Accommodation Blog - Villa Florencia Casa Rural Gandia

Bed and Breakfast in the Mountains

Bed and Breakfast in the Mountains Summer 2020 – Bed and Breakfast in the Mountains.Having been living and working in Villa Florencia for nearly 14 years, I can certainly say – for reasons we are all too familiar with – that this has been our quietest year for guest bookings yet! However, things are gradually easing up in Spain and we now feel able to look forward to welcoming guests back again soon, although slightly differently than before! In order to maintain social distancing, when we let our rooms on a Bed & Breakfast basis this year, we shall only be operating at around 50% capacity, although of course our self-catering apartment can accommodate a family of 4 with no need for distancing, assuming they are from the same household. Bearing that in mind, we are also accepting block bookings for the main B&B rooms on a self-catering basis this year – in other words for a large family group to rent the main floor of the house on a self-catering basis too. Whatever the situation of the bookings we receive, our guests’ health and well-being is of the utmost importance to us, so anyone booking with us can be…

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Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba

The monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba is one of the most historic monastic constructions in Valencia and located near Alfauir, a village about eight kilometres outside Gandia. The Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba, located near Alfauir in the province of Valencia, Spain, is a remarkable historical site that reflects centuries of religious, cultural, and architectural development. Founded in the 14th century, this monastery has witnessed the rise and fall of empires, the transformation of religious practices, and the enduring influence of the Jerónimos order in Spain. Foundation and Early History The origins of the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba date back to 1374 when it was founded by Alfonso of Aragon, the Duke of Gandia. The monastery was established as a religious house for the Jerónimos, a Catholic monastic order known for their dedication to prayer, study, and manual labor. The site chosen for the monastery was strategically located in the fertile lands of the Safor region, providing the monks with the necessary resources to sustain their contemplative lifestyle. The initial construction of the monastery was modest, but it quickly grew in both size and importance. The Jerónimos were well-connected to the royal family and the nobility,…

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Biker Friendly Accommodation in Spain

Motorbike Friendly Accommodation in Spain

Motorbike guests on the way home! Spain is a very biker friendly country with a tremendously good road infrastructure – and far fewer cars than in the UK or many other countries in Europe. This makes for an ideal place to enjoy a ride on your motorbike if you are a resident here and of course a great holiday destination for a motorbike road trip. We have always been pleased to welcome guests on a motorbike holiday and have had many such visitors in the past – often visiting us several times. We were therefore very pleased when we received a booking from Tony and his friend Dave who wanted to stay with us as part of their trip back to England, after having enjoyed a biking holiday in the area to the south of Alicante. They had spent time with their wives in a villa in Alicante province, having crossed over to Spain via the ferry to Santander and biked direct down from there. Once at their destination, they hired a car for their wives to use during their visit, whilst Tony and Dave enjoyed taking their bikes out on the open and uncrowded roads in the area Once…

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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….

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Las Fallas & Easter Fiestas

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…

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Pet Friendly Holidays in Spain

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…

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Autumn Sunshine Activity Holidays

Autumn Sunshine Activity Holidays! The heat of summer may be over, but the weather continues to be beautiful, with lots of sunshine and very mild temperatures. It is at this time of year – and also of course in the spring – when there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy all the other delights of this part of the Costa Blanca than just the summer seaside attractions. Lucy and Ashley recently returned to us for their third visit, and they take great pleasure in participating in outdoor pastimes and sports – something which this area of the Costa Blanca offers the fringe season visitor in abundance. They stayed with us for just over a week in our self-catering apartment and made the most of their time getting out and about doing lots of different activities as well as some conventional sightseeing in Valencia city itself. Because temperatures have remained so mild, it is still very pleasant to swim in the sea so Lucy & Ashley decided one day to combine two of their interests into one all-day experience. They had made arrangements to go horse riding at stables near the beach, and so went for an escorted ride along the…

