005 - Manoir d'Albret  Casteljaloux (10 kms)

In our opinion

What makes Manoir d'Albret a great holiday rental

It's not easy finding properties of this size - ones that can genuinely 'lose' larger groups. The living room and grounds are very spacious so guests won't feel on top of each other. The owners have really tried to offer guests all the amenities possible not least a fabulous heated & floodlit pool and private tennis court. Manoir d'Albret does justify the 'luxury' tag.

Best for:
Extended family gatherings and groups of friends. A great venue for reunions, anniversaries and celebrations.

Suitability for:

• Toddlers - good facilities and safe accommodation & grounds
• Teenagers - loads of games facilities at the house
• Reduced mobility - flat plot and downstairs bedroom & bathroom

Anything to watch out for?
Low beams!

Why Casteljaloux?
A very pleasant Gascon market town with an excellent weekly market and some choice shops too. The town also offers a leisure lake for days out, a spa centre, a superb lido with high-diving boards plus golf and horse-riding too.

Accommodation

Luxurious Gascon manor house in tranquil countryside with floodlit & heated pool, private tennis court, pool table and 8.5 acre grounds.

Manoir d'Albret represents the total re-birth of a collection of farm buildings. The rebuild has retained the character and charm of the original buildings whilst incorporating modern comforts.

Manoir d'Albret is accessed from a quiet country lane - tranquillity is certainly a feature of this property - leading to the impressive entrance marked by electric gates. The 'chemin' leading to the house is tree-lined and at night the trees are illuminated - it's quite a sight.

You can see a floorplan to assist you in understanding the layout. All bedrooms have king size double beds or twin beds.

Inside:

Ground Floor:
The house entrance is marked by double mahogany doors which open into a vast living area of 95m2 - itself as large as many holiday homes! The ceiling is heavily timbered using beams from the old house plus others reclaimed from an 18th century château in the Médoc (the owner Chris, made his living in the business of architectural antiques). The living room features antique and period furnishings, piano, plenty of seating and an impressive stone fireplace.

An oak-framed stained glass door leads from the living area into the impressive dining room. With an area of 37m2 and seating for 18 people, this is a comfortable space for formal meals. There are two double doors opening directly onto the garden and pool area.

The second lounge is more intimate (22m2) and can act as a TV lounge. There is an armoire stocked with wine for guests' use (a price list is kept here too). There are double doors leading to the garden and pool.

The games room is a real treat and very popular with renters. Heavily timbered and decorated in a Provençal style, it features table tennis, pool table, dart board, exercise machine and table football. Very handily, this room has its own WC. There is access to the garden and pool, car port and arbri (covered terrace).

The kitchen is spacious and sectioned into two separate rooms. The main part of the kitchen is 28m2 whilst the second area of 16m2 is devoted to food preparation and storage. Equipment includes a large cooker; 2x fridges; 2x washing machines (situated in the utility area); 2x dishwashers and 2x microwaves.

There is one downstairs bedroom with double bed. Accessed via the smaller kitchen room, this bedroom opens directly onto the garden. The room is en-suite providing both bath and shower. It is a useful room for an elderly couple or less mobile guests.

First Floor:
A further 8 bedrooms, all leading off the wide hallway and all en-suite. One of these bedrooms (no.1) has a private balcony, sofa and the en-suite includes a bath as well as a shower fitting; all of the other rooms have a shower only. Each bedroom benefits from pleasant views, whether it's over the pool, woods or front garden. The room entrances have quite low doorframes to accommodate the beams - mind your head!

Outside:

The term "gardens" is a bit of a misnomer at Manoir d'Albret. With 8.5 acres of land, "grounds" is probably more appropriate! The land is surrounded by pine forests - this is the eastern fringe of Les Landes des Gascogne which stretch for 150 kms west to the Atlantic coast. The entrance to the house is lined with poplar trees with meadow either side, whilst nearer to the house are some 2 acres of woods.

Around the house, the garden is more formal with flower beds but there is also a good size grass area for garden games (boules provided). The whole 8.5 acres of land is bordered by fence (a not inconsiderable achievement!) and several hundred trees have been planted. This helps to provide privacy - only two other properties are visible when standing in the garden although Manoir d'Albret is not overlooked in any way.

