Domaine De L'Ardoisiere

Good
Traveller Type: Family with Young Children
  : The property feels cosy and has some quirky characteristics. The bedroom window overlooking the green forest is wonderful, and the attic bedroom is probably an adventure for kids. Same for the little carve out couch in the wall in the living room, which is a cosy seat. The bathroom had a spa tub with a view over the same green space which looked wonderful. We liked that we had the possibility to rent a barbecue so that upon arrival we could just spend some time with our family. It may also be good to know that pepper, salt and matches are available upon request. There are also dishwasher tablets and kitchen towels present. There is space to offload baggage from the car in front of the property, but parking is at the entrance to the property which means you dont have any cars in sight. For kids there is all kinds of entertainment such as a football field, bow and arrow and carts. We ordered a French breakfast one morning which was quite nice, and comes with jam, chocolate sprinkles, milk, juice, big croissants and pains au chocolat. Some reviews mentioned the dog on the property. While the dog is indeed big, it is the sweetest dog. It may also walk onto your terrace and come check you out. We had to watch the dog as it wanted to lick my nieces face, but it was fun to play fetch with it.
  : While the property looks cosy, the finishing is not great. I cut my hand with the steel wires that stick out of the shower handle of the bath tub. The bath tub also had very weak water pressure making it difficult to use it as a shower. Since we were with 6+1 small child, shower coordination therefore became a bit cumbersome. The main bathroom has 2 sinks, of which one did not have hot water. The second bathroom with the shower does not have a door and is an open walk-in concept in the attic bedroom, which does not have a door either. The bedroom therefore becomes quite damp, especially if you use that one shower with a family of 6. There seemed to be water leaking from the shower into the toilet below, which came out of the wall.There is an induction cooking plate in the kitchen. The buttons allow for heating as well as a timer, which is not very intuitive. My sister in law called the owner to ask how to use it, who could not advise either. Ultimately, I was able to find a manual online, but it would be better to have a user guide in the house.Since you are in a green area you should expect some bugs. The bedroom with the window looking out over the green space also has ants. On the plus side, those ants did clean away dead bugs. While we understand that green space comes with bugs, there are large spider webs in the living room that have been there a very long time, with dust hanging from them. The floor was not very clean either - our socks became very dirty.There is a 5-year old girl living on the property who is absolutely wonderful and well-mannered. However, we were looking to have some private time with our family, and at some point it felt we were babysitting the owners child. She spent several hours wanting to play with my 1-year old niece, running into the cottage we rented and unboxing the toys we brought for my niece.