Traditional Bastide style detached house sleeps up to 10 people with 5 Bedrooms, 2 Family Bathrooms plus 2 En-suites and offers all the amenities you would expect from a modern UK home.
Located within a local community, surrounded by quiet/peaceful protected woodland setting, but within easy reach of all Provence/Cote D'Azur has to offer (including vinyards, hiking/climbing/walking, golfing, horse riding, weekly petanque games & cafe cultures, etc) St Tropez, Antibes, Grasse and Cassis are all within an hours drive meaning this property allows you to truly immerse yourself in typical Provencal / Cote D'azur experience.
The property has a large south facing lounge with open plan kitchen extending onto a generous terrace area running the length of the property, leading to the bathing / pool tiled terrace, and also contains a separate TV room, plus ground floor WC.
Situated in a quarter acre site with 2 swimming pools, (1 adult pool = 10m x 6m x 2m; seperate childrens pool = 2m x 6m x 1m), and a large surrounding tiled sun terrace that catches the sun for most of the day. We provide enough sun loungers for the anticipated maximum guests (10) so no worries about sharing, and 2 shaded areas suitable for timeouts during peak season temperatures, along with a garden swing located in our hidden garden.
Essentially each double bedroom has access to its own bathroom, with the twin bedrooms sharing a family sized bathroom.
N.B. Due to the out of season temperatures the pool is covered (winterised) from end October to end March so any bookings outside of this time would most likely exclude usage of the pool unless temperatures we unusually high for the time of year or previously agreed in advance of the booking.
The property can easily manage from 4-10 people, according to requirements.
The property is located within a local community who will be going about their daily lives so we request that you respect the peace and tranquility of this secluded location, and our neighbours (who will more often than not wave and say hello when/if passing).
FYI: The entire VAR region introduced a local bylaw in 2002 regarding neighbourhood noise (type '/ap_lutte_contre_le_bruit_de_voisinage_20sept2002.pdf' into google - see articles 1 & 2)
so we do ask that you respect this during your visit with us. Unfortunately due to certain instances where others have failed to do so, we are now obliged by the mayors office to enforce a financial penalty for any such reported instances.
N.B. Unless prior permission and all appropriate paperwork has been submitted to/approved by the local mayors office, parties or loud celebrations of any kind are expressly prohibited and will incur a financial penalty against the bond should this occur.
Our local baker lives 3 doors down and rises around 2am daily in order to supply us all with his delicious baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolates, pomme aux chaussons (highly recommend!), etc. in the award winning village 'Messerlin' bakery located at the edge of the village. This bakery is renowned within the area as the best bakery locally (and 2nd place in 2018 on France's equivalent of Master Chef /Bakers in 'Meilleur Boulangerie de France') and has won multiple awards over recent years. I can highly recommend their efforts!
Whilst we accept that it's only natural that there may be breakages or accidents occurring during your holiday, we ask that you consider the impact to any subsequent guests by ensuring that any breakages are either replaced (same or similar) and flagged to myself/concierge so that these can be addressed as a matter of urgency and avoid inconveniencing any subsequent guests where-ever possible. Your understanding and assistance with this is much appreciated as we would like each guest to have an equally pleasurable experience.
Similarly we ask that you perform an initial recap on arrival and if you notice that something isn't working properly, please feel free to alert us to the issue so that we can address it, or in the private feedback we welcome any suggestions you may have that you believe may aide for future guests needs.
Unlike most other rentals in the region, included in the rental price are sufficient bedding and towels per person with facilities available to wash during your stay. However, due to the short turnaround time we have in preparing the property between reservations, we do require that you leave the property in a reasonably clean condition both internally and externally before departing. This includes but is not limited to all crockery washed and stored, bins emptied, beds stripped, any inflatables/games/products/food taken with you or binned (these are located a short walk away at the end of our road).
N.B. Whilst we anticipate most of our guests to understand and comply with our house rules, failure to respect them may result in a financial penalty being applied.
Further details
Regarding nearby activities, there is truly something to please everyone, from archeology (explore the renovated ruins of the original hilltop village) to Zorbing football matches (type bubble bump, Toulon into a google search window) and pretty much everything in between!
For kids, Oubre (think Go-Ape) is just outside the village within a short 5 minute drive where they can let off some steam, swinging through trees and a natural obstacle course. (google search Aoubre, flassans sur issole for more details)
For the wine lovers (particularly Rose fans), you have some of the finest vineyards in Provence right on your door step such as the infamous Commanderie Peyrassol, Domain Gavoty, Chateaux Marguilliere, or even the local Co-op located in the village itself, "Le Comptoir des Vins de Flassans".
For the sight-seers amongst you, the spectacular Cote D' Azur is just a short drive way, or perhaps visit some of the most picturesque coastal or inland villages, towns & cities all within easy driving distance. The world capital of Perfume industry (Grasse) is only a short 30 - 40 mins drive, Antibes (Historic port and Town) = 1hr, Juan les Pins (beach bars and sundowners) = 45 mins, St Tropez = 45 mins, and beautiful little seafronted town Cassis = 1hr.
