Barcelona holiday villa rental, Vallromanes with sauna, disabled access, balcony/terrace, rural retreat, TV

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Casa Aloe (villa)

Home description

Since adding Casa Aloe to our listings in 2002, it has broken all records for occupancy. Why? First of all, it is a very comfortable and well-kept house with lots of nice details (friendly owners, the pool is maintained year-round, the nice outdoor BBQ dining area, the huge American-style kitchen, large sunny terraces, the sauna). But everyone who writes in seems to be particularly happy with the location. Vallromanes is an easy drive or commuter train ride in to Barcelona, and the area around the house is attractive and user-friendly.

To see more photos please visit http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/39858

The Costa Brava/Catalonia region

.The Costa Brava is rightfully famous for its breathtakingly beautiful coastline, where wide beaches of golden sand and crystal clear waters alternate with rocky promentories and little coves backed by sheer cliffs topped with pine and oak forests. The interior of the Costa Brava is every bit as stunning as the coast (and far less affected by tourism), with pristine medieval villages set in lush, typically Mediterranean landscapes.

A short drive to the east and you are in the wooded hills of the pre-Pyrenees, with trout-filled streams feeding environmentally protected lakes - like the one in Banyoles - offering a welcome alternative to the coastal beaches.

Barcelona / Vallromanes area

The town of Vallromanes is known locally for its private golf course (green-fees accepted). Casa Aloe overlooks the golf course. Vallromanes is just inland from Alella, a scenic wine-producing village with its own "denomination" and many fine buildings. Allella is right on the coast, just up from El Masnou, about 25 kms north of Barcelona. Alella and Masnou would be listed on any decent map of the area. Masnou has commuter trains in to the centre of Barcelona every half hour, a fun train ride which runs along the coast, with views of the beaches for much of the 25 minutes the trip lasts. You can also drive into Barcelona in about 25 minutes from either the coastal highway, the C-32 from Masnou, or from the AP-7 inland near Granollers. Masnou is also important for the quality of its beaches, the good terraced restaurants on its pleasure port, the old world charm of the town centre, and the good supermarkets just outside of town.

How to get there

Cheap flights are available through Easy jet from London to Barcelona Prat airport which is just over half an hour by car or from Ryan Air to Girona airport which is approximately an hour away by car.

Below are numbers for cheap car hire when flying to Barcelona airport Terminal B.
Hertz
Tel: (0034) 93 298 3638
Avis
Tel: (0034) 93 344 3700
National Atesa
Tel: (0034) 93 298 3433
Europcar
Tel: (0034) 90 210 5055

Activities near Barcelona

Facilities

Further details indoors:
- Ground floor bedroom is great for wheelchair or elderly guests in that there is an en suite bedroom on the ground floor, with easy access to kitchen and living/dining rooms and the large terrace.
- Baby crib which can be put in any of the rooms.

Further details outdoors:
- Terrace has great views of the golf course and surrounding hills.

Rental rates

Period	From	To	Weekly	Nightly rate		Minimum  stay
				Weekday	Weekend
Mid Season	29 Aug 09	3 Oct 09	1700£ 1,532	0-	0-	1 Week
Low Season	3 Oct 09	23 Dec 09	1550£ 1,396	0-	0-	1 Week
Christmas	23 Dec 09	11 Jan 10	1700£ 1,532	0-	0-	1 Week
Low Season	11 Jan 10	29 May 10	1550£ 1,396	0-	0-	1 Week
Mid Season	29 May 10	19 Jun 10	1700£ 1,532	0-	0-	1 Week
High Season	19 Jun 10	28 Aug 10	1850£ 1,667	0-	0-	1 Week
Mid Season	28 Aug 10	2 Oct 10	1700£ 1,532	0-	0-	1 Week
Low Season	2 Oct 10	23 Dec 10	1550£ 1,396	0-	0-	1 Week

NB: Prices may be subject to change at the advertiser's discretion.

Saturday to Saturday rentals in high season.

Different rates apply for Easter and New Year. Please contact us for details.

Prices are all inclusive and there are no extra or hidden charges whatsoever.

Guestbook for Casa Aloe

Hola Charlie,

Casa Aloe? Well, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

The house was very large, too large for just the three of us really, but we enjoyed the space and the location.

Vallromanes is a little like the English Lake district, but with sun! It is ideally placed for visiting Barcelona. There is plenty of parking at El Masnou and the trains into Barca are regular, swift and reliable. If we'd wanted beaches there was plenty, but we preferred the pool at Casa Aloe.

Roadwork's near the airport resulted in me taking the N11 ring road round the city, but the end result is the same, the road is an easy drive and toll free! I even used it for the return journey to the airport.

Between the shops in Vallromanes and those in Alella, there was everything we wanted and even my Catalonian colleagues commented on the superb quality of meats available from the Butchers in Alella, when they visited for a bar-b-q one evening.

Personally, I couldn't fault the place and Nuria gave us a very good briefing at the start of our stay.

