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Costa Brava Villas : Mas Casa Nova : Comments

Feedback on Mas Casa Nova





----- Original Message -----
From: Alan Lobban
To: villasbarcelona
Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2005 12:00 PM
Subject: Re: House: Casa Nova - July 9 to 23, 2005 - how was it?

Hi,

Thanks for your mail - we meant to send you a message too but didn't get round to it.

We had a fabulous holiday - one of the best ever!

The house itself couldn't have been better. It was big, very comfortable and clean yet not so fancy that we had to worry about the kids running around - very peaceful too with fabulous views. We all enjoyed the pool - the kids were very reluctant to go anywhere alse and would've happily stayed at the house and in the pool all day, every day!

The animals were a bonus - had we said the word, they would have all been packed up and taken home - especially Bat, the dog who has probably never been fed so well in his life! We're planning a trip up to visit him soon!

The owvners were great. Nothing was too much trouble.

We'll definitely go back!
Thanks!
Isla



----- Original Message -----
From: Alison Caldwell
To: villasbarcelona
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 10:24 PM
Subject: Re: House: Casa Nova - how was it?

Charlie

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in Catalonia. It was one of the best holidays we have had. The kids had an absolute ball with the dog, pony, goose and hens - much hilarity when the goose chased my 3 year old and my 9 year old niece. The older girls were able to groom the pony which kept them amused and they also collected eggs from the henhouse every day. The swimming pool was fantastic and the owner serviced it twice a day which meant it was always really clean. By the end of the holiday, Bat the dog was sitting by the pool with all of us. Bat also kept me company when I went running in the morning, which made me feel much safer.

The house was perfect for our needs - really big and plenty of room for the kids to run about. It was very rustic and the fact that it was relatively basic suited us perfectly as we didn't need to worry about the kids running around. The balcony was great for sipping wine well into the night.

The location of the house was also great for us as it was very easy to get to the beach or to water parks in the Costa Brava. It probably helped that my brother lives in Spain and knows the roads very well ( we followed him everywhere!). We also made a trip up to Carcassonne which was excellent and the jousing knights were a bonus for the boys. The great thing about the pool at the house was that we didn't have to travel every day and spent 2 or 3 days throughout our two weeks just lounging around the house and pool. Even when we did go out, the kids couldn't wait to get back to see Bat!

We didn't even mind the fact that we had one or two mice towards the end of the holiday as this also kept the kids very amused - especially when we caught one!

The only problem we experienced was the electricity going off but the owner fixed it very quickly - I have to say though, it might have been difficult if the family staying there didn't speak any Spanish as the owners do not speak English and my brother and family came in really useful here! It has made me realise that I need to learn more Spanish for next time!

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable holiday and we would definitely consider going back here in the future.

Thank you for your help with booking the house. Hope you are well.
Regards.
Alison



----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Golding
To: Charles Williams
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 9:05 PM
Subject: Re: Mas Casanova, summer 2003

Charlie,

We had a great time in Mas Casanova. It was probably one of the best holidays I've been on. The house was fantastic. Just what we were looking for - not fancy, but clean and quirky in the middle of the countryside with a great pool. The owners should be congratulated in the way that they looked after the place. They were very helpful but never intrusive.

I must admit to being slightly aprehensive about a dog having the run of the place but like previous guests found, Sky became a highlight of the holiday. Our 5 year old became particularly attached.

There was so much to do and see in the local area. It's a wonderful part of the world.

We're keen to come back to Catalunya but it would have to be something on a smaller scale for just the 3 of us. Is there anything you can suggest?

Please feel free to use any of our comments and contact me again if you need any more information.

I have recommended your website to several people so far and will continue to do so.

On another note, I have started to learn Spanish as I want to get much more out of my hopefully regular visits. Is spanish good enough to get by in Catalunya or is it necessary to learn Catalan?
Many thanks for a wonderful holiday,
Regards,
Chris



----- Original Message -----
From: Jennings
To: villasbarcelona
Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 10:34 AM
Subject: Re: Mas Casa Nova, June 25 to July 9

Charlie-

We had a lovely holiday in Catalonia - we really loved the area and would very much like to return. The location of Mas Casa Nova was great for us as we went to the beach often and it was nice to not have any neighbors. The pool was great and having the farm animals including that wonderful dog was a plus for the children. We had plenty of space for sleeping & bathrooms, etc. The owners were very nice and helpful (my son got sick & I they told me how to get to the doctor). The one thing that would have made the house more enjoyable is if it had a better living room. We found it to be musty and dark and so we never used it but it would have been nice at times to gather on some nice couches in a bright living room space.

