Apt holiday farmhouse: Saignon

I stayed at Le Mas des Anges with my partner for three weeks, September 2009. We immediately felt at home there. Coming from London, the first thing we noticed was its quietness. It backs onto a tiny country lane with only a few vehicles passing daily. The view from the front across to the Grand Luberon is stunning.

The house and garden:
Le Mas is an old, renovated farm house. The downstairs rooms are large and spacious, with high ceilings. The kitchen/dining room has a huge wooden table that amply seats twelve, plenty of tops for preparing meals and an island in the kitchen area with high bar seats. One side of the kitchen is glass windows and doors that open onto a delightful old patio, with table and seating, overhead sun shields that draw back and, in the corner, an open stone fireplace used for barbeques. The kitchen/dining room is light and sunny. The lounge is less light; it's a cool, comfortable room with large squishy settees.

The facilities:
As there were just two of us, we had more than enough. We had no trouble using the laundry facilities which were marked with easy to follow instructions. There seemed ample fridge and freezer storage space for larger parties. The upstairs bathroom is small. It's not fitted with mod cons, but everything works. There is a walk-in shower downstairs that we didn't use.
The kitchen facilities are excellent - lovely crockery and cutlery, masses of cooking pots and pans, microwave, dishwasher and a very large oven that heats quickly.
We particularly appreciated the large-scale maps of the area, and thoughtful touches like the guests' restaurant review book.
The garden is private and awesome, with fig and nut trees and a hammock, ping pong facilities and a well-serviced swimming pool.
There are no wi-fi/internet facilities. We needed to go online a few times, so used our dial-up account with no problem.

The locality:
Le Mas is well situated for a drive up to Vaison and the Dentelles vineyards, and the Gorges de Nantes. It's close to some of the most charming Luberon villages: Gordes, Saignon, Roussillon. Apt is a 10 minute drive away. It's a local market town, a bit shabby, easy to navigate, fun on market day. When we ate out, we tended towards Saignon, an idyllic fortress village, which was just as close.
Good hiking terrain: we walked the area, including the Luberon Ridge.

Administration:
Flawless: no communication problems, immediate responses to email and phone.

Really really special property. Beautifully and sensitively converted and decorated. Comfortable and relaxed with everything you could need. You can feel how well loved a family place this is.
But the clincher is the respect shown to you as a visitor - the kitchen is left fully stocked with all the staple stuff you might need. You have to replace it of course, but what a pleasure it is not to arrive to an empty kitchen. And this is a real chef's kitchen - beautiful cooker, enormous ice-making fridge.
There are ipod docks everywhere, CDs, DVDs and even a piano.
The pool and the views are gorgeous.
Never felt so at home in a rental property before. Wonderful.

We couldn't fault this place. As several others have commentated, it has view to die for. All our meals were eaten outside and we made a lot of use of the outdoor barbeque. The kids had loads of space to run around, and the two-house concept was ideal for our party of two families.

The combination of a beautifully restored farmhouse, lovely pool, breathtaking views and tranquil setting is hard to fault. Local villages like Apt and Saignon never fail to impress us with their charm, and we have every intention of going back to Le Mas des Anges as soon as we possibly can!