The Christmas and New Year period was a very busy time at the Gandia Casa Rural, with everyone making the most of the versatile accommodation and catering options available to our guests. Not only were all the B & B rooms occupied, but also the self-catering apartment as well, with the guests there sometimes looking after their own mealtime requirements, but sometimes also coming up to the main house to join their friends who were dining there.
Gary and Andy from Liverpool were with us for their winter sunshine holidays, the whole time from Christmas Eve through until after the New Year, and dined with us every evening. They would often take day-trips to local places of interest as well as visiting Valencia city, which far exceeded their expectations. Shortly after Christmas we were also joined by a couple from Germany – Axel and Kerstin – who were visiting their daughter who was on a student exchange scheme and studying at the Gandía campus of Valencia University. Most of their time was spent with their daughter, although on several occasions they took advantage of our evening meal service too.
The other guests in the property were a group of friends from Romania who were all proficient rock-climbers, and whose main motivation in coming to the area was for the climbs to be found within very easy reach of the house. Some of them stayed in the main house, whilst two couples were in the self-catering apartment, but they would all spend the evenings together in the public rooms of the villa. Included in this group were two young children who, along with their mothers, did not take part in the rock-climbing activities, but were more than content to take advantage of the beautiful weather and unseasonably warm sunshine during the day. They would happily spend their days in a leisurely way in the gardens, having lunch here as well, or otherwise (on the days when the climbers were taking a day off), would go on trips to the surrounding countryside or even to Valencia or Alicante.
Evening meals were often taken in two stages – some of the guests who had been rock-climbing all day or who had children would dine earlier, whilst other guests would have their dinner slightly later. Whatever combination of accommodation and catering was required for any particular guest, it all seemed to blend together with no difficulty, so the true versatility of what is available at the Gandia Casa Rural really came into its own during this busy period. Particularly gratifying, however, was the way that all the guests emphasised to us that it had been the perfect holiday for them – whatever they were looking for in their vacation, they found with us here! Not only did they all enjoy themselves, but we did as well and we genuinely look forward to the time when they might return to us for more of the same!
