Pet Friendly Blog - Villa Florencia Casa Rural Gandia

Casa Rural 2014 Summer of Diversity

Casa Rural 2014 Summer of Diversity 2014 has been a long and busy season for us at Villa Florencia Casa Rural, with a wide variety of guests from countries all over Europe and beyond. We were happy to welcome so many new visitors, but delighted that a large number of guests returned to us who had been here before. Not only has our Bed and Breakfast accommodation been as popular as ever, but bookings for our self-catering apartment have been at a very high level, with guests checking in there almost continuously throughout the year. The first bookings of 2014 were for visitors coming for the attractions and activities that are best enjoyed in this part of the Costa Blanca in the cooler months of the year – hillwalking, mountain biking, rock climbing, etc. In addition, “Las Fallas” is the first annual fiesta in the local calendar, and this year we had guests visit us especially for the celebrations. They had been to the area before and enjoyed the fiesta in previous years, but this was the first time they had stayed with us – and they clearly enjoyed the experience as they have already booked again for 2015! More…

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Pet Friendly Gandia

Pet Friendly Holidays! We received a phone call just over a week ago enquiring if we had availability for a couple from Madrid, along with their 7 month old Springer Spaniel called Trufi, who they had recently adopted from a rescue centre. We did have space for the weekend, and so were happy to take their booking and looked forward to their arrival on Saturday. Their booking was for 3 nights – Saturday, Sunday & Monday – and part of their reason for coming to our part of the Costa Blanca is the fact that Gandia now has a section of beach which is designated for use by owners and their pets, called “Playa Can”. It is fairly unusual to find pet friendly facilities on the Costa Blanca – either in accommodation or an area of beach – so Agustin and his girlfriend were delighted to find that they could enjoy both with us. They arrived in the late morning of Saturday and as soon as they had put their cases in their room, they headed straight off to the pet friendly beach. They stayed there for the rest of the day, only returning to us in the early evening,…

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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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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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Short Breaks to Spain

Short Breaks to Spain It is always a pleasure when past guests come back to see us again, and this week John and Jacqui did exactly that – they had visited us last September, and decided to return to us for an early summer Short Breaks to Spain. Last year they stayed with us for only one night as they were on their way to their villa they own in Estepona near Gibraltar and they found us by virtue of our pet friendly accommodation. They were travelling with their labradoodle named Monti and so were pleased to find that we welcomed pets and were conveniently placed along their route. They were driving down south last year, but this time they were not in fact going to their villa at all. They now have some tenants renting it for several months, but they wanted to come back to us and see more of our part of the northern Cost Blanca. They flew to Valencia and spent their first night there, taking the opportunity the next morning to use the tourist bus to acquaint themselves with the city. In the afternoon they caught the train to Gandia, where we collected them from…

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Pet Friendly B&B Gandia

Maxima the newly adopted Spanish Mastiff We recently received a booking from a lady who helps at the local dog rescue centre. She wanted to book one night’s pet friendly accommodation for a German couple, Reinhard and his wife, who live here in Spain near to the French border. They were coming to Gandia because they wanted to adopt a Catalan Sheepdog which they had found out was in the centre here, having had one in the past. They arrived in time for our evening meal service, and were more than pleased to be introduced to our own dogs and cats – and intrigued to see how well they all get on together. The plan was that the dog they were proposing to adopt would be brought here to Villa Florencia the following morning and they would then set off in their car for the five hour journey back to their home in the north. They thoroughly enjoyed their meal with us, and spent the evening talking about their plans to take their new pet home, whilst at the same time making a fuss of our own dogs. Lola – our Spanish Mastiff – particularly endeared herself to them with…

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Costa Blanca Pet Friendly Accommodation

