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Melleran Farmhouse and Cottage

Melleran Farmhouse and Cottage

4.8
out of 5
Ratings from 1 review
100% of guests
recommend
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
4.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0


For two or three families with toddlers to teenagers, this traditional Charentaise farmhouse and self contained cottage is well geared up for children of all ages, and that means happier, more relaxing holidays for grown-ups too.

Children can safely play in the enclosed, walled garden and, especially for toddlers, the owner has provided a play house, slide, rocker and ride-ons. Older children, in particular, will enjoy hanging out in the games barn, with table tennis, a pool table, darts and swing ball and everyone can have fun in the 10x5m heated pool which has infant friendly steps and is fenced and gated. Inside the house, children have their own snug to watch TV or DVD’s, play Wii games, board games and with the toys provided, or set up a multi games table for table football, pool, hockey or table tennis.

With the children happily occupied, mums and dads can catch some rays on the poolside sun loungers and enjoy leisurely mealtimes al fresco on the covered dining terrace. An open plan living room and big farmhouse dining kitchen makes self catering a sociable affair and all mod cons include a microwave, fridge, freezer, oven and gas hob, coffee maker, bottle sterilizer, dishwasher and washing machine. Families can snuggle on the sofas in front of a wood burner in the farmhouse and central heating keeps both farmhouse and cottage nice and cosy if there’s a chill in the air. Both the farmhouse and the cottage have the rustic charm and character of stone walls and beamed ceilings throughout, with pale blue shutters on the windows and antique beds for a good night’s sleep – and maybe even a lie-in while the children off to play!

Accommodation overview

Melleran House is made up of a 4-bedroom farmhouse and 2-bedroom cottage which are rented together for up to 12 people, plus 3 babies in cots. One wooden cot and two travel cots are provided and all the bedrooms have space for a cot. Three high chairs are also available, as well as a travel high chair, which is handy for taking to restaurants. The master double bedroom in the farmhouse is on the ground floor and features a canopied, solid wooden bed and a decorative stove. The second double bedroom, with a wrought iron bedstead, is on the first floor, along with two twin rooms with antique wooden beds. The farmhouse has a bathroom and a shower room. The cottage has its own dining kitchen, with an eye level oven, electric hob, microwave, fridge, dining table for four and a wall-mounted TV. The master bedroom has a double wrought iron bed and the second bedroom has twin wrought iron single beds. The cottage has its own shower room and wc.

Lovely family break

Review submitted on Mon, 05 Aug 2024
4.8
out of 5

Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
4.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
We spent a week in La Ballerie in July/August. We were two families with 4 kids between us and a grandparent. We used 5/6 bedrooms in the property.

We were there during a 3 day heatwave and the pool got a lot of use. The house is built in that old fashioned way that during the hottest part of the day it stayed nice and cool. There were portable electric fans for the nights - though they could do with a few more as we only found 4 but needed 5.

Brilliant kitchen and BBQ and space for 12 to eat both inside and outside which was nice. The games barn was full of fun stuff - our kids (6, 6, 4, 3) all loved the little playhouse, seesaw and the bikes.

For the most part we stayed local and enjoyed the property but we did venture out to the silver mines (tour in french and only interesting to kids who are already into geology) and the chateau at Chef-Boutonne (nice little museum scavenger hunt that kept the kids entertained). Niort was also a good day out.

One thing to note for future guests is that most local french supermarkets aren’t open on Sunday so do your initial food shopping before checking in on Saturday. We got caught out and had to drive 30+ km to find an open shop. Our fault for not checking but a good thing to know about anyway.

The pool was awesome if a little deep for the kids but they were all fine with their floatation devices. We spent hours in it.

The local village is quiet and the bakery (delicious pastries and bread) is only open on certain days of the week but you’re only a short drive from lots of other places (chef-boutonne had a great bakery and butcher as well as a supermarket).

We really enjoyed our time in Melleran and La Ballerie and would recommend the property to families with similarly aged children.

Wifi isn’t particularly strong and mobile coverage is a little patchy too but that meant the kids played more and watched less which was what we wanted.

Would you recommend the accommodation to a friend?
Yes

Please rate the accommodation for Baby/Toddler-Friendliness
4. Excellent

Hari from London stayed at Melleran Farmhouse and Cottage for 7 nights in July 2024