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Review 4560: Owner (#1735), Puy de Dome Holiday Home

www.holidayrentals.co.uk

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Review by Dsevig from FL

2bed/2bath apartment in St remy sur Durelle, Auvergne

When

May 7, 2010, 8 days

Location

Nice home in nondescript town near Vichy, France - nothing touristy about the town but did have ATM, small market, couple of small stores and a GREAT boulangerie! Five minute walk to center of town.

Most touristy sites in the area were about an hour+ to get to - was pretty easy via the toll roads and four lanes to Clermond and then south or west to sites - about an hours drive and €3.10 each way so some driving that could have been spared by staying SW of Clermond in a town like Besse. Vichy and Theirs offers some touristy sites which are quite close to the west and north.

Nearby Amenities

Easy five minute walk to stores! Internet cafe also by the Square - open 10-6:30!

The House/Apartment

Rather plain home like the town but in good shape - first floor layout with two large bedrooms and nice connecting baths! Large dining room and living room connected. The kitchen was a galley type and well equipped but pretty small except for one cook!! OK plain furnishings.

Family upstairs with a couple of children so some noise with children running! a lot of visitors to them!

Enclosed parking, on site manager upstairs with family (French only). Home was in good condition, especially the bathrooms, good TV with some English channels

Garden

OK sitting areas with a yard but little to see! Pretty private - no pool!

Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

Good furniture in nice shape - comfortable and clean upon our arrival - €55 cleaning fee asked. Would be comfortable for two couples or family.

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

Nice beds - plain rooms but comfortable - small but nice baths with good shower - no storage for toiletries.

Kitchen

Good new kitchen with nice range and refrigerator and clothes washer - "Galley" type so small for more than one person really. Nice plates and cooking utensils.

Problems or Bonuses

Nothing really to surprise us but rather disappointed in the area - too city like versus nice views in a country gite.

Agency and Representatives (and price)

Dealt with owner who was quite responsive usually - upstairs caretaker and husband - he spoke some English.

Paid around €325, which I think was a good value for such a property.

Owner has bank accounts in England and US which was nice for us to pay by check without foreign draft fees etc.

She has a couple of other nice looking properties in Marseille and London also.

Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

Nothing wrong with the gite but not the best location to tour the northern and central parts of the Auvergne in my mind and not a scenic location.

It was good being close to Vichy that has a EuroCar agency right near the railroad station which offers good trips to Lyon for TGV to CDG or direct to Paris Gare de Lyon.

Things to do in this area

Quite frankly we were disappointed in the Auvergne versus other parts of France we have toured in five previous trips - late tourist season did not help as much was closed in May such as castles. Seemed like urban sprawl around many nice villages - we did have some very nice restaurants that I will disclose in a trip report and local food was interesting - the locals wines however were nothing special. It did offer some nice scenery with the mountains and it does have many top 50 villages in the area. And we had the worst weather in 10 trips to Europe during our stay there which may have added some gloom to our feelings that were not the fault of the area - but from what I read from other quests etc. this area is not the sunniest or warmest area of France due to its elevation etc.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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