Country Cottage / Gite - LA BUSSIERE

All beautifully presented; the photos on Vrbo are very accurate. Everything we needed was provided. Plenty of towels including for the pool. Celine was discreet but helpful and readily available with any questions we had. Our family had a lovely holiday at Les Blots, thank you.

The accommodation was first class. All bedrooms en suite, and everything worked perfectly. The kitchen was a bit on the small side for the number of gusts, but again, everything worked. The caretakers, Carole and José, were polite, friendly and helpful. However, we were very disappointed with the state of the grounds in the immediate vicinity of the house. The photos on the website were very misleading. The views from the outside dining area were very restricted, and bore no similarity to the photos. Its terrace looked out onto a stand of dead or dying trees, and any distant views were obscured by shrubs that badly needed pruning in order for the views to be opened up. The poolside shrubbery was similarly very overgrown. We were particularly disappointed with the views of the small lake to the side of the house. Again, there was very poor management of the shrubbery surrounding the lake., thereby completely obscuring the lake itself and the far-reaching views beyond. We mentioned this to the caretakers early on in our stay, but no action was taken. It only needed a couple of hours with a hedge trimmer to open up the scene so that it resembled the website's photos. The overgrown foliage and shrubbery would have certainly contributed to the constant annoyance of the aggressive giant horse flies that plagued the area, particularly around the poolside. Nevertheless, we award this stay 4 out of 5. And if the foliage and shrubs had been dealt with, it would have been 5 out of 5.

The house is really beautifull, located quietly. The hosts are very nice!

We read all of the 5 star reviews before booking and having stayed there we can see why. Everything about the property makes for a good holiday. If you are looking for peace and quiet surrounded by fields and woodland, look no futher. Carole and Jose who manage the property were very friendly and helpful without being intrusive and when we had a small problem with one of the toilets the put it right immediately. We thought the surrounding area was lovely and enjoyed the local markets.

Perfekt

The property is perfect for a family holiday with plenty of room, there were 8 of us including a child. The property includes workshops and storage rooms in the central portion and accommodation for the resident staff at the other end who maintain the property and also three amazing tree houses located in the nearby forest. The resident staff Carole and Joseph were lovely people, always on hand to help with any queries and assist in booking trips. The location is in the countryside well away from any built up areas and that is its charm. There are lovely forest walks on the grounds with lakes and ponds and a pool with sunbathing areas to use. La Bussiere is a lovely (although very quiet) village nearby and the Chateau is well worth a visit. Other enjoyable activities were boat rides on the canals in Briare.

Overall very happy with our stay, and Carole and José were very helpful and friendly, but never intrusive. Unfortunately, we found when we arrived, that the property listing was misleading, as there are only 5 toilets, not the 9 that you get if you add up all of the ones in the Rooms & Beds section, plus there are only 4 "proper" bedrooms, with a sofa bed in the lounge (not a problem for us as we were only a party of 7); you actually only get just under half the building shown in the pictures, as Carole & José occupy the rest, but the photographs are accurate in showing the rooms which form the accommodation. We had temperatures in the high 20s, and the bedrooms were extremely hot overnight (a fan might have helped) and opening the windows was not an option, given the local insect life and the "frog chorus" from the adjacent lake. As mentioned by other reviewers, two of the bathrooms only have handheld shower heads, mounted at tap height, forcing you to either crouch down in the bath, or risk sending water across the bathroom (there's no shower curtain or screen). We had to travel a fair distance for bread, unfortunately, as the boulangerie in La Bussière is closed, but found two excellent ones 50 yards apart, in Nôgent. These issues aside, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay (the fresh eggs from the chickens were an unexpected bonus)!

We were greeted by Carle and her husband who live at the property. They were very helpful and welcoming, nothing was too much trouble. We were a party of 8 adults who made good use of the pool, table tennis and numerous walks in the woods and lanes around La Bussiere. The property was spacious and it was great having en suites for each bedroom. 2 have showers and 2 have baths, a point to mention, the baths could do with wall mounted shower heads, rather than at tap level. We bought 8 large wine glasses and left them at the property as the ones available were very small. Also, we had to borrow Carle’s barbecue utensils as none were found , but this wasn’t a problem. We all felt very secure at the property as there are security gates that are operated by the key fob. Separate secluded parking is also useful as cars are kept shaded during the day. All in all, a great holiday was had by our group who thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful location of Les Blots