For those of you with a penchant for golfing, one of the top 100 globally rated golf courses is a short 15 minute drive from the property (n.b. unlike stated in the options which states 15 minute walk away). Unfortunately I cannto seem to insert the hyperlink to the golf course so you will need to search under Barbaroux Golf Course from a google search :-(
For those inspired by recent Tour de France races, there's also plenty of excellant cycle routes in the area with several well known races passing through the village during the summer months too (type "randonner a velo" into a google search window and navigate the map function on the website for local clubs). Makes for a lovely afternoon to watch them race through the village high street, either from the roadside, or the local bar. If you wish to participate there's also options to hire bikes locally (roughly 55€ per bike per day), and even a knowledgeable local guide if desired (400€ a day). In addition to the bikes themselves, they can also deliver/collect the bikes to/from the property, provide all the appropriate biking gear, and eliminate any linguistic obstacles if desired. If this is something of interest please ask for more details.
Or if all of that sounds exhausting and you're looking for a rest from your usual hectic lifestyle, then you can always just pop yourself on a sun lounger with a book and whilst away a few hours.
All in all, there's something for everyone, no matter the age or abilities.
Further details indoors
Built and furnished to a very high specification with all the modern conveniences one would expect from a comfortable UK property abroad. Particularly useful is the availability of 1 washing machine) eliminating potential duplicate packing or post holiday washing piles), microwaves, gas ovens, toasters/kettles, etc. also portable air cooling fans if needed but the house does remain quite cool/airy if the shutters are half closed.
Unlike most holiday homes, the property contains all bedding, linen and mod cons included in the price so there are no unpleasant surprises or additional extras.
The property is not on mains sewage and uses a sceptic tank, therefore we kindly request that our guests refrain from disposing of any man made items via the lavatory, and only natural cleansing products suitable for use with a sceptic tank. There are signs across the property which re-iterate this but we ask you to ensure that all parties are aware and abide by this essential requirement so no inconvenience is experienced during your stay.
Since the upgrade of the UK satellites, the south of France and Spain are now unable to obtain access to the BBC channels so as an alternative, I provide Amazon firesticks at the property which can be used to stream movies/tv shows etc.
As these are not currently sold in France (I have to import them from the UK) I'm obliged to deduct the cost of a replacement should the key or the remote be missing upon departure inspection as this will impede any subsequent guests enjoyment.
Further details outdoors
The property is situated on a plot of 2500m2, comprising of a large terrace (220m2) and Patio (30m2) with outdoor kitchen, tables & chairs. As outlined earlier, there are two swimming pools; 1 suitable for children (2m x 6m x 1m) and an adult pool adjacent (10m x 6m x1m).
Sun loungers and shaded area available for usage. Also a hidden garden/quiet corner is available for snoozes or reading in the sun.
Disclaimers: A swimming pool is a fantastic thing in hot weather and can provide endless hours of fun but as with any body of water there comes a risk so we ask you to read and accept the below recommendations to ensure any risks are minimised wherever possible.
Both swimming pools are open air salt water pools and as such are subject to the elements. Therefore in an effort to diminish overall inconvenience to you (and maximise the pleasure of such amenities), we recommend that at minimum the following activities be performed on a daily basis:
a) Monitor water levels; during high temperatures the water will evaporate so if you see it goes below the 3rd tile from the top then please feel free to either connect the hose to the external tap and top up the water, or contact me and I will organise for the pool maintenance chap to visit.
b) In addition to the robot cleaner (who is set to run on a predefined schedule each day), we kindly request that you do not remove or use the robot cable as a floatation aide or pull on it for any reason as this will cause the robot to stop running/cleaning and the water quality will quickly deterioriate.
c) We provide a large net for you to remove detrus/leaves that may have fallen into the pool and be forming a dust layer on top as this provides you with a much more pleasant swimming experience (I've also been told its a fun post breakfast job for kids over the ages of 8).
d) Please shower before getting in the pool.
e) Remove jewellery / metallic objects when swimming (both of the above items are crucial in ensuring the maintenance of the water quality and will add to the likelyhood of the water turning in high pressure weather periods if these arent respected).
f) Please notify our local agent of any accidental toilet mishaps, and generally help ensure the poolwater quality whilst in use.
g) Please consider using earplugs. It is common for children particularly to get ear infections through a sudden extended usage of swimming pools and although it can be treated, we want you to have the best experience possible.
h) Similarly, if you have any infections that could be transmitted, please use preventative products to stop contamination of the water, or risk to any subsequent guests.
Whilst we try to do our utmost to ensure the water quality is maintained to a safe and appropriate level (a professional pool company will attend on a weekly/fortnightly basis to check everything during changeovers), with the extreme temperatures experienced over recent summer seasons in this area there is a risk that the pool may become out of bounds for upto 48hrs until the water is safe again, and PH levels are restored. It is imperative that if you believe the water is turning (going green) then you send me a picture immediately as time is of the essence in rectifying the issue and minimising inconvenience to yourselves.
As we truly wish to mitigate any intrusion on your overall holiday experience, a condition of the the rental agreement is that you accept the possibility of this occurring and equally the responsiblity for ensuring the above guidelines are followed.
N.B. Children should be supervised at all times whilst in or near the pool area. We do not accept any responsiblity for accidents in or around the pool area, especially those unsupervised.