La Garenne, Charente Maritime, France

Just browsing Mumsnet and I am extremely surprised at some of the negative comments for La Garenne.

We are very much looking forward to spending 2 weeks at La Garenne in August. This will be our 3rd visit in three years.

Our children aged 10 and 3 are in their element at La Garenne and are always reluctant to leave the large garden and pool to go on day trips! (of which there are plenty.) It is an extremely safe enviroment where both children and parents alike, can relax and enjoy their holiday in an idyllic location.

On all of our visits we have found our Gite to be immaculately clean, very comfortable, and well equipt.

Dorte and Richard are the perfect hosts in every way, available and knowledgable to help and advise, with nothing being too much trouble.

We cannot fault this place.

La Garenne is in rural France but not too far away from anywhere and we had great fun exploring.

The gites are all different and all are very well equipped with outdoor space and bbqs. For chill out time, if it was too hot to be out (or too wet) we were able to borrow dvds to watch.

Our 2 children, 9 and 2.5 had a great time and made so many new friends. Kids are kids and don't really take too much notice of their surroundings but we always knew they were safe and they were as happy just to be out in the open as much as they were.

Everyone who we met at La Garenne were repeat visitors and some have booked to return again. We had a fantastic holiday at La Garenne in August last year. So much so that we booked to stay in slightly larger accommodation this August.

Dorte and Richard made us all so welcome and went out of their way to make sure my dietary requirements were fulfilled at the welcome bbq - well worth the money!

I am suprised at some of the comments I have seen on this website about the accommodation and feel that to score this so low is in my opinion highly unjustified.

A very disappointing holiday (made worse by the weather admittedly) but the accommodation was disappointing to say the least. I booked our holiday based on the reviews on this site. 2 families travelled with 4 children & stayed in 2 gites. Ours was run down & the furniture tired (it was the cheapest but not that cheap). The kitchen was falling apart with broken cupboards, the equipment had bits missing & we had to keep borrowing even basic things (like a chopping board and colander) from the neighbouring gite. The communal garden is littered with a selection of broken toys & a very dangerous trampoline with exposed rusty springs & no safety nets. The swimming pool was only uncovered once during our stay & we had to ask. The owners are pleasant enough, but their priorities seem to be going out for a run rather than ensuring their guests are happy no one even showed us around our gite on arrival! To top it all you have to take your own towels - if you are travelling with kids, you have enough paraphernalia to carry without having to pack towels!

Having read such rave reviews about La Garenne (which influenced our decision to stay there) and not wanting to be negative, I would like to add just a few thoughts from the perspective of someone staying there with younger children.

We spent a week at the gite this September and did have a great time. Dorte and Richard are lovely and couldn't have been more welcoming. Dorte's home-cooked food was great and we made use of her culinary wizardry on more than one occasion.

The complex itself however left us a bit disappointed. Yes the gites were nicely done and the garden is walled and a safe place to play. Our main gripe though was the condition of the equipment. We hadnn't brought any toys with us as the reviews suggested we didn't need to. Yet the toddler swing was broken and couldn't be used; the Little Tikes car was broken and most of the toys in the garden were old and in need of repair. The trampoline doesn't have a net around which might be ok for slightly older children but was a bit of a worry for those of us with little ones who were desperate to bounce.

So yes - La Garenne is a lovely place in a very rural area of France. But if you have children of toddler age, it may well not live up to expectation. You'll certainly need to take some things to play with.

We have just returned from a fantastic fortnight at La Garenne.

The setting is perfect, the gites are gorgeous stone cottages that look like they could be a film set for a period drama and the interiors are great too and mix practicality with french style to get effect.

Dorte and Richard are great hosts always on hand to offer advice on where to go for a good meal or the following days weather forecast.

The best part really though was the child friendly environment. We could let out 7 and 5 year olds wander off in a really safe idyllic setting and when they're given that freedom we get a little bit of freedom too!

Many thanks Dorte and Richard!

Julie, Nelle and Charlie's mum