2015 - Villa Florencia Casa Rural Gandia

2015 Year in Review

bed and breakfast accommodation with pool

Villa Florencia Gandia 2015 has been a busy year for us all at Villa Florencia, with a constant succession of guests both old and new. This marks our 9th full year of welcoming visitors into our home and it is great to see so many of them coming back to us year after year. Our general mix of guests this year was very much along the usual lines, with a large number coming (not surprisingly) for the sunshine and warmth that is not to be found in the northern parts of Europe so easily, but also many coming for a variety of other reasons. Over the years we have been able to promote ourselves to certain “niche” markets that all help to make Villa Florencia an appealing place to stay and enjoy what the local area has to offer The year started with beautiful weather – which developed into a very hot summer – and this early sunshine encouraged our first rock-climbing visitors to stay with us. The whole area of the Costa Blanca is a well-known destination for climbers in the cooler months of the year and it is always a pleasure to have them stay with us here….

Dog Groomers from Holland At Villa Florencia we are always keen to support our local animal rescue centre (S.P.A.M.A. Safor), where they give shelter to homeless and abandoned animals – mainly dogs and cats – in our local area. Our own dogs have all been adopted from S.P.A.M.A. Safor and they rely heavily on support from the local community as well as from overseas. They have built up strong connections with animal rescue organisations in Holland and Germany particularly, and many of their animals are adopted by homes in these countries. Another result of these connections is that volunteers from Holland and Germany often come to Gandia to help in the centre and we are always pleased to offer our accommodation in our self-catering apartment to these volunteers at very preferential rates. For several years now a lady called Sabrina has been coming to us with her friends and family members from Germany and they have helped enormously not only with the animals but also with construction and refurbishment projects at the shelter. Another group of ladies from Holland have also been coming for several years to wash and groom the dogs and this year we were delighted that they…

Las Fallas Fiesta in Gandia! “Las Fallas” is one of the biggest fiestas of the year in the Valencia region – it’s the one that everyone has seen pictures about, where the different districts of each town build huge wood and papier-mâché effigies about local events and then they all get burnt to the ground on the night of March 19th – St. Joseph’s day. The fiesta is a huge attraction for tourists, both Spanish and foreign, and we were delighted to welcome Sandy and her husband David back to us for a second year to enjoy the preparations and festivities. They chose to stay in our self-catering apartment again as they found last year that it suited them perfectly. They combined their accommodation there with taking breakfast and dinner in the dining terrace with the other guests, so had the advantages of both. As far as Valencian residents are concerned, Fallas marks the end of the old season – essentially winter – and the beginning of the spring and all things new. It always culminates on the same date, March 19th, and so also marks the beginning of the build-up to the most important time of year of all…

Last week we were visited by Helena and Stuart, who wanted to spend some time in the spring sunshine on their Pet Friendly Holidays in Spain. They were attracted not only by the chance to have some warmer temperatures than where they live in France, but also by the fact that they were able to bring their lovely dog Angelo along with them to enjoy our pet friendly accommodation. They also decided to have a bit of a reunion with a good friend of theirs from their native Scotland – Maggie – who flew out the following day to join them here. Helena, Stuart and Angelo arrived on the Sunday afternoon by car from France and soon settled in to their room. Angelo made friends with our dogs in no time and before long they were all playing happily in the garden like one extended family. Angelo even grew accustomed to our cats very quickly and learned that a slow approach is needed if you want to make real friends with them! After dinner that night, they were all more than happy to retire for an early night and a well-earned rest after their long journey. The next day was…

Situated on the outskirts of Gandia about halfway down the Mediterranean coast, our bed and breakfast is close to motorway access points from both the north and the south, and are conveniently situated for travellers looking to break their journey. Many of our guests stay with us for a night or two on the way from Barcelona to Granada or Malaga for example – possibly en route to or from holiday homes or just travelling through the country on a tour of Spain. We were recently pleased to welcome several such guests who found us a convenient stopping-off point to spend a short time and have a rest from travelling. Irma and Andre (originally from South Africa but now living in Switzerland) visited us for a couple of nights, taking the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the area in general. They have in mind that they might want to relocate at some point in the future but are not exactly sure what the various regions of Spain have to offer so stayed with us to see how we had settled in the country and how they liked this area in particular. They were very pleasantly surprised at how much they…

House Hunters become House Purchasers! We were delighted to receive a booking from property hunters Andrew and Sandra, who wanted to stay with us for a couple of weeks, starting shortly after Christmas. They had stayed with us in September – property hunting, during which time they had found the house they wanted to buy, and now the purpose of their visit was to move the purchasing process forward and to establish exactly what work they would want to have done in the house – and obtain quotes, make contacts with tradesmen and of course check out the local DIY stores for future reference! Andrew and Sandra are buying a Spanish property at a really great time. They are able to make the most of the advantageous exchange rate at the moment, as well as benefitting from the vastly reduced prices of property here on the Costa Blanca. Many people are realising that this great combination is a huge advantage right now, with the result that we have seen a noticeable increase in the number of property hunters – and indeed buyers – compared to the last few years since the financial crisis of 2008. Sandra and Andrew are buying…

Year: 2015

2015 Year in Review

Dog Groomers from Holland

Las Fallas & Easter Fiestas

Pet Friendly Holidays in Spain

Bed and Breakfast between Barcelona and Granada

Property Hunting on the Costa Blanca