometimes a review is just one word
This morning, after one of our rental tents had been occupied for ten days, we went to have a look.
The guests had left.
A Spanish family. Mum, dad and two children. Ten days of summer at Quinta do Retiro. Ten days of swimming, playing, eating, sleeping, exploring Central Portugal and — we assume — occasionally wondering where one of the children had disappeared to.
The tent was empty again.
Towels had been gathered, the last belongings packed into the car and the family was already on its way to wherever the road was taking them next.
Nothing unusual. This happens all summer.
And then we found this.
A little torn-off piece of paper, left behind with one handwritten word:
OBRIGADOS
Thank you.
Not an online review.
No stars.
No carefully selected photograph.
No algorithm asking “How was your stay?”
Just a piece of paper.
And strangely enough, those are often the reviews that mean the most to us.
Because when you run a campsite, you spend a surprising amount of time thinking about things guests will hopefully never have to think about.
Is the water hot? Is the grass cut? Is everything clean? Does the light work? Is there enough shade? Is the pool all right? Did somebody remember the toilet paper? And why, exactly, has that thing which worked perfectly yesterday suddenly decided that today is an excellent day to stop working?
That’s the less romantic side of running a little holiday park.
But the reason for doing all of it is much simpler.
For ten days, Quinta do Retiro wasn’t really ours.
It was theirs.
Their tent. Their breakfast table. Their walk to the pool. Their favourite chair in the evening. The place where the children knew the way without asking. The familiar little bit of Portugal they returned to at the end of each day.
And then, after ten days, they packed everything up and went home.
Leaving us our Quinta back.
And one tiny note.
Perhaps that’s also why we like families staying a little longer. After a few days, people stop being the guests in the rental tent. You recognise the children wandering past. They know where things are. Nobody needs an explanation anymore.
They’ve simply become part of the place for a while.
And then suddenly they’re gone.
We clean the tent, make everything ready again and soon another family will arrive. New bags. New children. New plans. Somebody else will choose their favourite chair.
That’s how a summer at Quinta do Retiro passes.
One family at a time.
We could probably ask for a five-star review.
But we’ll happily keep this one.
OBRIGADOS.
Two languages understood each other perfectly.
And to our Spanish family: gracias también a vosotros.
It was lovely having you here. Hasta a proxima vez.
Quinta do Retiro ParCampismo
Central Portugal
quintadoretiro.com
