Bed and Breakfast Blog - Page 17 of 24 - Villa Florencia Casa Rural Gandia

Guests from Belgium, Holland and France

This past week were delighted to welcome a group of people involved in the Juanjo Trilles Challenge – a billiards challenge between the two top players in the world (Dick Jaspers and Frederic Caudron) to determine who really is the best player over a match of long duration – four days – thereby minimising any factor of luck that could be associated with shorter games. The tournament was being streamed live by the Kozoom organisation, and we provided accommodation not only for their production crew and executives, but also for some celebrities from the billiards world itself. Billiards is hugely popular in many countries of mainland Europe, and this was reflected in the guests who stayed at Villa Florencia Casa Rural. The Kozoom production team arrived on Monday, followed on Tuesday by the billiards celebrities Jean Claude Dupont (president of the UMB the world federation of billiards) and his wife, and then Raymond Ceulemans and his wife (who has won 35 world titles, 48 European titles and 61 national titles). Both these prominent figures come from Belgium, and they were joined later in the day by the Frenchman Bernard Boudoin, ranked third in Europe, with his wife. The tournament itself…

This last weekend we were pleased to welcome Jonathan and Anne, who live in Orba on the Costa Blanca less than an hour away from us (and have done so for the last 15 years). They run their own business and felt in need of a short break, so – having heard of Gandia – they decided to visit us for a couple of days and explore the area. They took advantage of our special offer of a Bed and Breakfast weekend of a two night, three day mini break. They arrived on the Friday around midday, settled in to their room, and then set off to Playa de Gandia in search of lunch and some relaxation on the beach. They had lunch at the Yacht Club there and then strolled along the promenade before relaxing on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. They returned to us in time for some final sunbathing around the pool, and then joined us for dinner. On the Saturday they wanted to visit another of the stunning award-winning beaches that are to be found all along this stretch of the northern Costa Blanca and so went to Miramar – a very different…

Guests from the USA

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed two couples from the United States last week, especially so because they came to us on the recommendation of some friends of theirs who stayed with us last year in our bed and breakfast. Bob and Mary Lou were from Colorado Springs (where their friends who stayed with us last year were from also), but Hank and Maxine come from Missouri. They were on a driving holiday through France and Spain and stopped overnight with us on their way to Malaga. They had visited Barcelona before coming on to us and arrived in the late afternoon, ready for some relaxation in the gardens and around the pool. They soon settled in to their rooms and then enjoyed some drinks and tapas in the bar before joining us for dinner that evening. They had not visited Spain before, and had decided to drive down the Mediterranean coast, stopping off at Barcelona, then on to the Costa Blanca before heading down towards Andalucia. Their whole trip was to last just over three weeks – including their visit to France – and they were loving their time in Europe. They were following some of the…

Dog Rescuers from Germany!

Just over a month ago we were pleased to have Dagmar and Andreas visit us for a couple of days from Germany. They were spending time helping at the local animal rescue centre before taking four dogs back to Germany by plane for adoption. Dagmar chose a dog that she also wanted to adopt, but was not able to take it with her at the time for legal reasons and it was going to be transported to Germany at the beginning of June. We were therefore very happy when they returned to us last week by car with the intention of taking Dagmar’s own dog back with them, as well as three others that had also been found homes in Germany. They arrived late in the afternoon, having left Germany the previous evening and driven non-stop the whole way! Having visited us before, they settled in with us like they felt at home immediately and joined us for dinner that night. The next morning they were keen to go to the rescue shelter and see the dogs they were taking home, so the plan was to straight to the centre, spend some time with the dogs and depart for Germany…

Overnight B&B Guests from Holland

On Sunday we were pleased to have Ton and Frank from Holland stay with us for the night on their way south to Almeria. They had set off on their journey by car from the Netherlands on the Saturday, staying at Narbonne in France along the way. In fact they phoned us from France to enquire if we had a vacancy for Sunday night, as they liked the idea of breaking their journey in our part of the northern Costa Blanca. This was to be a tour around the mainland of Spain for them, lasting about four weeks, in order to familiarise themselves with the country. They already have a property on the Canary Islands, although are thinking of relocating to the mainland, as well as retaining their other home in Holland also. They arrived during the afternoon, having made good time from France, and were pleased to be able to spend some time around the pool in the beautiful weather that we are enjoying now, before taking advantage of our evening meal service too. They decided that it would make things very much easier for them if they could simply relax after their long drive, without having to think…

Property Hunters with plenty of Choice!

Bernard and Grace arrived on Tuesday for a three night stay with us, having already visited this and many other parts of Spain in the past. However, they were here with a purpose other than a break from the routine of life in England – they were looking for a property to buy for their retirement, with the intention of moving here on a permanent basis. They had spent time in the past looking for property in various locations along the Mediterranean coast, but had now decided that this area was the one they preferred. The northern Costa Blanca seemed to suit most of their requirements, and the area around Gandía was particularly to their liking. They wanted to see a good choice of quality properties at reasonable prices in an appealing part of the country – and somewhere that still felt like it was an authentically Spanish area, rather than somewhere that had a disproportionate ex-pat community (whatever the nationality!). With the choice of houses currently on the market, they had already spent time on previous visits viewing a large number of houses, so this visit was to be a series of mainly second viewings, to whittle their list…