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Autumn Sunshine Holidays

Autumn Sunshine Holidays in 2013 We have been delighted to welcome a steady succession of guests this year who have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather we have been experiencing here on the Costa Blanca. The summer this year has been a very long-lasting one with daytime temperatures in October in the high twenties or occasionally even the low thirties. Night temperatures are of course lower now, which means that the swimming pool is only usable by the more hardy of our guests, but there is still a great opportunity for getting a late tan and storing up some sunshine before having to endure the winter months ahead in northern Europe. There is still plenty to do here during such lovely warm days, and of course the sea temperature is still holding up well for those guests who are beach enthusiasts. And once the novelty of sitting and enjoying the sunshine at this time of year has worn off a bit, the slightly cooler temperatures mean that our guests can take part in outdoor activities which might be uncomfortable during the really hot months of the summer. Sue and Gareth for example came for a few days relaxation in…

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Family Holidays Costa Blanca

Family Holidays Costa Blanca We usually have several Italian guests during the course of the summer season, but this year we had not seen any – until we received a booking from Stefano and his wife Elisabetta, who wanted to come to us from Rome in early September for just over a week. They were a family of four, and when they arrived we were pleased to welcome them, along with their two teenage daughters Pamela and Chiara. They wanted to come to our part of Spain for a family holiday and to see what this part of the Costa Blanca had to offer – it was not a part of the country they knew well, but it is one they thought they would like. They had done their homework before leaving Italy and had a tentative itinerary worked out of all the sights they wanted to see during their visit. The Costa Blanca is a great part of Spain for a family holiday as there is something for everyone, and in the summer of course the wonderful beaches come into their own. Most days they went on an excursion to one of the towns along the coast, as well…

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Pet Friendly Accommodation Costa Blanca

Pet Friendly Accommodation Costa Blanca Last Thursday morning we received an unexpected phone call from a German speaking couple wanting to spend that night with us as a stop-over on their way down to Malaga, where they were renting a finca for a fortnight’ holiday. They only wanted one night’s accommodation as part of a driving holiday towards the south and they particularly wanted to stay the night at our pet friendly accommodation because they were accompanied by their lovely Golden Retriever/Labrador cross, who was called Pasha. They arrived around four o’clock in the afternoon, having set off from their home in Switzerland the previous day and received a warm welcome here – not only from us but also from our own dogs, who are always happy to welcome a guest dog! After the initial excitement had died down, Pasha was content to settle in their room for a short time while his owners relaxed in the garden. However, the weather was so warm and sunny that soon they decided to have a swim in the pool and so brought Pasha down to the garden to join them. He loves playing in streams and rivers where they live, and soon…

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Spanish Property Hunters become Buyers!

Househunters become Buyers! Back in April, we had the pleasure of having Mark and Rosalyn stay with us on a Spanish property house-hunting trip. They loved the area and saw several Spanish properties that they thought had possibilities, but their visit was greatly marred by a serious car accident they had. It was not their fault – a car hit them on the wrong side of the road in heavy rain – and they were not seriously injured, but it inevitably cast a shadow over their visit. However, when they left they said they were still keen on the area and that we would see them again. It was therefore a lovely surprise when they paid an unexpected visit a couple of days ago – they were driving past our house on the way to Gandia. The bigger surprise, however, was that in the interim they had purchased a really lovely Spanish property, a villa in the area at a very realistic price! It turns out they had spotted some properties on another estate agent’s website, had viewed them on a couple of day-trips to area (which is why we had not seen them here as guests again), and decided…

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Self Catering Holidays in Spain

Self Catering Holidays in Spain Some months ago we received a booking from Macarena, who wanted to reserve our self-catering apartment for a week’s holiday for herself and her family. They live in Madrid, but were planning to spend some time to the south of here on holiday, before enjoying a week with us in the La Safor region. They had in fact been to Gandia several years ago, when their children were very young, and were interested too in revisiting some of the places down at the beach that they remembered from that earlier visit. Macarena, her husband Rafa and sons Rafa, who is twelve and Manuel, who is nearly nine, arrived last Monday and soon settled in to the apartment and made friends with our dogs and cats. Sons Rafa and Manuel are particularly fond of animals and so were delighted to find that they were able to play with our pets as much as they wanted! The weather was beautiful for the entire length of their stay and so they were able to make the most not only of the pool and the gardens, but also took every opportunity to go to one of the wonderful beaches…

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