If I have one negative comment, it is that everyone in Vallromanes has a dog. Some families have several, and at night there were times when my wife found it absolutely impossible to sleep for the noise they made. (This was enough for her to possibly consider another location next time.)

It may also be worth mentioning to future customers that all the local restaurants are closed in August. This didn't cause us any great concern, but may others. However, Barcelona, as ever, is always open! Apart from the first evening, when we sampled hailstones that caused devastation in Gerona and made us realise what the storm drains are for, we had glorious weather.

I'd be interested to see what other properties you have available in or around Barcelona, that are in a quiet location. I would not hesitate to use your services again; it was a pleasure doing business with you.
Saludos!
Barry



----- Original Message
Hi Charlie,

Just got back from Casa Aloe and want to let you know we had great time.

I thought you might like to some feedback because Nuria and her family deserve all the success they will generate from their house and our comments may help them and you in the future.

The house is close enough to Barecelona for a day trip (park at El Masnou and go by train; its cheap and quick) but far enough away to have that true countryside feel. The Montseny national park is pretty close and we found Alella an abosolute delight (the local wine there is also good).The best supermarket is just north up the coast from El Masnou. The local general store is just for bits of stuff really.

Nuria and her family were very helpful and the house was very clean.

The house is in a good location although there have been some new houses built very close and infront of the house. This has led to some lack of privacy on the balcony but not around the pool (which is where I guess it really matters).

It took quite a bit of getting used to the personal belongings that are still in the house as this is not usual in holiday lets. However, this did not detract from our enjoyment and infact added to the fascination of the house. This may however not suit others.

Since we are coming back in July, could we ask that a baby high-chair is available. Also, we found the baby cot unstable and the sides kept collapsing if leaned on by the baby (a bit dangerous really).

Many thanks, Paul Leigh, England
Dear Charlie,

Have just returned from a memorable week at Casa Aloe. Many thanks for your gift and greetings; please convey my thanks to the owners. We were most impressed with the house which has huge family holiday potential. It housed three generations of Sinclair's with ease. The gardens, pool and barbecue area in the warmer months would have added yet another dimension to an excellently appointed property.

We celebrated the anniversary at Can Jonc restaurant just outside Allela; spectacular setting with its sea views and the food was good too. I left with a very contented wife!

Granollers is not for us and we trained into the centre of Barcelona from El Masnou; parking is no problem and four trains an hour into and out of Placa Catalunya made our sight seeing very easy. We only scratched the surface of your city in two days and vowed to come back for more.

We explored Vallromanes golf club. Very impressive club house and they do take green fees. They hire clubs,trolleys etc but do require handicap certificates. You can add golf to the facilities offered at Casa Aloe. We left literature and course plan in the house.

This was our fourth Charlie Williams property; all have been central to excellent holidays in Catalonia. Many thanks for your expertise and very personal service which is much appreciated.

Kind regards.
Robin Sinclair


Charlie,

The holiday was wonderful, the villa was superb, the weather outstanding (10 minutes rain in 2 weeks !!) and Catalonia again fantastic.

The villa was very spacious (sometimes we had trouble finding the kids), clean, well maintained and had a very 'at home' feel because of the decor/furnishing/artwork etc. The pool was great, very big for a villa pool, but was getting a bit cold in October. The location was also fantastic, Valleromanes was surprisingly tourist free! It seemed that we were truly in the real Catalonia, amongst the locals. Yet, only 10-15 minutes in either direction from the motorways, so if you missed the rush hour you could make it right to the centre of Barcelona in 25-30 minutes.

Can you please also say thanks to Nuria, we missed her on the last day, but it was great to spend our holiday in such a welcoming villa.

Thanks also to yourself, we were impressed at the efficiency of your responses, and the friendly and helpful way you dealt with all of our needs.

Please feel free to include our comments on your site.
Thanks & all the best,
Graeme & Morag.

Charles,

We spent a week at the Casa Aloe and had an excellent time. The villa is furnished to a very high standard and we were all very impressed with each room and the swimming pool. We felt that it was excellent value for money. There were 8 of us staying in the villa and it was spacious enough for us all to have our own space. All in all a lovely villa and pool in a good area.

There were building works going on to the villa which could be a little distracting at times but were not a real issue to us. (Charlie adds here the reassuring news that the building work nearby is now finished)

The area was lovely and we all had a great holiday & thanks for your help in arranging the villa.

Kind Regards
Hanna Oxborough


Hello Charlie

Just got back from Casa Aloe. It certainly lived up to expectations & we had a great week.

A couple of suggestions which might be helpful for other people:-

1 The directions to the house were good up to the last bit. It would be better to read ' when you reach the Vallromanes sign you have to turn left towards the village. After about 150m there is a sign for the restaurant called La Noguera and just beyond this you turn left. After about 100m you come to a T junction where you turn left. You follow the road round - it turns to the right and then goes up a very straight and quite steep section for about 200m. Where there is a 'cede right of way' sign turn left into Pau Casals.