Sincerely,
Worth Jennings



----- Original Message -----
From: Magda van Bruggen
To: villasbarcelona
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: Casa Nova, May 21 to June 4, 2005

Hi Charlie,

Don't apologize, after all I could have mailed you myself but I was too busy to take time to email.

We did have a great time in Mas Casa Nova. We had a good contact with Gemma and Enrique and the house was up to our expectations although it was far too big for the 2 of us. But I like a big house more then a small house, so that was no problem. The weather was fine and we enjoyed the house and the surroundings. And of course the dog, chickens and goose and the horse. My husband found the old motorcycle and tried to repair it. He succeeded and I believe Enrique was astonished, because he thought it could not be repaired.

I wrote a little story about this vacation on my internet site, so if you want to have a look, be my guest.

http://home.planet.nl/~abruggen/spain2005.htm

All the best to you Charlie and maybe sometime we have contact again.
Magda van Bruggen

Go back to Casa NovaGo back to Casa Nova


----- Original Message -----
From: Lars Smith
To: Charles Williams
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 9:33 AM
Subject: RE: Casanova, how was it?

Hi Charlie!

Thanks for this. Here's a description. I'm afraid that we were barely there as we were charging around various golf clubs, but I hope this will suffice.

Casanova is absolutely perfect for those looking for rural seclusion in a sparsely furnished, but comfortable farmhouse. It has everything you might want and/or expect plus a well-maintained swimming pool and a table tennis room. The house is close to a number of pretty villages and convenient by car for both Girona, the coast and the A-7 highway.

Hope you're fine!
All the best,
Lars



----- Original Message -----
From: Oonagh O'Brien
To: Charles Williams
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 11:40 AM
Subject: RE: Casanova (4-11th April)

Dear Charlie,

just got back from a VERY wet Catalonia! Never seen so much rain there! (and of course it was SUNNY in Scotland while we were away - can you believe it!) However we managed to have a great holiday and the weather was an excuse to hole up in restaurants for rather a long time every mid day so rather more of us has come back than went if you see what I mean... it was dry long enough for us to get out everyday.

The South African contingent (Kate Philip and Brendan Barry) have asked me to let you know that they are planning to be at the apartment at Madramenya around lunch time on Thursday (18th April).

We were justified in our choice of Casanova as the central heating became essential and Enric kindly put it up for us as the weather got worse, the fire made our evenings cosy and all the covered spaces for the kids to play in were a boon (the barn and hay barn, and bits by the front door and various outhouses to explore as well as the play room). Washing machine and indoor washing line also much used. However the big hits of the house were - you say it all in the web site - Sky the dog, and also the big pile of sand by the front door (which I presume is not permanent) but meant that on the one hot day we had we could lounge around all day as the sand was played with. Sky was great- accompanied us on walks and runs and bicycle trips (in the rain!) and after we left the house to go to Barcelona the smallest child in a tired fit of weeping said - I want to go home to Sky and clothilde (the horse). The house was great for kids (and adults!) - maybe a fence along the road would have made us even more relaxed - very few cars there but all the same we did have to keep an eye out for little ones. Enric and Gemma were extremely friendly and helpful.

We ate well at the local restaurant at Viladasens, and also very well in one in Girona called Boira (I think) at Placa independencia - they were brillant with wet hungry fractious kids, as so many places were- bringing us their food straight away and letting them choose odd combinations etc.

We also fell for the shop at St Jordi de Valls, which we nicknamed Ali Baba's cave because it appeared to have everything we could ever think of needing, and if they didnt have it would order it (extra gym shoes a different size, extra supplies of fresh milk..) as well as telling us lots of reciepes and more or less offering a lift home to one of our party who had cycled there in the rain.

