www.villasbarcelona.com: Villa rentals in Barcelona and Costa Brava

Costa Brava-Pyrenees villas : La Quintana

Feedback on La Quintana





----- Original Message -----
From: Janine Pound
To: Charles Williams
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 10:53 AM
Subject: RE: La Quintana, 21 to 28 August, 2005

Charlie, Hi,

I have been meaning to send you an email since we got back to tell you what a wonderful place La Quintana is. But then you know that already! I could hardly believe it as we drove up to the house. The setting is truly delightful and so peaceful. Joseph and Concepcion were very welcoming.

Catalonia is a lovely area. I loved the churches and walking around the old villages. We went across to the coast on a couple of days, stopping at Figueres and Girona on the way over. I would love to go back to visit Girona, it was a lovey town.

Do you handle properties in Aragon or Navarra? We are thinking about visiting this area next year although we would probably go in October rather than the summer.

Thanks for all your help in organising La Quintana for us.

Janine



----- Original Message -----
From: Simon White
To: Charles Williams
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 6:07 PM
Subject: RE: La Quintana, April 2 to 9, 2005

Charles,

We have all had a brilliant week in a truly beautiful part of the world, the rowing meant we did not get to explore much, but the peace and tranquillity helped us recover for the next day very effectively. Please pass on our thanks to Concepcion and Josep for allowing us to use their beautiful Masia.

Your challenge for next year is to accommodate 45 of us, the 38 that ended up in the youth hostel in Banyoles have decided they would much prefer to stay as we did and who can blame them. Is it possible to arrange accommodation (not necessarily of the same high standard) in reasonably close proximity to lake and each other? I recognise not all in one property but large groups would not be a problem for us.

Regards
Simon White




----- Original Message -----
From: Nora Doyle
To: 'Charles Williams'
Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2004 8:04 PM
Subject: RE: September Trip

We found La Quintana to be charming. Your website said that it wasn’t for everyone. Apparently we fall into the group for which it is perfect. Concepcion and Josep were very helpful. Since they knew that we didn’t understand much of anything that they said, they brought their daughter to see us who was visiting from England. If we are ever traveling to that area again, it would be our first choice. It was comfortable and convenient to wonderful places, such as Santa Pau, Besalu and Camprodon.

I also wanted to provide some comments on your directions. Mostly, they were very helpful. The major exception was the directions around Barcelona. We read your directions to say that two pieces of information were on one sign. They weren’t. They were on two signs on opposite sides of the road. We weren’t sure which one we were to follow. We chose the wrong one and had a nice tour through downtown Barcelona. We will have to go back someday when we can stay longer. Maybe we were just too tired to understand the directions, but we definitely went wrong.

Second, in Banyoles, you make reference to the German Schlecker drugstore. It would be more helpful to refer to the Sabataria Teresa, which is on the corner. It was the second or third trip through Banyoles before we even noticed the drugstore. Finally, you say, “when the road ends and you have the gorgeous lake in front of you, turn left.” The turn is actually one block before the road ends. Charlie adds: at least for the first time, it is easier to go to the lake and turn left there, as the previous left turn is not well signposted...

I have no problem with you sharing my comments. We appreciate all of your help, and if we are ever planning another trip to Catalonia we will definitely be in touch.

Nora Doyle



----- Original Message -----
From: Marianne Krasny
To: tourism.catalonia@wanadoo.es
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 2:20 PM Subject: la quintana

Dear Charlie,

Thanks so much for arranging the rental of La Quintana for my family and me. The location was ideal--peaceful, wonderful view of the old church and surrounding hills, and nice walks to be taken from the house. When I read on your website that it was 1 km from the main road, I envisioned truck noise, etc., but we had no traffic noises. We also enjoyed meeting Conception (the owner) and appreciated her gift of local honey and inviting us to stay an extra night at no extra cost. The fact that she didn't speak English and spoke only some French was actually a welcome respite from all the tourist sites where everyone tries to speak English to you. The house was also well stocked with things like bottled water, toilet paper, salt, and the kitchen had excellent pots, pans, barbecue, etc. There was even a washing machine. To our surprise, Conception said that it was not our responsibility to clean before we left, so we were spared some work at the end of the visit. Also as you said on your site, we were not charged for utilities or anything extra.