As part of our policy of promoting ourselves as Pet Friendly Accommodation, we frequently find that guests want to stay here with their pets, as it can often be quite hard to find suitable places to stay. In the last few days, we have had two such groups of guests, but staying with us for very different reasons. The first couple to arrive were Thor and Margarete from Sweden with their thoroughly endearing dog Buster. They had flown from Stockholm with Buster and were on their way to their holiday home near Torrevieja, but had decided to take a few days to get there and spend some time exploring a different part of the Costa Blanca. They stayed with us for two days in one of our Bed and Breakfast rooms and took advantage of our evening meal service both nights – they considered it so much easier than either taking Buster with them or worrying if he was all right whilst they were out! Buster got along famously with our three dogs and spent a lot of time investigating the garden and playing around with them in general. During the days, Thor and Margarete would take some time to…

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Pet Friendly Accommodation Spain

Pet Friendly Accommodation Spain It was a real pleasure to welcome back Sheri, who decided on a last minute visit to come and see us. She booked herself in to our Pet friendly self-catering apartment, which suits her particularly well as she comes over here in order to visit her two lovely dogs. Sheri is originally from California, but moved to Spain approximately five years ago – bringing her dogs with her, of course. After some time, she received an offer of employment in the UK, so she now lives there most of the time – but unfortunately she was not able to take her dogs with her. They are looked after by a friend here in Spain, but Sheri naturally likes to come and visit them here on the Costa Blanca as often as she is able – so our pet friendly accommodation suits her down to the ground. This time, she spent just over a week enjoying the warmer weather and relaxing with her dogs in the apartment, or out in the gardens around the pool. Our own dogs are always pleased to have visitors, and of course now know Molly and Snickers pretty well from their previous…

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Pet Friendly Accommodation

We received a booking request for one night from John and Jacqui, who asked if we could accommodate them, along with their Cockapoo named Monti. We always say that we welcome owners as well as their pets, so of course replied that the three of them would be very welcome. They were in fact travelling down to their holiday home in Andalusia, having driven down through France visiting friends along the way. This part of the Costa Blanca is a very convenient point to stop along the way down to the south of the country, and the Bed and Breakfast accommodation that we offer is a very convenient option. Added to that is the fact that guests can choose to take advantage of our evening meal service, so there is no need to look for a restaurant in unfamiliar surroundings after a long drive during the day. The pet-friendly accommodation that we offer only served as an additional inducement for John and Jacqui to stay with us – it was the perfect solution for them. Monti was a beautiful and friendly 8 month old cross poodle and cocker spaniel (hence Copckapoo), who was a real delight and who soon became…

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Pet Friendly Accommodation

We were pleased to welcome an Italian family who came to stay with us for a few days last week, Christian and Paola with their daughter Elena and their two beautifully behaved black setters – Maggie and Martha. They soon settled in, and Maggie and Marta became part of the menagerie here at Villa Florencia! It was the first time they had visited us, and they were doing a trip all around Spain but decided to make us their base for their time on the Costa Blanca. Maggie and Marta felt at home very quickly indeed, and when the weather was too hot for them in the garden they had no hesitation in taking themselves up to their room and staying there in the cool! Most of the time, however, they preferred to keep close to their owners and accompanied them on trips to Gandia and local village restaurants, as well as on a whole day excursion which took in the Albufera wetlands, a paella lunch at El Palmar, as well as a boat trip on the lagoon and a quick visit to the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia City! Well-travelled dogs indeed and perfectly behaved all the…

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Villa Florencia Casa Rural Gandia B&B Spain 2012

The season that lies ahead in 2012 will be our sixth full year of operation, and we are looking forward to a year of welcoming back previous guests as well as meeting new ones for the first time. The New Year period has already been and gone and was a busy time for us, with a full house of guests, many of whom had come for the excellent rock-climbing to be found in the area. We hope to have more rock-climbers visit us in the future, as this is an activity – along with other outdoor and nature-related interests – that we are actively promoting. In the cooler months of the year the area is a haven for those looking for an outdoor holiday rather than one based around sunshine and beaches. Mountain biking, hiking, horse riding, bird watching and hill walking are just some of the other activities that can be enjoyed in the immediate area around the villa, or at most within a 20 minute drive. Diversification has to be a positive thing, especially in the uncertain economic times that seem to face everyone at present– in whatever European country you find yourself. In past seasons, we have directed…

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Pet Friendly Casa Rural

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