Visited Girona on a couple of days and I made a return visit to the Jewish museum which I have always found fascinating - first visited it in 1982 when they were still restoring many of the buildings there. It is much smarter and more established now.

Only sad bit has been leaving our friends after only a week together - they should get some sun at the end of this week and next - hopefully!

Bye for now,
yours
Oonagh



----- Original Message -----
From: Hatch, Paula
To: 'Charles K. Williams '
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 6:42 PM
Subject: RE: casa nova, Sept 24 to Oct 15, 2001

Hi, Charlie,

We just returned from Catalonia last night (whew!) and are trying to make heads and tails of where we are, what time it is, etc. We'll definitely furninsh you with comments about our stay at Casa Nova -- it just may be a few days. I, personally, found the comments from past visitors a very helpful feature of your site.

The short response is that we had a fantastic time and Casa Nova was exactly right for the type of visit we wanted. The only really negative part was that we couldn't take Sky home with us!

We'll write more soon. Thanks for all your help (the directions were great).
Paula Hatch



----- Original Message -----
From: Michelle Parsons
To: Charles K. Williams
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 7:11 PM
Subject: RE: Casa Nova

Dear Charlie

Our stay in Casa Nova was a wonderful experience, the directions of how to get there were adequate but a little confusing on the last 2km, but it was worth the long drive from Cardiff, Wales UK to the villa. It is set in beautiful countryside (if you want alot of action this is not the place for you) and so peaceful, the added bonus of Skye the German shepherd dog and the horse and chickens was fantastic. We were allowed to collect the eggs warm sometimes!! and eat them for breakfast! Enric also came and took the children (and some adults!!) for a ride in the trap with the horse. Enric and Gemma were lovely friendly people and we enjoyed our chats with them, them learning English, us Spanish!

The facilities were fine and the pool was a delight to have especially aftre a day sightseeing, to come back to your own pool was bliss.

The area itself offers alot of variety for sightseeing with Mountains and Sea all within easy access. A trip to Banyoles Lake is a must and also a day at least in Barcelona ( about 2hours drive) The seaside town of L'escartit is also worth going to.

In the nearest village of Villadscens about 1km from the farmhouse there is a lovely reasonably priced resturant called Can Llado, we visited this 3 times in 2 weeks!!

The only minus point was the kitchen, it is very, very basic and the cooker is not very good but you can certainly live with it, and it didn't spoil our holiday at all.

We will probably return in a few years and use the farmhouse as our base again.

Thank you for your efficent site and help.
Michelle Parsons
Cardiff, Wales UK



----- Original Message -----
From: Janet Packard
To: tourism@catalonia.net
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2001 7:10 PM
Subject: Mas Casa Nova

Hi Charlie - Finally home and settled enough to write you. Mas Casa Nova was everything you said it would be - and more. Enric and Gemma were terrific. I feel badly that we didn't get to say goodbye and hope you will ask if the money I left was adequate to cover the pony ride and the use of one bicycle for one day. I had thought we'd see Enric Saturday morning but somehow I missed when Gemma was there. We had to leave very early in the morning and had never discussed the cost of those items and where and how to leave the key. I hope leaving the door open for what I imagine would only have been a very short time was okay. We left around 7:30 in the morning on Sunday.

Thank you so much for all. Your directions were great as was the information on your website and the gude you had prepared for use while at the house. The location of the house worked so well for us.We did day trips to Girona, Figueres and Barcelona, the Corniche and one of the beaches there and Cadaques. We also spent two days at L'Estartit. Never once did we feel like we had to travel a long distance or not have enough time to make the trip a comfortable one.

Please also tell Enric that the bathroom to the left at the top of the stairs - over to the side not one of the two in the center - had a very sluggish toilet. Also, there seemed to be a leak in the triple room the night it poured. Water and some sort of dirt came down on to the bed closest to the window. This was the next to last night which I did not learn about until the last night. I lack the Spanish to put that all in a note.

I'm giving your info to a friend of a client who is interested in renting in that area next year. HOpe it works out. Thanks so much. I may end up renting in Ireland next summer. If you know of any good sites for that, don't hesitate to pass it on. Be well and thanks again.
Janet Packard



----- Original Message -----
From: Frank Clovyn
To: 'Charles K. Williams'
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 1:57 PM
Subject: Wonderful vacation

Dear Charles,

I wish to thank you very much for all the arrangements with regards to our vacation in Spain & more specifically “Mas Casa Nova”.