I had no idea Catalonia has such a wealth of natural beauty and relatively unspoiled places as I had only been to Barcelona and the coast on previous trips. We really enjoyed the volcanic park, hiking up the gorge near Oich(?), talking walks up the hill behind the house, and the funicular up to Nuria. The lake at Banyoles and visiting a town a little off the tourist track was pleasant if not exciting. Santa Pau was well worth the visit.

The restaurant Conception recommended (Ted could probably give you the name--they raise their own animals for meat) was fine if one is looking for something inexpensive--it was definitely a nice family restaurant, the price was right, service friendly, and we enjoyed the atmosphere. The food was mixed (e.g., good gaspacho but overcooked vegetables, frozen French fries, and not particularly interesting meat dishes). I think Ted enjoyed the pigs' feet however. The person we asked didn't seem to know anything about them raising their own meat, which Mark was interested in finding out more about.

All in all a great trip! Thanks for making it possible. Please thank Conception and tell her we really appreciated her hospitality, especially inviting us to spend the extra night. She has done a really nice job renovating the house, making it comfortable, and with the flowers in the garden. She is generous and makes you feel at home.

Best wishes, Marianne

(Please feel free to use parts of this for your website.)

Marianne E. Krasny
Cornell University



----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Whitmore
To: tourism.catalonia@wanadoo.es
Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 3:27 PM
Subject: La Quintana

Hi Charlie!

Thanks for setting us up with La Quintana. It's a beautiful place and was perfect for us. We went for many walks nearby and loved the countryside. We sort of blazed a trail up to the top of the ridge to the east and followed the ridge to the north where it turned into a well maintained trail that connected with other trails/roads that we followed back into the valley. There were some beautiful morel mushrooms and we collected lots of wild asparagus. The woman that ran the place was very nice. It was a big plus to have the firepllace with wood provided for the day that was rainy. The kitchen was well appointed and we were able to make many a fine feast. Too bad you couldn't join us! The one thing about the place that I found to detract was that there were too many chairs! It was too cluttered for such a big crowd. Some folks might like that and it wasn't a big deal. It was very nice to have the clothes washer!

The instructions to get there were a bit confusing. When I got to the second traffic circle in Banyoles I couldn't figure out which road was the right one until I had wandered around a bit and finally saw the road name, after that everything fit except I kept looking for some of the walkways or other landmarks that were mentioned and couldn't find them. Indeed, it was a bit distracting. Perhaps some simpler instructions with distances would help. Banyoles is a bit confusing to begin with but we got there just fine. If you could email me the driving instructions I could perhaps make some more accurate suggestions.

The guide book you made was a great help. I especially liked the small road from El Torn to El Sallent. The detailed topographic maps they had at the house were of great use to us and I would encourage you to have them available in other houses as well. Unfortunately I'm a map geek and it took a few wrong turns to find the little road since they have made a new road since the topo maps were made and I was following the topo map. The road to El Sallent takes off to the left just as you enter El Torn and was unmarked. The topo map showed the road on the other side of El Torn after crossing the creek and indeed, I found the old road which ended at a dead bridge. That's when I decided to take the new road. Anyone without the topo map probably would have taken the correct road to begin with!

We took a great hike out of Oix that I would without hesitation recommend to anyone, especially on a hot day when the swimming holes would be in their prime, but then again there might not be much water later on in the season.

Well, That's about all I have time to report on for now. Thanks again for the help and I look forward to seeing you the next time I get to Barcelona.

Ciao,
Mark Whitmore



----- Original Message -----
From: Lana Lee-Brogdon
To: Charles Williams
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 4:06 PM
Subject: RE: scarf

Charles,

Sure you can quote me!

"La Quintana was wonderful! Concepcion and Josep were great hosts. The house is very quaint with a beautiful garden and view of the old church. We awoke to the singing of birds and mooing of cows, very peaceful! Several days we dined 'al fresco' in the garden."

About the scarf, can you please ask her to send it to me at this address:
...
Lana Lee left a scarf which Concepcion, the owner, kindly mailed to her home in the Bahamas. We never did hear if it made it there, though. I suppose it did.

Thanks!
Lana
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