161 - Villa du Bassin  Cap Ferret

In our opinion

What makes Villa du Bassin a great holiday rental

It's an attractive holiday villa with pool and a short walk to the market, restaurants & beaches of a beautiful corner of Aquitaine - what more needs to be said!

Best for:
Families, couples, groups of friends who already know - or want to discover - chic Cap Ferret.

Suitability for:

• Toddlers - will enjoy the gentle bay beaches; a few steps around the house to watch out for
• Teenagers - ideally located for teenagers to be independent, and lots to keep them entertained nearby.
• Reduced mobility - not very suitable.

Anything to watch out for?
Like many properties in Cap Ferret the décor is not sophisticated and the bedrooms fairly small.

Why Cap Ferret?
We’ve not met anyone yet who has been to Cap Ferret and not come home a complete convert, but it’s worth noting that it is an area of natural, unspoilt beauty – in spite of its reputation as a upmarket destination it is not conventionally luxurious in the same way as Cap Ferrat (on the Med, often confused with Cap Ferret), but has a laid-back ‘beach-chic’ style of its own. It also means that apart from beaches, surfing, sailing, exploring by bike and eating out, there isn’t much to do. But what else do you need?!

Accommodation

An ideal holiday home, well-equipped, and in the perfect location for a relaxing, enjoyable holiday.

Villa du Bassin is an attractive, characterful property in an excellent location. The style and decor is in-keeping with the laid-back, beach-chic spirit of Cap Ferret which we are confident people coming to this unique part of Aquitaine will very much enjoy.

The house itself is a distinctive 2 storey 1930s building, painted white with red contrast. A high wall and shrubbery lined the perimeter of the property along with a high double gate.

Inside - downstairs:

On entering the house you walk directly into the L-shaped living/dining room which then leads into the open plan kitchen. To the left of the room is an open fireplace with six chairs that surround a small coffee table and face the fire, to the right of the room is a dining table with four chairs. A breakfast bar, with three modern bar stools, separates this area from the kitchen. A study leads off the living room, containing a single bed, TV, DVD and wi-fi access point.

The kitchen is modern, quite compact but attractive. Equipment includes: hob, oven, fridge-freezer, dishwasher, microwave, coffee-machine, blender, etc. (A washing machine is located in an outside laundry room.)

Inside - upstairs:

An original winding staircase leads upstairs, to an attractive landing area, containing some attractive touches: several antique clothes hangers/rails along with lots of interesting home made details, such as light fittings made out of drift wood. A hallway runs along the upstairs on the right hand side of the hall is a large long floor to ceiling built-in mirrored wardrobe providing lots of hanging and storage space, and which provides the clothes hanging space for all three bedrooms.

There is a good-sized shower room with toilet, shower and basin. It is attractively decorated, with glass bricks providing the wall to the shower, dark wood cupboards and a large mirror with shell surround (home made) adding an appropriate theme. There are three bedrooms, one twin and two doubles (both containing 140cm beds). Each room is very individual with attractive headboards including Indian carved wood with fishing nets hanging. Metal traditional headboards and homemade bedpost made from painted wooded crates. Each looks attractive and well made. Each room had one or two small bedside tables and small reading lamps. Flooring is wooden or laminate throughout. The bedrooms are quite small.

Outside:

There is a terrace in the front garden where there is a garden table and six chairs. There is also a children’s play house which is also painted white and red. A small lawned area leads up the side of the house and around to the large, rear terrace with swimming pool and dining area. The garden has a high fence and wall which surrounds the property and there are large plants and rose bushes that line this providing natural coverage and colour in the summer. There are neighbouring properties behind the fence, one of which would overlook the swimming pool from the upstairs window.

The pool is 10m x 5m, salt-water, protected by an alarm system. There is a solar power pool shower alongside. The depth of the pool ranges from 1.0m to 1.8m and there are steps into the shallow end; this makes it ideal for younger kids to really enjoy too.

Prices & Availability

Location

GPS: (44.65516115, -1.250408292)

We endeavour to be as accurate as possible using Google maps but some error is possible.

Things to Do & See

Nearby Activities
Surfing · Kitesurfing · Windsurfing · Sailing · Water-skiing · Jet-skiing · Kayaking · Golf · Cycling · Horse-riding · Birdwatching · Fishing · Degustation ·

Day-trip Ideas

• Take a water taxi to Arcachon, cycle to the Dune de Pyla, and climb to the top!
• Tour and wine-tasting around the Médoc vineyards
• Walk around St Emilion (UNESCO world heritage site)
• Hire a boat and head out to the Banc d'Arguin at low tide
• Ride a tram into historic central Bordeaux for café-crawling & shopping

Our Personal Highlights

• Visit the local market and oyster-farming villages
• Explore Cap Ferret's wonderful forest cycle trails (pick up 500m from the house)
• Hang out in chic Cap Ferret village, strolling or cycling around the 44 Hectares area
• Boat trips around the Bassin and to Dune de Pyla
• Le Petit Train trip across the peninsula is a delight
• Take ferry to the 'mainland': Arcachon and le Moulleau

The Local Area: Cap Ferret

Cap Ferret is a beautiful sandy strip bordered by beautiful Atlantic beaches & dunes on one side, the gentle Bay shore on the other, and the scent of pine forest in between. It has a stylish, laid-back ambience and an unspoilt, natural environment which give it an 'island' feel - what could be better for a holiday.

Villa du Bassin is located on an avenue which joins the jetty (on the eastern side, facing Arcachon) with l'Horizon's Atlantic facing beach, and is just a 5-10 minute walk from both. Cap Ferret market (mornings daily in July & August) is just 500m away, as are the chic boutiques and restaurants of the village itself. Bikes (hired at the jetty) are the best way to get around - the area is flat and there's never too much traffic.

A couple of 'bonnes adresses': it's worth stopping for a drink the stylish Tchanqué bar of the Hôtel Maison du Bassin (so named after the famous houses on stilts close to the Ile aux Oiseaux) - the address for an 'apéro'; and Fredelian, a salon de thé renowned for its patisseries, especially the local favourite (and ours), canelés.

From the village you can take a ferry over to Arcachon or Le Moulleau, but you'll probably miss your 'desert island' home quite quickly! Or try a boat tour spotting the oyster beds and bird life of the bassin d'Arcachon.

There's also a charming 'petit train' that runs from the jetty on the bassin side over the Atlantic beach on the other side of the pensinsula; the trip takes 10-15 minutes and, especially if you have children, is a delight!

Heading on down to la Pointe is a must, stopping to climb to the top of the famous Cap Ferret lighthouse on the way - the views across the bassin to the sandy wild-life reserve of the Banc d'Arguin and over to the Dune de Pyla (Europe's highest sand dune) are breathtaking.

The famous '44 Hectares' of the Cap Ferret peninsula are situated south of the lighthouse. This is an area of villas built in the earlier part of the century set amongst the pine trees all served by unmade roads, owned by several French stars, Bordeaux vineyard owners and generations of Cap Ferret inhabitants of more modest means. It's probably the most natural, exclusive yet unpretentious housing estate in France and also home to the island's most famous restaurant, Chez Hortense - laid back (what else could it be here?) and popular with France's VIPs.

Customer Reviews

“The house itself was nice and well equipped.”

Mrs E Barrington, stayed in 2010