Stay in an AirBnB Chateau in the South of France – Review

Staying in a château in the South of France has always been a dream of mine, but I thought it would have to wait until I won the lotto or sold the rights to my screenplay. After weeks of travelling through some of Europe’s most amazing cities I had decided that a little country escape was needed. At first I was concerned about the cost, but I didn’t give in to despair. I plonked myself down in a coffee shop in Rome and started to explore the many different options for a backpacker like myself, in the South of France. How wrong I was!

The South of France, like almost everywhere can be done on a backpackers budget (except Switzerland… it’s never cheap there), you just have to put a little bit of time into finding the right deals and the best time of year to go. If you are planning an escape to the South of France make sure you read my post on how to do it cheaply – that way you can relax without any of the stress.

When I was searching through the AirBnB listings for the South of France there were many that were appealing and beautiful. This one stood out to me, in part due to the name (how could I resist a place with the word Chateau in the title), in part it was the price (so reasonable for two people… and would be even cheaper if there had been four of us), but really it was the location that decided me. A small hamlet at the base of the Pyrenees – what more could you want for a European country escape.

The Details for Staying in a Chateau in the South of France

• Where: La Lodge Du Chateau De Pouech, Saint Girons, South of France
• How Long: 8 Nights
• Number of persons: 2 but can sleep up to 6 adults comfortably
• Cost: Total – $746 AUD OR $46.6 per person with two guests
• Link: https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/3674359
• New to AirBnB? Click THIS LINK then search “La Lodge Du Chateau De Pouech” and receive $35 off your first stay

Location

As mention, location was one of my favourite things about this AirBnB. Nestled into the base of a small mountain, with fields on one side, a quaint hamlet on another side and a river out front. It was a perfect setting for a romance novel, a perfect place to put my feet up after weeks on the road.

Accommodation/Rooms

Room Size: 3 large rooms with large double beds. We were easily able to dump our packs and walk around… even once my pack started to over flow and become more of a mound of clean and dirty clothes, it didn’t make an impact on the size of the room.

Comfort: The beds were very comfortable and there was plenty of linen to keep us warm

Cleanliness: It was a very clean home, great care has gone into making sure that the place is easy to keep clean.

Noise: The only noise was the sound of the goat bells as they walked to and from their milking… personally I loved that sound.

Security: The Chateau is located off the main highway and at the back of a sleepy Hamlet, I wouldn’t be surprised if no one locked their doors in Pouech. The Chateau did have two doors to be locked and the owners live in the big house at the end of the driveway so it felt very safe.

Bathrooms

Size/amount: 1 full bathroom and a downstairs loo. Both were quite large and spacious.

Water pressure/temperature: Water was great, no problems with running a hot and strong shower.

Useability: There were plenty of ledges and shelves in the bathroom to place things on. Though I would ask for some hooks to hang clothes on, but that is minor.

Cleanliness: Once again very clean.

Kitchen

Equipment: Utensil wise, the kitchen was very well stocked. I cooked up a number of delicious feasts while I was there, including my Provincial Mussels with all the ingredients bought at a local market. The kitchen could do with a few amenities such as olive oil and salt and pepper – being so far away from civilization not having those small basics did disrupt our cooking a few times.

Size: Huge – massive kitchen and dining table.

Cleanliness: Like the rest of the house, it was super clean.

Staff/Host

Pete was very friendly and easy to co-ordinate with. Thankfully he had given us some very detailed instructions on how to find the place as when we arrived in France we discovered that we couldn’t get a Sim card for our phones and our road map reading skills weren’t the best. However, thanks to the instructions we did find the place in the dark with only one wrong turn. Once checked in we barely saw Pete and his family even though they were up at the other house. If we needed anything (such as more fire wood) it seemed to magically appear. Great customer service.

Facilities

Internet: Considering the remote location the internet worked really well, I churned out several blogs while I was there.

Tour Desk: Pete had compiled a very useful and comprehensive guide to the area. In particular he included the opening times of all of the major stores in the area as well as the days and villages what hold farmers markets. It was this little touch that helped us get the most out of our time in Pouech – aiming our forays into the bigger towns to coincide with the bakery opening hours or market day.

Extras: There is a wood fire, which is heavenly to curl up in front of on cold evenings. There was also a very friendly ginger cat who lived with Pete but would periodically come down and visit me for a cuddle… usually around dinner time.

I definitely recommend staying at La Lodge Du Chateau De Pouech if you are doing a AirBnB weekend/week/month escape in the South of France. It is budget friendly, comfortable and beautiful. What more could you want?!

NOTE: This is not a sponsored post, all opinions are my own and not exchanged for goods, services or money unless stated otherwise