Townhouse with roof terraces and lovely views across old town

We spent two weeks in the house with two adults, two tweenagers and two little ones: it's a very nice house, on a nice spot for a (very!) nice price. For teenagers that want to hang out: it's not a village with lots of disco's, etc.
Nice, quiet and clean beaches nearby.
Contact with owner Dave by email (and welcome by Eileen and husband in Oliva) were pleasant as well.

The house was as described and had all the necessary facilities. Staying in the old town provided real character and colour and being off the tourist paths was a bonus. We really enjoyed Oliva - a town with a substantial slice of reality - and enjoyed finding new ways through the maze of streets to get to places. Oliva's attractions are modest but almost more worthwhile because of that and because of the effort which has gone in to the museums and the churches - and a friendly welcome ensued. Oliva is also ideal for getting to places for a change of pace - the hills are nearby, as is the beach, and Valencia is a short and efficient train journey away (better than taking the car). Oliva has good facilities and amenities though a little short of really good restaurants. Even at this popular time of year the beaches were not over-crowded and were pretty quiet relative to the nearby resorts. We would go back - without question.

I would highly recommend renting this property, not only for its fascilities and views, but its location and accessibility to the local area as well.

We travelled to Valencia Airport, where we transfered straight to a Metro to the Estacion Nord, catching the train to Gandia and then a taxi to the door - so easy, and worth the extra couple of hours travelling.

On our arrival we were welcomed by the very hospitable Eileen, who let us in to the house to show us round. Knowing that if anything went wrong, Eileen would only be ten mintues away was very reassuring.

The house was clean and had everything we needed, including towels! The views from the roof terrace are brilliant - we had many a BBQ overlooking the old town. There were two of us staying here and there was way too much room, although I can imagine that for six people it would be a bit tricky - but not at all impossible. Four people would be ideal.

There is no air-con, but with windows open and celing fans on throughout the house, it was fine.

Platja de Oliva is beautiful; an unspoilt stretch of coast, which despite the hustle and bustle of the town, was never busy. According to some local ex-pats, June is the perfect month to see Oliva, as in July and August the seafront turns its eye towards the tourist, when beach bars, restaurants and gifts shops pop up all over the beach.

I would highly recommend Pizzeria Ali Ba Ba's further down the coast toward the mountains; serving delicious pizzas for a tasty lunch time treat right on the beach.

We went out for a number of meals during our trip, and I could recommend you them all: Bar Pelut around the corner from the house is fantastic; Ily a Feco (we left their card in the house) is a brilliant family-run restaurant/cafe, serving wonderful seafood and fresh, grilled vegatbles. A local told us about a lovely cheap tapas restaurant called Colors Restaurant - also fantastic!

Gandia and Valencia are both definitely worth a visit, but the tourist information office will guide you wherever you want to go!

Overall, Oliva is a wonderful location, and the house a wonderful base for explorations - but be warned, the locals speak next-to-no English, so if you don't know much Spanish, take a guide book with you. Neither me or my partner spoke a word of Spanish at the beginning, but by the end we had no problem ordering food and drinks, or getting bus/trains/taxis! Throw yourself in at the deep end, it's all part of the adventure.