Tag: Gandia Casa Rural

Casa Rural 2006 – 2016 – Ten Years On!

2006 – 2016 – Ten Years On! 2016 marks our tenth anniversary as the owners of Villa Florencia Casa Rural and this year has been the most rewarding yet! We have not only had our busiest year, but it has also been a year when we have been delighted to see so many of our guests returning to us time and again – and recommending us to their family and friends who have also come to stay with us. This year has seen a great mixture of guests from Spain, the rest of Europe, the UK and even from across the Atlantic. Noticeable too is the number of guests coming to us with their own pets (usually dogs) in response to our promoting ourselves as providing pet-friendly accommodation – with many of them returning to us several times. The year started for us with a German couple staying for a prolonged period in our self-catering apartment. They are normally in the habit of spending the winter months through to March in their camper van in the south of Spain, but this year called in for a couple of nights to visit other guests (friends of theirs) who were staying with…

Read More

Family Wedding in Spain

Family Wedding at Villa Florencia Every year (and sometimes more than once) we are delighted that Sabrina visits us from Germany.  Sabrina comes and spends her time helping at our local animal rescue centre – SPAMA – which is a local charity that rescues and re-homes lost and abandoned dogs and cats.  Not only does Sabrina help at the centre here in Gandia during her visits, she also is instrumental in helping to find new homes in Germany for many of the dogs from SPAMA.  To date, more than one thousand dogs have been moved from Gandia and adopted in Germany and much of this is due to Sabrina’s efforts.  When over here, Sabrina stays in our self-catering apartment along with various members of her family that might be accompanying her, as well as her boyfriend Monius. This year, we received the usual reservation from her, although this time for a visit in May, rather than her more usual time of September or October and also she said she wanted to bring more members of her family as well.  It then emerged that this was no ordinary visit, but that she and Monius intended to get married here in Spain…

Read More

Pet Friendly Accommodations

pet friendly

2016 – A very “Pet Friendly Year” so far! At Villa Florencia we always pride ourselves on welcoming not only our human guests, but also any canine guests that happen to bring their humans along with them!!  It is often very difficult to find a pet friendly hotel and guest house accommodation where the family pet is welcome and so we have had several guests already this year who have visited with their pets.  Some have been new guests who have not visited us before, whilst others have been very welcome “returners”!  And we are expecting the arrival of yet more canine guests in the near future – particularly a lovely Golden Retriever and his Spanish owners who won a photo competition of their pet relaxing on an air-bed in the swimming pool last summer! Brian and Marilyn returned with their two lovely Golden Retrievers named Carlos and Paco earlier in the month.  They live in the south of Spain but like coming to this part of the country for a pet friendly break with their dogs and visited us last October and again now in May.  Not only that – they have booked for a third visit in October…

Read More

Spring B&B Guests

Spring B&B Guests We have enjoyed a busier than usual start to the year here at Villa Florencia, with a variety of guests from different countries – and coming for different reasons.  Before the warmer weather really starts in earnest we generally have a steady succession of guests each year who come for the renowned rock climbing in the area, as well as cycling, hiking, etc. and this year has been no exception. However, as well as these guests, we have also been fortunate enough to play host to many other couples in the last three months(some more than once!) who have visited us for different reasons. It is reassuring to see a sustained increase in the number of property hunters in the area – a trend that has been establishing itself over the last year or so.  Not only have we seen guests looking for the house of their dreams – we have also seen them turn their plans into reality.  One such example is Kirsty and Peter who have been living in Germany but decided a warmer climate would be to their liking.  After several visits to us they finally found their ideal property and signed on the…

Read More

Bed and Breakfast between Barcelona and Granada

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…

Read More

Property Hunting on the Costa Blanca

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…

Read More