Can Tapies, private villa with pool, sleeps 31 guests, near Banyoles, Costa Brava

a bird´s eye view of this extraordinary property! showing main building, BBQ backed gazebo for outdoor meals, pool house, and large private grounds

This one gets a big thumbs up from me! Beautiful house and garden, great views, excellent location, 5 kms from historic lakeside town of Banyoles, 20 kms to Girona, 35 kms to the beaches, and a very low rental rate for what you get: 12 bedrooms , 9 bathrooms, and 3 WCs, large private pool and grounds and playroom. NB: for extra large groups, keep in mind that Mas Dalt is only a lovely 10 minute walk away!

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a huge independent self-catering villa of approx. 1100m2

divided into 3 fully furnished apartments with 5,4,and 3 bedrooms each

total of 12 bedrooms: 8 with private bathrooms, 4 bedrooms with shared bathroom, plus 3 WCs

beds for over 27 guests, all beds are large, doubles 150x190cm, singles 90x190cm

the pathway down to the pool and poolhouse in the olivegrove is lovely

central heating, so comfy year round

3 full kitchens, 3 living rooms (1=80m2), 3 separate terraces, 3 dishwashers

2 outdoor BBQ areas + gazebo seating 25+ for outdoor meals

5 TVs, 3 CD/radio/cassette players, 2 washers, 1 clothes dryer, hairdryers.

altitude: 200 mtrs, 2 kms to Camos, 5 kms to Banyoles and lake, 20 kms to Girona, 35 km to sea

new 100m2 game room with billiards, pingpong & babyfoot + poolside football pitch with goalposts

new pool (12 x 5 mtrs.) with 16 lounge chairs & poolside shed with WC

rental rates: low-season (November to March): 3290, mid-season: (Sept; Oct + April to end June): 4110, high-season: 5130 Euros/week

low-season weekend rates: 1650 Euros plus 500 Euros per extra night

the front of the house from the driveway in, with the gazebo on your left, and the other covered terrace on your right

Location: 2 kms from Camós and 5 kms to Banyoles (to be exact, the location is just off the kilometer 5 marker on the GIV-5147 road between Paloll de Revartit and Camós), the main thoroughfare here is the C-66 highway that links the coast at Palamós & Palafrugell & Begur, with Girona and the low-Pyrenees going towards Andorra to the northwest. Girona, the Costa Brava´s historic capitol city, is a very fast 10 minutes away on a 4-lane highway. Just behind Can Tapies are the Serra Llonga mountain nature preserve - see my Google Earth photos - and the area is full of nice old stone villages and good restaurants. Camós, the nearest town, is 2 kms or 20 minutes walk away, but best shopping is in Banyoles, an important market town since the middle ages, now famous for it's gorgeous environmentally protected lake where rowing events were held during the 1992 Olympics. It is worth looking for imagines of this area from your internet searcher. The views in just about any directions are gorgeous. From the elevated hillside position of Can Tapies you have wonderful views from the Pyrenees down to the coastal plain stretching out to the east, and behind the house, a huge private woods on the 15 hectaire property backed by parklands. You have nature hikes from your front door, the lake to swim in 5 kms away, and hundreds of beaches to choose from starting only 25 kms away as the crow flies - due east.

the opposite angle now, with the downstairs arched porch BBQ area and the upstairs terrace for the 4-bedroomed apartment

The house: . situated just of the GIV-5147, the road is paved to your front door. No off-road driving necessary, the wide driveway leads to the esplanade in front of the house, where there are a couple of outdoor covered sitting/dining areas. The first is a handsome gazebo or kiosk with 4 tables and 24 wicker chairs perched above the pool area, which is set in an olive grove a terrace level below. The panoramic views from here are magnificent comprising of the Pyrenees down east to the coast and most of the coastal plain. The other outdoor sitting/dining area here is under the arches and beside the built-in BBQ (see photo below). The main entrance to the house consists of a series of stone chambers leading to the different apartments, all quite atmospheric and the walls have ancient farm implements on display. From this downstairs hall there is a door leading to the new playroom, where the garage was, and three separate stairways going up into the three different apartments.

the terrace just above the garage, can be shared between 5 bedroom and 4 bedroom apartments - both have direct access from the main living-dining rooms