Firstly your directions as you had send to me are absolutely bullet proof, amazingly detailed and accurate, One’s got to really be very “dense” to mess up there and not reach the destination or get lost, well done!!!

As far as the accommodation was concerned, let me share with you that the house is lovely; the owners are very nice people and are really going out of their way to ensure that all is taken care off.

The kids enjoyed the pool and we very much enjoyed the peace and quite, this combined with a great setting. On the recommendation of Enrico and Gemma we did go to the restaurant in Villadesens and indeed, the food is very good and the offering are great value for money.

Living in a polluted city such as Bangkok, we had to be very careful not to get a “fresh air and or an oxygen poisoning”, only that for us was already a treat

The people running the restaurant are very accommodating and really pleasant, I would recommend all future tenants of Mas Casa Nova to try it out.

All in all it was a great experience and will certainly be call for a repetition.

Kind regards,

Frank Clovyn
General Manager
The Landmark Bangkok




----- Original Message -----
From: John Usher
To: tourism@catalonia.net
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2000 11:02 PM
Subject: Re: Casa Nova

Sorry we were out when you called at Casa Nova. we would have liked to meet you.
We had a lovely week there, spoilt only by some disagreable taxi drivers on the last day.
Gemma and Enric were lovely people and extremely helpful. Please pass on our thanks at the next opportunity.
Barcelona is beautiful. 4 days was not enough.
Also thank you for your assistance.
Kind regards
Wendy Usher.

Go back to Casa NovaGo back to Casa Nova


----- Original Message -----
From: Mark and Carina Newman
To: tourism@catalonia.net
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2000 10:28 PM
Subject: Re: Casa Nova 29/7-12/8

Dear Charlie

We had discussed sending you an E-Mail on our return and then forgot..so here are some of our views....

First impressions of Casa Nova were brilliant, much better than we had anticipated. Enric and Gema gave us a warm welcome (we had an Italian in the party which helped with any language problems we may have had). The house was more spacious and had more privacy than we had expected - we had expected to be staying on a working farm with people, machinery, etc. In reality we had a large, simply furnished, house with open spaces all around. Our children aged 9, 8, 8, 6 and 5 (two families)! had a wonderful time, along with the pool, Clotilda (the pony) and Sky (the dog) were the centre of much of their attention as well as playing in the fields and on the hay bales! They had great fun each time Enric arrived to service the pool and feed the animals. They followed him around helping him out and practising their Spanish. We spent much of our time on the balcony eating and drinking the local produce and taking in the peace and quiet and the rural view.

At the end of our fortnight at Casa Nova, we sat on the balcony watching the sun set and all wished we had another week ahead of us.

Just a few suggestions which would have made an excellent holiday base even better:

The house whilst being excellent value for money, wasn't geared up for 11 people other than in numbers of beds.
We were disappointed to find their were no sun loungers at all around the pool. (Charlie is very grateful to Carina Newman for her comments and gladly informs that the owners have bought four new sun loungers of the typical white plastic kind, plus two white plastic seats)

The kitchen utensils and crockery were not sufficient even for the most basic catering. (there is now)

A guest book and some information about the immediate area would have been useful so that best beaches, good restaurants and supermarkets could have been found more easily.(A copy of the Insider's Guide is now available in the house... I am sorry to the Newman's that my Guidebook was not available to them.)


For future reference: The Spar in St. Jordi was great for local wine, really fresh bread and cakes and all your basic requirements. The restaurant just up the road 'cala -----' (Can Llado)
was great for a reasonably priced meal. We didn't manage to find that elusive cove with no other visitors however the beach at Empuries wasn't too busy and the restaurants in the village there were very good.

We have already selected our next Catalonian holiday base and are planning to book a fortnight at Can Cunill in 2002. I presume we can't do that just yet, could you let me know when we should book it.

Thanks to you Charlie for the efficient site you run. Many of our friend who are sceptical about the internet were very interested in how we have got on and we have passed on you web address to several friends.

