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FAQ

What do I do for Departure

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1. Bed linen and towels - no need to do anything at all 

2. Leave villa as found on your arrival and if any equipment has been moved, the caretakers would very much appreciate it to be moved back to where you found it.

3. Bins and rubbish – please remove the yellow sack recycling bag, glass recycling and food waste from the kitchen caddy. Leave any non-recycling waste in the kitchen bin for the caretakers to sort. If bin etiquette has not been adhered to £50 will be deducted from your security deposit.

4. Check the keys are in the Kitchen Key Box – spare front door, green gate, pool, cover, gym, bike locks, bike shed.

5. Bathrooms - empty the bathroom bins.

6. Infant equipment – clean equipment

7. Kitchen – place breakfast dishes in dish washer and turn onto a quick setting.

8. BBQs - burn off food residue for the gas BBQ. Empty the coals in the charcoal BBQ. Please let me know when a bottle is empty.

9. Dogs - We have toddlers enjoying the garden therefore please check the gardens before your departure.

10. Key - Leave in the key box on the front door shutter (code 1722) or hand to the caretakers.

 

Do I need to arrange additional caretaking services in advance?  This is very important and will need to be arranged before your holiday to enable the caretakers to plan their work diaries.

Do I need to arrange a taxi in advance from the airport?

This is recommended as it is a small airport and taxis are not always available. See "Travel."

What if I have a fake tan?  

Bed linen and fake tans do not mix! We will need to charge guests for stained linen and towels.

Can I visit the other LDV villa during my stay? 

Contact Tracey for details. They are only 10 minutes apart and a visit is encouraged as the two villas are very different, but are equipped and maintained to the same standards.

Can I use post codes in the Sat Nav to locate the holiday villas?

No, this does not work in rural France as the post code covers a very large area. Please use the information in "Directions" to find Acabanes and La Grange. Both villas are located on google maps

What time can I arrive?  

After 4:00pm. The caretakers finish at this time and your holiday home will be ready for you then. 

How do I keep the house cool in very hot temperatures

​​THE GOLDEN RULE IS TO OPERATE THE HOUSE IN THE SAME WAY AS YOU WOULD RUN YOUR OWN HOUSE DURING A VERY COLD DAY IN THE WINTER

To do this you have to keep all of the hot air out of the house by:
closing all doors, shutters, windows and veluxes and velux blinds from 9am to 9pm, turn on the air-conditioning units when using the bedrooms, refrain from turning on the air-con units when not using the bedrooms as the cool air will be lost

Early morning, up until 9am you can use the house normally. After 9am follow the above procedure. Late evening, after 9pm or when the temperature drops to a lower level (below 25C) the hot air needs to be flushed out of the house. The best way to do this is to generate a chimney effect within the house by opening all upstairs windows including the Velux windows 2. Opening all external doors and wedge them open
3. Open all the internal doors to let the air flow from outside

What if I arrive in the dark?  

A torch is recommended due to very little light pollution. If you are planning to arrive in the dark then please let Tracey know to ensure you have all the information you need regarding directions.

What time should I depart?

9:30 am

Are late checkouts possible?

This may be possible with prior arrangement.

What sort of insects and animals can I expect to encounter on my holiday?  

Full list in "House Information"

​Is the WIFI as good as being in a city?  

It is improving all the time and we have the best packages available, however, it is much slower than you may be used to in a city. Please do not download films or huge files as it will affect the wifi for other guests. It is common for the signal to drop out and when this happens take a photo of the position of the leads in the modem, then pull the leads out and leave for 10 mins and then replace them and wait for it to reboot.

Can I wear suntan lotion in the pool? 

We ask our guests to shower before as it affects the ph levels and also marks the liners.​

How do I use the Wood burners

  1. You will need a tool to open the side door. It has a wooden handle and is kept next to the fire. 

  2. Never open the front doors, load the logs into the side door.

  3. Only burn logs and kindling. Never burn paper or cardboard as this emits poisonous gases.

  4. The temperature gauge above the wood burner is very helpful and must be watched as it shows if the fire is not hot enough or too hot. It has a range which the fire should burn in. 

  5. There is a little sliding knob just above where you empty the ashes and it is best if this is always kept pushed to the right as it allows air into the wood burner. However, if the fire is burning with too much heat you can slide it to the left to bring the temperature down.

  6. Depending on the wood and the general weather conditions, sometimes the fire lights easily and sometimes it can take a while to get a good fire going.

  7. You will find that the kitchen fire burns a lot quicker than the lounge fire.

  8. Please don’t stack the wood right up against the walls of the porch or the inside house walls as the wood may contain Capricorn or termites and they get into the walls and destroy the oak beams. Inside the house please use the basket in the kitchen and in the lounge stack into the two black log stores either side of the fire. On the porch please leave a gap at least 6 in between the logs and the walls.

To start the fire

  1. Empty any embers from the tray under the wood burner – use the special tool to open the flap in this area so that you can pull the ember tray out. You can empty ashes under any laurel hedge as it helps them grow. Leave this flap fully open to start the fire.

  2. Open the side door using the special tool.

  3. Place one log towards the rear of the wood burner and one log in front of this log, with a small gap in between where you place 3 or 4 firelighters. Light the firelighters and then place a thinner log over the firelighters, resting on the original two logs. Basically you’ve formed a sort of bridge now with the 3 logs.

  4. Close and lock the side door with the wooden handled tool. 

  5. Now leave the fire to really take hold, which will take at least 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the temperature gauge and when it reaches the optimum burning area on the dial you can fully close and lock the lower flap. 

  6. You can now keep the fire going all day, just add a log at a time when needed via the side door. When adding a log you may need to open the lower flap until the fire is burning in the optimum temperature range on the dial. 

  7. When you have a really good fire going you don’t need to add logs very often and it can tick over with just one log burning slowly. 

  8. If you are going out for a long time then you will need to add a few logs and get them burning well so that they can burn down while you are out for several hours.

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