Charente Vacation Rental : Cognac

This property is certainly large. The grounds perfect for ball games, two swings under the shade of the trees. Plenty of space to sunbathe, shady spots for getting out of sun! Covered area with BBQ, great pool.
House is BIG! 2 huge upstairs bedrooms, decor slightly 70's, small shower room between these 2.
Downstairs 3 bedrooms with a bathroom & sep loo.big dining room. kitchen large and well equipped, we were surprised that there were no basic provisions eg salt pepper, cooking oil, foil, cling film etc, would have been nice to get a small basic welcome pack with milk, water, juice, eggs, etc as we have always been used to with rental properties. Supermarket 5 minute drive away and small baker/supermarket 5-10 mins walk. Large laundry room. Bath/shower room next to back door, handy for coming from pool..only problem was, no hot water to this room! The upstairs mezzanine level has French pool table, it does not have holes/pockets so therefore playing anything as we know it impossible! Cognac not as nice as we had hoped, limited number of bars, restaurants, main square has the main road running round it, park very pretty, river bank pretty, distilleries good. Caretaker very helpful, he spoke very little English, but we spoke some French so managed to overcome any language problems! House well maintained, linen clean, small grumble about towels, but I understand owners now have some new ones! The local drink Pineau de Charente is excellent, we preferred it to cognac! Area surrounding is quite nice, not many touristy destinations, took about an hour to get to Royan, bit commercialised for our taste, but Ok, just south of there, small village Talmont sur Gironde which was more what we expected, very pretty. On the whole, this property is excellent, great for a couple of families, spacious. We went with young teenagers who were happy to have such a lot of outdoor space and room to chill indoors! We would certainly consider returning.