Best wishes
Carina Newman



----- Original Message -----
From: Fam.Van de Meutter
To: Charles Williams
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 11:51 AM
Subject: Re: info casa nove

Hello Mr Charles Williams,

Here is a reply on your mail for info about Casa Nova.
First off all I have no problem with it that you ask some reactions of our stay in Casa Nova. It is the only way to be shure that you are selling a good product! I was planning to do this anyway sooner or later. So here we go!

Let's start with all the positive thing:

* Location is excellent, very quite and lot's of nature.

* The owners are very helpfull and friendly

* The beds in the house are perfect(mostly this is a weak point when you rent something)

* Enough towels and clean sheets and the precense of a washingmachine was a pleasand surprise

* The house was very clean and cool (thick walls)

* The bathrooms were perfect always nice warm showers

* A nice restaurant in Viladacens (Can LLado)friendly service ands moderate prices ( good price/ value)

* enough place to park your car out of the sun(3cars) in the old part of the farm

* Nice supermarket with very friendly people and low prices in nearby village St Jordi des Valls

* Only 20 minutes from coastside L' Escala if you want some action!

* Good startingpoint for mountainbiking from the farmhouse into the nearby forests.

* 5 mountainbikes in the house

* the ping-pong playroom is nice for the kids..or adults!

* enough place to store everything

* The swimmingpool is excellent and good maintained (allthough it needs some stones around it)

* in our opinion it is our best stay in Spain we had since we visited Catalonia already 4 times, if you want the busy beaches they are only 20 min away, and if you come back to the house , you can sit back and relax and enjoy the peace and silence of the countryside!

Negative things(see it as a positive critic to make this a perfect house)

* On our arival the owners didn't know that we had 2 dog's (I thougt I told you that)

* The owners have a dog too, they wanted to let the dog stay on the farm property day and night they did so with previous guests. This was impossible with our dogs ,so I asked Enrique to take his dog away.

He was not lucky with it but he finally took the dog away for the period of our stay. In my opinion letting a dog stay in rental house is not possible!!! Some people or kids ! don't like them! After all you rent a house and not animals!

Allthough there was a pony too on the farm (which brought lot's off fly's!)this was a minor problem(but try to keep a dog away from it when he is not used to pony's!!)

* Then I discovered that dog's are not allowed inside the house!!! (I also asked you!) Enrique thought that our dog's would do pippi and poepoe inside the house(maybe in Spain they have different manners of raising dog's,but our dog's are clean!! and living inside our house ) I had to make an agreement with Enrique once again!

* The garden wasn't fenced in at all!! (I asked you that too, for our dog's) so we had to by long ropes to give our dog's a bit freedom and protect them from running on the nearby street!! It brought somehow a little stress on our vacation. I think this is the first thing that has to be done (building a fence an close off the whole property) for the safety off everybody(not just our dog's)

several times strange cars were driving upon the property, nothing happened but it just feels not safe day and night! After all you are in the middle of nowhere, a permanent phone (maybe payphone) would be no luxury

* There is not enough good gardenfurniture (no relaxchairs, not enough gardenchairs to eat outside, a bad garden table(quit shocky) we had to place the heavy kitchentable outside to make it possible to eat outside with 11 people (after all there is sleepingplace for 12)we even had to use the kitchenchairs. This a very important point to give the house more value,after all living outside during a vacation and relaxing are the most important things why people are renting houses like this!!

* The kitchen wasn' t renovated we knew that so no problem with it , but the most important thing in kitchen was missing ! There were not enough pot's and cookerypans too cook a decent meal for 11 people! And the ones we had were or broken or bad quality(burned in) I don't think those things are expensive in Spain, cookeryceramic is very cheap..but nothing of that! A lot do on this point!!! The fridgerator was big enough so that 's possitive.

So I think this is about everything we experienced during our stay in Casa Nova. In spite off a few problems, we had an excellent stay, and we will certainly use your service again the rent Casa Nova or another house . I check out the site from time to time,and I recommand it to other people!! I think by choosing excellent locations you are making it possible to show another Spain at your guests!! Keep on searching and please let me know with a little mail what you think about all this!!!!

Friendly Belgian Greetings
Fam.Van de Meutter
Go back to Casa NovaGo back to Casa Nova