Apartment 1, 5 bedroom: TThe largest of these apartments is just up a rather grand flagstone staircase with wrought-iron ballustrade opening onto a large banquet hall 80m2 seating about 14, but with a couple of extra planks of wood on tripods this table can seat over 30 guests This is important to keep in mind. At Can Tapies, you have separate dining rooms if you want to eat apart, but you also have 3 options if you want to eat all together. Indoor meals in this 80m2 diningroom, on the terrace just outside this dining room, and downstairs near the front or back barbecues. Back to Apartment 1, in this same 80m2 space, there is a nice sitting area with several leather sofas and easy chairs, and beyond that large terrace, partly covered, overlooking the driveway and pool areas below. Once again the views are spectacular. There is a separate walk-in kitchen with normal sized fridge, dishwasher, and a breakfast table seating 5. There is also direct access to another terrace from the kitchen. This apartment has 5 en suite bedrooms, 3 of the bedrooms have double beds (150x190cm), and two very large bedrooms have a double bed and two single beds, each. So there are beds for a total of 14 guests.. Four of the en suite bathrooms have showers and the fifth has a bathtub. Oh, there is also a very handy WC (with toilet and sink) just off the large salon and dining room, so you (or your guests) don't have to go to your rooms to go.

the patio at the back of the house, also with a bbq for outdoor meals

Apartment 2, 4 bedroom: on the same floor but with a separate entrance from Apartment 1 is the 4 bedroom apartment, which also has a central dining/living room with a dining room table seating about 10 or so, the living room with fireplace and TV and exit to the main terrace, and a separate kitchen with a breakfast table for 6, with large refridgerator and dishwasher. This is the same large terrace as the 5 bedroom apartment, and you can in fact walk from one apartment to the other on the covered part of the terrace. This 4 bedroom apartment was orginally conceived as the caretaker´s house and so the owners only put one bathroom in, but it is a large bathroom, separated into two parts, the bathroom door opening onto a anteroom with a large sink, and beyond that, another door leading to the toilet and the shower stall. Two bedrooms here have double beds (again, all double beds are 150x190cm, queen size) and, one bedroom has two single beds (90x190cm), and the fourth bedroom is a small room with just one single bed, so this part of the house has beds for a total of 11 guests.

the terrace for the 3 bedroom apartment at the back of the house Apartment 3: is orientated towards the back of the house, and has a large flagstone private terrace with bbq you can see photographed here to the right. This flat has a large kitchen/dining/living room with a fireplace and TV and the dining room table here seats 10 guests. The kitchen here has a normal sized fridge and a dishwasher. The 3 bedrooms here are all en suite, with private bathrooms, 2 bathrooms with shower stalls and one bathroom with a bathtub. One bedroom has a double bed, and two very large bedrooms have 2 double beds each, so there are beds in this part of the house for 10 guests. This apartment also has a very handy WC (with toilet and sink) just off the salon.

a close up of the BBQ area under the arch - see third photo above

So you see, Can Tapies in fact has beds for 35 guests if you filled every bed, not to mention the cots that are available for babies. However, this house is licensed and registered, and like all legal houses, the maximum allowed capacity is 2 guests per room, so for 24 guests in 12 bedrooms, plus maybe a baby or small children.. There are 9 bathrooms and 3 WCs.

The outdoors: the new 12x5 meter swimming pool is on a terrace just below the house with a fairly wide lawn and some shade trees, 16 deck chairs, and a small WC and changing room and small table for 4 under a porch beside the pool. Oh, and there is also a poolside shower, and the owners have bought a ping pong table which gets moved around from place to place. There is also a washroom downstairs with two washing machines and a clothes drier and a sink for hand washing.

the impressive main stone entry hall which leads to the 3 apartments is decorated with farm implements and is very atmospheric - a sort of museum of or hommage to rural Catalonia

In short, Can Tapies is wonderful property in a priviledged location. The comments from past guests couldn´t be better so far and I am sure this property is going to be a big success. It helps that the owners, who live about 1 km away just off the main road, are genuinely kind and helpful, and always willing to add improvements to their two houses. I can´t wait to get Comments for the website from families who have rented for this coming summer!

Be sure to put your cursor over the photos to read a descriptive text of what you are seeing.

this is what I am calling the gazebo, a covered porch with 4 round tables and chairs seating 24 plus, the views are great, taking in all Pyrenees to the coast at historic Torreolla de Montgris mountain and Roses Bay

the pool area has a good-sized playing field amidst old olive, pine, and oak trees

the pool has a dozen or so loungechairs and a covered porch with WC and shower

let´s make our way into the house now. here´s another shot from the downstairs entryway, this a sitting area amid ancient stone walls

the 4 bedroom part of the house has an 80m2 diningroom/salon/kitchen and direct access to the large terrace just above the garage

the kitchen in the 4 bedroom part of the house

the long diningroom table in the 4 bedroom part of the house can seat 25 guests

the 5 bedroom part of the house has a nice living room with leather chairs and shares the large terrace just above the garage and also has a private terrace just above the arched BBQ porch

this is a detail from the diningroom at the 5 bedroom part of the house

the kitchen in the 3 bedroom part of the house has direct access to the terrace out back - see left of photo

the game room has billiards, babyfoot and pingpong

This sign indicates that the Catalan Tourism Authorities regularly inspect and license the property. We have also visited and recommend all the properties we have selected for our listings.