8/10 Good
Susan B., Denver, Colorado
2 Jul, 2017
Beautiful location
We loved this area of France and found there to be nice hiking in this area, which we loved. There is a hike from town to the ruins of an old chateau with lovely views of the town. There is also a lovely waterfall hike although we found the trail to be difficult to follow up high. The house is an old family house and is quite comfortable. We enjoyed staying in a small town, cooking some meals in the kitchen, and sitting around the farmhouse table. In retrospect, to minimize driving I would have stayed closer to Chambery and Annecy for a few nights (to see Mont Blanc, Aix Les Bains, Annecy, Chambery) and then come here for two nights to hike in this very beautiful area.
The owner is in Nice so not onsite. A neighborhood friend is overseeing the house. She is quite friendly and easy going and helpful. Her French is super easy to understand and she is very informative. We had some confusion upon arrival (see below) and she helped to smooth things out. We were very pleased to get to meet her and talk with her.
I'll detail the problems we had upon arrival, but will say that all was smoothed out and in the end we were pleased with the house. I think the owner is new to VRBO so attribute some of the confusion to that. The concerns we had were: 1) We were asked to sign a contract that itemized in detail everything about the house (down to the condition of the paint) and also to record our energy usage (with a provision in the contract that we would be charged for use that seemed exceptional). This seemed a bit daunting upon arrival and we felt we should have seen the contract ahead of time (as we were considering the rental) rather than get hit with it upon arrival. 2) We were asked to pay an additional 16 Euros for a local tax that we didn't know about in advance. 3) The house had not been opened up after the winter and it was quite cold when we arrived, so we were unpleasantly surprised with the possibility of being responsible for heating costs, 4) there were no sheets or towels, which may be an oversight on my part but it wasn't something I paid attention to given that we were renting an entire house.
As I said, the neighbor was quite helpful and smoothed all these things out. I would recommend this house and this area of France.
Lastly please note that there is not wifi and it is actually hard to find in the town, as well.