6/10 Okay
John B.
9 Oct 2022
Did not live up to expectations
The gite was up a steep narrow hill, set in a sheltered garden with an outside seating area in a pleasant rural setting with easy access to the places of interest on the Loire and the lovely surrounding countryside but it was disappointing that this Gite was not up to the standard of the other gites over the years that we have visited and enjoyed France.
Some of the key issues were:
- The owner insisted on an additional payment for cleaning on our arrival after asking for payments for heat and bedding, giving us the impression that these were the only extras. We bought our own towels to avoid having to pay for those as well;
- The banding of electrical supply to the Gite did not let us use the oven with other electrical appliances or lights as the supply cut off and had to be reset. It was necessary to use the oven grill to make toast, requiring kneeling on the floor as there was no toaster;
- When the owner arrived to meet us, she immediately switched off the lights that we had put on to read in the dark cottage, with no explanation;
- The beds were not made up on arrival and one bedroom’s access to the bathroom was through the other bedroom and passing close to both beds giving no privacy;
- The bathroom was well equipped but very small and on arrival the step into the shower was not clean with hair and soap on the step from a previous user;
- Both coffee machines needed descaling;
- There were two low beams that resulted in everyone having bruised heads – one was on the poorly constructed stair with narrow treads which distracted from avoiding that low beam at the bottom. The second was in the entrance to the first bedroom, which had no door. There was a step up into the entrance with a stoop to fit under the low beam across the entrance. This made going to the bathroom at night without disturbing the two sleeping in the first bedroom difficult as was avoiding the two beams on the way. (We all have the scars to prove it!)
John B.
Stayed 7 nights in Oct 2022