(Your directions to the A-19 highway also need modifying - when you go down past the restaurant, you turn left when you reach the main road)

2 We found the easiest way into Barcelona by train to go to El Masnou and take the turning into the port. There is a very good car park right by the station where there are frequent trains into Barcelona - right into Catalonia Square. There are also very good restaurants in the port/harbour - underneath the main car park - and a short walk past the yacht club brings you to a very acceptable beach. We found Granollers very busy and difficult to park.

3 In other houses we have been in, the owner has left basic information on where are the nearest shops, supermarkets etc. A comment book for users is also useful as this provides the opportunity to pass on useful information on restaurants, beaches etc to people who follow.

A very enjoyable holiday and I would highly recommend Casa Aloe. The accommodation is first-class & it is very easy to get into Barcelona or drive up (or catch a train) to the Costa Brava (Blanes), although we found the beach walking north from the car park at El Masnou harbour very good for young children with the restaurants in the harbour close at hand for lunch. The nearest supermarket we could find was Champion in Granollers, but there is a very good general store & an excellent bakery in Vallromanes.

Many thanks for all your help. We found your information very useful & helped us to make the right decision in the selection of the house we rented.
With best wishes
Les
(Charlie adds: the owners and I are sorry the welcome package with local info was not there for you. I will be sending this info to future renters in an email so guests have that before arrival. Also, I revisited Casa Aloe on November 23 and will completely rewrite the directions to the house with much more detail to avoid confusion.)

Hello Charles,

We had such a great time at Casa Aloe that we now want to return next summer with some additional friends. Unfortunately, they can't take the last 2 weeks in August as holiday so Casanova De Ferrando is not an option for us

Can you let me know if Can Portell and Can Micos are available during July and August 2005. We are keen to get somewhere booked a.s.a.p There will be 13 in our party 3 families of 4 and 1 extra adult. There are 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls.

Look forward to hearing from you
Regards,
Tracey J Rose

Hi Charles,

I was able to get directions just fine. Thank you.
I'm actually already back home.

We had a wonderful time at Casa Aloe.

Thanks again for all your help and please tell Noria how much we enjoyed her casa. Best,
Danielle

Dear Charlie

As you know we stayed at the villa in the last two weeks of September 2003. We had a wonderful time and I can't recommend the Casa Aloe and your service highly enough. Like most people who usually book their holiday accommodation through travel agencies I suppose I was slightly dubious about renting on the web but the villa was perfect for us, both in terms of the facilities and the location. It's about fifteen minutes drive away from the train station in Granollers so we parked the car and took the train into Barcelona and Sitges. Barcelona is fabulous but I’d certainly recommend a visit to Sitges (as you said on your website). The beaches and the museums were marvellous.

Of course we spent a few days just doing nothing, which is where the villa came into its own. The weather was constantly in the high twenties and the pool was the place to be ! Vallromanes is handy for supplies and the walk into the village was very pleasant. Luckily for us there was a music festival taking place while we were there so we could salsa down to the supermarket. All in all it was a great experience and just writing about it now in rainy, windswept Liverpool makes me smile !

Best wishes to you and yours.
Tony Miveld
Dear Mr Williams,

A while ago you wrote to Mr Mikael Lindeberg and asked for a word or two about our stay at Casa Aloe.

We were some friends that stayed at Casa Aloe in Vallromanes the last two weeks in July 2002. I am sure we could not have found a better place. The house was beautifully situated in the countryside and only a short drive (20 minutes) away, were the coast with its long sand beaches and El Masnou from where you easily could catch the train to Barcelona. The owners of the house were very friendly and welcoming and the house was well equipped with everything we needed. We had many relaxed days by the pool and nice barbecues in the evenings.

Our rental cars took us north to Figueres and Cadaques as well as south to the wineyards of Torres among other places.

All questions we had before coming to Catalonia was quickly answered to by Mr Williams and everthing was coordinated excellently.

Best regards,
Caroline Rubensson

PS. While writing this and thinking back about the holidays lights up the day now when it is dark and cold here in Sweden.

Hello Charles

We had such a good time this year we want to do it again next year so we are looking at 6th July (Sunday is this correct or should this be the 5th Saturday) to the 19th July (2 weeks)

Many Thanks

Alan Reilly

Charlie adds that they have booked for two weeks next summer!

it was lovely - exactly what we were after - quiet relaxation.
i thought your service worked very well.
the owners were super
the accommodation was fantastic.
if i had one critisism it was the place was too big! with too many rooms! almost a bit spooky. and it was more of the family home with everything still on the shelves etc rather than an apartment designed to be rented. but some people might prefer that.
hope that helps
cheers
dom

Availability

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Send Enquiry

To contact this advertiser please visit: http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/39858

Contact details for the advertiser of home 39858
Name:	Charlie and Maria Williams
Company:	Villas Barcelona
Tel:	+34 93 268 2300
Mobile:	+34 656 364 960
Be aware of time-zones Please mention Holiday Lettings when contacting this advertiser
Languages:
Holidaymaker FAQs
Advertiser joined: Dec 2003

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