Date: September 10, 2007Situated in the South of France, near Agde, Domaine de Beaumont is a working vineyard with restaurant facilities which offers holiday accommodation in nine villas on the property.
We spent our Summer holiday here booking two weeks for a villa for four in August 2007.
Our two girls, aged nine and six respectively enjoyed meeting other children on the site and roaming without danger around the grounds but we were very disappointed in the standard of accommodation provided for the price we paid.
The Domaine isn’t cheap but the fittings and fixtures in our villa certainly were!
We weren’t told that the toilet and bathroom would be downstairs next to the lounge and kitchen and the stairs were a painted wooden ladder affair with no hand rail. My youngest daughter slipped down them twice and I was constantly concerned during the night that the girls would fall on their way down to use the toilet.
There was no window or fan in the toilet (not pleasant) and in the bathroom the sink was chipped and there was no support supplied for the shower, so it had to be hand held. Most evenings we ran out of hot water – not good after a day spent by the pool and outrageous for the amount of money we were paying.
The cutlery and kitchen equipment was spartan and cheap, forks and knives bent when we used them. A metal spoke outside the patio doors was dangerous, we had place a shoe over it to stop people stubbing their bare feet and tripping over.
There were no views of the vineyards from our small garden area, these were obscured by a large hedge which was most disappointing as we had imagined sipping a glass of wine and looking out over the vines.
As for the bedrooms, there was no hanging wardrobe in either of the two rooms – just a metal rail in our bedroom and wooden pegs in the girls’ room. Our divan bed was diabolical, it was small and very uncomfortable. The bed linen was a motley assortment of sheets and covers which must have been at least a decade old, ditto with the towels supplied.
To add insult to injury there was no cleaning service supplied after one week, unless you paid extra for it and although we were supplied with the motley clean sheets and towels after one week we were expected to strip and remake our own beds. Likewise on departure we were asked to clean the villa and strip the beds before leaving.
The on-site restaurant although pleasant was not good for children’s meals serving either eggs/ham or burger and chips every night without any variety for the entire two weeks.
And if you fancied an early morning dip in the pool, forget it – the pool didn’t open until 10am, so you wouldn’t be able to gain entrance.
There were actually two pools but the more attractive upper pool featured on the website and in brochures was so cold that only the hardiest visitor took the plunge.
We didn’t expect luxury but for the price we expected something much better than this and our fellow visitors staying on the Domaine were in agreement.
Will we be returning and would we recommend this property to others ?
What do you think?
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I%26#39;m sorry you had an unpleasant experience.
Many of the things you were displeased with could have been known prior to your choosing this location. The weekly linen change-over should be noted in the contract. The location of the toilet should have been noted in the description of the unit. The type of ladder %26#39;should%26#39; have been noted too, as it can be dangerous for the very young or very old. No shower support is very common in France. I always ask about that one. And being asked to clean prior to leaving is very common and also should have been in the rental contract. The pool hours also should have been noted on the rental contract.
In order to avoid disappointment, you really have to do a LOT of homework prior to renting a place. No, you shouldn%26#39;t have to, but with the huge number of vacation rentals out there, it pays to ask a million and one questions and ask for as many Current photos as possible. After that, you should ask for current references, allowing you to speak directly with previous rentors - and not ones from years back.
I realize this is after the fact, but it would help you avoid a similar disappointment with any future vacation rentals.
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We had spent a wonderful week in Italy during June just prior to our Summer hols where we rented a villa for one week which was absolutely superb and we didn%26#39;t experience any of these problems at all.
The French villa cost us £1,300 per week! I would expect a reasonable standard for that money.
Anyway, we%26#39;ve already booked our Italian villa for next year and I know for certain that this will be worth every penny!
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That certainly was expensive. I would have expected a lot too. But, I have to say, before spending that much money, I would have asked so so so many questions and read the contract with a fine toothed combe. Thats just the way I am.
If you ever wish to visit the area where I live (I%26#39;m in Provence), I can give you links to a bunch of gorgeous villas and most are far less than 1300 GBP%26#39;s per week.
We%26#39;ve rented all over France and yes, we%26#39;ve encountered great value and crummy places. It is always a lesson learned.
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Forgot to add ... we had some good friends visit us who had just been to Italy. For a portion of their trip, they rented a villa for a week. They were about as happy with that villa and its owners as you were with the French villa.
So, it can happen anywhere. The best way to avoid it is to get as much data as possible prior to booking. Then, you just hope for the best.
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We stayed at Domaine de Beaumont the same week as those above, but had organised our stay through CV Travel.
We had travelled with CV twice before (Italy and Greece) and each time the accomodation, service and whole holiday had been excellent - very much what we would expect from paying top dollar through CV. The whole reason for using CV was to remove the need for fact finding, as we trust their judgement, based on the two previous holidays.
Domaine de Beaumont is not worthy of the accolade of CV destination. I agree with all the observations above:
- cold pool (what a waste that no one uses such a pretty pool as shown in all the brochures)
- poor fixtures and fitting (for the price of my holiday I could have refitted many of their rooms with better quality gear)
- no cleaning (first CV holiday I%26#39;ve been on where we haven%26#39;t had daily maid service. I did more cleaning this holiday then I%26#39;ve all all year.. ok I%26#39;m not proud!).
- fixed menu: two weeks with same 6 main courses *boring*
On a positive note we did try to get return on our investment at the wine tasting. And the other families made the two weeks fun.
Would I return to Domain de Beaumont - No
If it were a quarter of the price we paid (£1,500 /week, villa only, through CV) I would recommend it to those looking in that budget range drawing attention to the words above. For me I will go and spend my money more cautiously elsewhere.
I hear Argentina beats France usually (RWC07) - tee hee
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I have been a repeat visitor to the Domaine de Beaumont for the past 3 years and I have found it to be much more pleasant than you have portrayed. I know for a fact that all the villas have been re-furbished this winter so the standards will be higher. I also know that their prices will be remaining the same as last year so better value. I must say the family who own and run the Domaine are extremely pleasant and helpful and I wonder if you put your list of complaints to them at the time - I am sure they would have been very understanding and helped you. Things like cold water in the pool is only governed by the weather as everyone with pools in the region will tell you! If you wanted an early morning swim then again you should have asked the owners - I%26#39;m sure they wouldn%26#39;t mind and the reason for opening at 10.00 is to make sure both pools are cleaned first thing and ready for clients after breakfast. I really don%26#39;t agree with your comments and would recommend the Domaine 100% !
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All I can say is that you must have stayed in a different villa to us. We have just returned from an excellent holiday in an agriturismo in Umbria which was cheaper and far superior to the experience we had in Agde.
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Sorry Stuey12: but this is your first posting on this forum and you give a good review on this location? Did you register especially for giving this information? Why don%26#39;t you give more information about yourself in your profile? Are you the owner of this place?
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