Our preferred way of spending the holidays is to rent a whole house for our family. This time we found our holiday home at azoreshigh which offers self-catering rental homes on Faial (among other related items).
The home we had rented, Casa do Vale, in Almoxarife is a beautiful traditional house, was modernised, extended, and lies in a sheltered valley. Walking to the black sand beach only took two minutes!!
In the morning we would wake up with lots of bird singing and farm animal greetings. The house stands at the far end of one of the village roads. After Casa do Vale, the road turns into a dirt road…
azoreshigh has a good selection of rental opportunities.
Edited 23 March 2013: Our former rental home is no longer on the list. But I hope you find something you like.