Forcalquier, France
Overview
Location & Accommodation
This beautiful house in the heart of the Provence is located in a town called Forcalquier, known for its weekly market. Once we decided that we would be traveling to the Provence, we started looking at different places in the area. This house caught my eye right away due to its large outdoor space and the private pool. On top of that, the accommodation is close to lots of highlights in the Provence. We had the entire house & garden to ourselves, which was the biggest benefit. There is a self check in however, we struggled for a little while to find the entrance of the house as only the gate with driveway (not the actual house) is located on the side of the street. The house is located in a quiet area with beautiful views over the village.
Overall experience
We stayed at this AirBnB for two weeks and truly enjoyed our stay here. The outdoor space is great in summer and the pool was very refreshing. We liked the self check in and the privacy of the place. The owner of the house came by once to clean the pool during our stay, but other than that we were left to ourselves. Communication was good via the AirBnB app (although they only spoke French). The house is not in top shape, some rooms like the bathroom are slightly outdated. But this was fine to us. As for the dogs, they loved being able to spend lots of time in the garden, which is completely enclosed! And even with the warm temperatures, the house stayed quite cool which was great for Bailey who deals with the heat less well than Dunya does. Whilst Dunya would sunbathe a lot during the day and move to the shade here and there, Bailey liked finding a cool spot in the house and sometimes going outside. Be mindful that the house itself is on the first floor, therefore it's not very accessible for people or dogs who are unable to go up stairs.
Rating
Accommodation details
Indoor space
The house has two bedrooms, one master bedroom and one smaller bedroom, a living space with balcony, a kitchen and a bathroom. All located on the first floor, there is no access to the garage on the ground floor. The kitchen has everything you need, a large fridge and decent freezer and everything you need to cook meals. When we were staying there, the bathroom was rather outdated, the shower wasn't great, but it worked. The beds are good, not the most comfiest, but I slept more than fine. I often slept with the windows open and rarely encountered mosquitos which was amazing. We mainly used the indoor space for sleeping and I used the table in the living room to work in the mornings. Although we had some issued with the Wifi disconnecting a few times, it worked really well most of the time. The space was clean enough for us, but don't expect a 100% highly clean place. The house has tiles, which might be hard for some dogs to walk on. There were a few carpets though. Keep in mind that you do have to bring all of your dog's supplies (beds, bowls etc).
Outdoor space
We absolutely loved the outdoor space. Although at the time that we stayed here, the garden was a bit overgrown, there was a large space to hang out. We did spot an outdoor (pizza) oven, but didn't use it as we brought our own Skottel to cook outside. The pool of course is a highlight and the reason we chose this specific place. It's a relatively large pool and easy to get in due to the steps. It was definitely refreshing on warm days! The garden is fenced in, but if your dog is a jumper or very small, I'd be mindful as they could easily escape over / through the gate or to a neighbours house. In general it was very quiet in the neighbourhood. There's not really a grass field very close to the house, usually I'd walk around the neighbourhood or just let the dogs do their business in the garden and clean up after them.
Dog friendly amenities
Facilities & area
The house is great for a trip with dogs with a large garden, quiet area, cool indoor spaces and lots of places close by for your dog to cool off / swim (reachable by car / car recommended). Do take note of the stairs to get to the actual apartment (my dogs had no issues walking up and down these) and the tile floors in the apartment. We'd sometimes hear a dog barking in the distance or sometimes see people walking around the neighbourhood with their dogs, but overall you'd barely see other animals.
Pet policy
I don't remember there being any specific rules regarding the dogs or extra charges. We brought two huskies and let them know in advance we would be bringing them and they were very welcoming.
For more information about booking this place, please visit the ad on AirBnB