The huge (89m2) abri is an excellent place to take meals (there are two large tables seating 18) or just relax in the daytime and take shelter from the sun. There are several 'easy chairs' and it's a very secluded spot. For eating outside there is a BBQ at the far end of the arbri.

The swimming pool is large even for a property of this size (surface area 12 x 9 x 6 metres). The pool is heated and floodlit at night and protected by fence (with lockable gate) and alarm. It is also in direct line of the arbri making it more convenient for children to be supervised. The saltwater filtration is much nicer to swim in than chlorinated pool and it's not salty like the sea. The first section of the pool - 3x2 metres - is suitable for very young children. Several sun-loungers and parasols are available around the pool.

Very few rental properties have their own tennis court and this has become an ever-popular rental because of this feature. The court is fully maintained and fenced.

There is covered parking for 5 cars to the right of the house.

Prices & Availability

Location

GPS: (44.24360421, 0.132613778)

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

Things to Do & See

Nearby Activities
Golf · Cycling · Horse-riding · Fishing · Spa & thalassotherapy · Wine-tasting ·

Day-trip Ideas

• Sample the Sauternes vineyards near Langon
• Auch cathedral
• Tour the Gascon villages: Nerac, Pujols, Lavardac, Barbotan
• Explore the Lot valley
• A day's pampering at the thermal spa station

Our Personal Highlights

• An afternoon at Lac de Clarens in Casteljaloux
• Visiting local towns on market day
• The lido and diving boards in Casteljaloux
• Slowing down to the pace of Gascon life!
• Cycle rides through the forests

The Local Area: Casteljaloux (10 kms)

Casteljaloux literally means "jealous castle" but no-one seems to know quite how the town earned this rather curious name. It’s a pleasant market town with plenty of shops and restaurants. The market is held twice weekly including Saturday. 

Just to the south of the town is the large lake of Catelajaloux, Lac de Clarens, which is great for a day out for the family. Here you can fish, cycle, walk in the woods, ride a horse, go boating or go for a swim. There's golf too plus tennis courts and swimming pool in Casteljaloux.

New in Casteljaloux is the thermal spa. Locals inform us that is really is a luxurious place to wallow and revitalise the body and mind.

The Area
This area of France is very rural and almost untouched by time. It is an ideal territory for exploring the ancient towns, vineyards and châteaux of Gascony and thus avoid the tourists and traffic of the ever-popular Dordogne.

Nérac, La Bastide d’Armagnac, Mézin, Pujols and Villeneuve-sur-Lot are popular ancient towns to visit. Agen, the capital of Lot-et-Garonne, has a fine Musée des Beaux-Arts, not to mention a host of opportunities for buying prunes – Agen is the prune capital of the world!

For day-trips into the Lot valley, drive east towards Cahors. Also worthy of a day-trip is Auch with its famous cathedral and pretty setting over-looking the Gers river.

There are golf courses in the area including Casteljaloux, Barbaste and Marmande. For cyclists there are numerous tracks which enable you to safely see the countryside. For the really adventurous, there is an airstrip near Marmande for private flying.

Naturally there are plenty of wine-tasting opportunities and if you are interested in visiting a Bordeaux château, for wine-tasting, there are organsiations locally who can fix this. Whether it’s St. Emilion, Sauternes, or Entre-Deux-Mers, this could be your chance to sample a selection of grand cru wines. Festivals for wine, food and music occur in the region throughout the year. Further south and you enter Armagnac country – more opportunities for tastings!

Beach lovers should head to Arcachon or Biscarrosse. These resorts are approximately 2hrs driving distance. Arcachon has numerous attractions including the magnificent Dune du Pilat – Europe’s highest sand dune – and a stroll around the Winter Town which is home to a range of eclectic villas.

The city of Bordeaux is less than an hour away and is a good option for a day-trip, whether it’s boutique shopping, sight-seeing or culture. Walking around the 18th century old town centre (Quartier St. Pierre), you can begin to imagine the city’s commercial and maritime past.

Customer Reviews

“Absolutely perfect! Our party age of 9 people ranged from 17 to 74 and the house had something for everyone.”

Mrs G Thornton, stayed in 2009