Casa Elanor
Review Submitted: July 12, 2009
Date of Stay: June 2009
The owners provided excellent directions to get to the villa from the airport and I would recommend you stop off on the way at the supermarket they suggest.
The property is as it is described in the information however, it is somewhat more than 10 minutes from the village, Sherpa Tenzing would be stretched to get up the hill in 10 minutes, even using the "goat track".
The pool area is quite large and the pool is a good size. The pool does appear to attract all manner of insects however, a net is provided to fish them out and the owner comes on a regular basis to "hoover" the floor of the pool which suffers from dust from an adjoining vegetable garden. The pool bar area has a small fridge which is really useful to keep beers/wine handy. There are a couple of lemon trees here as well and the fruit is excellent. Use the hose in the morning to give the trees a water
You will not need to take an alarm with you as the dogs from the villa below and above will ensure you wake promptly at 7am. The only way to avoid this is to close your window but with no air conditioning this is not an option. The ceiling fans alleviate some of the heat but we visited in June so I suspect July and August will be worse.
There are three shops in the village and also a butcher which we used regularly but there's not a huge choice so would recommend you stock up at supermarkets when you can.
Because of the hike to the village we used the gas BBQ virtually every day but we ate once at the Parador Restaurant, the owner picking us up and taking us back to the villa. It appears to be open only from Friday to Sunday.
The villa is an ideal situation for travelling around the area, we visited Antequerra, Rhonda, Marbella, Puerto Banus and Mijas plus many of the little villages around the area. A car is essential.
The mountain backdrop is spectacular in an evening sitting on the terrace with the sun going down. We enjoyed our stay at the villa and would consider a villa holiday again but would prefer air conditioning being available.
Owner's Response: We are surprised by this review-Lucky (or unlucky?) Dave experienced problems no guests in the past 5 years, and none since, have had. During their stay the party appeared happy. We looked after their needs, replaced a newly broken DVD player with a brand new one, arranged a free taxi for a night out and exchanged pleasantries every time we came to check on the pool where his party spent a large amount of time.
It does contain certain inaccuracies:
1) The villa IS only 10 minutes walk from the village- Dave never attempted to walk it. Our current guests from Demark, not renowned for its mountains, have 2 young children and they all enjoy walking to the village every evening. We live in the village and often walk to the villa- it takes 10 minutes.
2) The pool does not possess any special insect or dust attracting properties. Some insects will always end up in swimming pools and therefore a net is provided. However, there were more insects and dust than we have had previously or since and it was a big concern to us. We came early EVERY morning to clean it. We believe the cause for the amount of insects was that the adjacent barbecue, used everyday, was never cleaned during their stay and rubbish was left around the bar - We urge guests to keep the area clean and dispose of rubbish on a daily basis. We think the dust must have been due to Dave´s habit of hosing down the patio every morning- there is nowhere else for the dust to go- but into the pool!!-
We would urge guests not to do this or to water the lemon trees.
3) There is currently no air-con- it is not advertised as having air-con and the ceiling fans seem to satisfy 95% of guests-even in high season. We are however, considering air-con for next year.
4) There are some dogs in one neighbouring villa. Whilst they do bark when disturbed, it is not a problem other guests have complained of. If it were to be a problem we would talk to our neighbours to resolve it.
Lucky Dave usually holidays in major resorts-why he chose Casa Elanor is a mystery to us. It is, as he acknowledges accurately described and a million miles away from a bustling city break. However, the village does have a 3 mini markets, 2 butchers, a fishmonger, a baker, a cake shop, a chemist and a bank. There are also 6 bars serving tapas and 4 bar/restaurants serving full meals.- Most of these amenities are pointed out on a map of the village which is provided alongside other useful information for guests.
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Helpful votes: 3/3