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This one gets a big thumbs up from me! Beautiful house and garden, great views, excellent location, 5 kms from historic lakeside town of Banyoles, 20 kms to Girona, 35 kms to the beaches, and a very low rental rate for what you get: 12 bedrooms , 9 bathrooms, and 3 WCs, large pool and grounds and many extras. NB: for extra large groups, keep in mind that Mas Dalt is only a lovely 10 minute walk away! Click here for travel information on this areaClick here for comments from past guestsPut your cursor over the photos for additional descriptions.
Location: 2 kms from Camós and 5 kms to Banyoles. Between Girona, Costa Brava´s historic capitol city, and the elegant and medieval lakeside town of Banyoles, there is a 4-lane highway. Running parallel to this highway to the south and hemmed in by the Serra Llonga mountains, is a winding back road with a few nice old stone village and some renowned local restaurants. Camós, the nearest town to Can Tapies, about 2 kms away - a 20 minute walk or so. In front of hillside Can Tapies are views of the coastal plain stretching out to the east, and behind the house, a huge private woods on the 15 hectaire property. Banyoles is a market town with a pleasant 12thC old town with lots of museums and historic buildings, surrounded by a newer part of town with a dozen or so supermarkets - it seems everyone is the Pla de L´Estany region does their shopping here (see my Travel Info on this area). The area is pleasant and well-situated, right between the coastal plain and the Low-Pyrenees, and there are great views from Can Tapies´s elevated location out over the coastal plain to towards the not-to-distant beaches on the Golf of Roses - about 25 kms away as the crow flies.
The house: . Situtated about 1 km of fully paved road from the secondary road I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the wide driveway leads to the esplanade in front of the house, where there are a couple of outdoor covered sitting/dining areas. The first is a sort-of gazebo with wicker chairs perched above the pool area, which is set in an olive grove a terrace level below. The views from here are magnificent, 240º views north from the Pyrenees to the coast. The other outdoor sitting/dining area here is beside the built-in BBQ (see photo below). The main entrance to the house is an large and somewhat dimly lit stone chamber, quite atmospheric and the walls have ancient farm implements on display. From this downstairs hall there is a door leading to the playroom, and three separate stairways going up into the three different apartments.
The largest of these apartments is just up a rather grand spiral stone staircase with wrought-iron ballustrade opening onto a large banquet hall seating about 14, but with a couple of extra planks of wood on tripods this table can seat over 30 guests. Behind the table is a nice sitting area with leather sofas and easy chairs, and beyond that large terrace, partly covered, overlooking the driveway and pool areas below. The views are spectacular. There is a separate walk-in kitchen with normal sized fridge, dishwasher, and a breakfast table seating 5. There is also direct access to the terrace from the kitchen. This apartment has 5 en suite bedrooms, 3 of the bedrooms have double beds (150x190cm), and two very large bedrooms have a double bed and two single beds, each. Four of the en suite bathrooms have showers and one has a bathtub. Oh, there is also a very handy WC (with toilet and sink) just off the large salon and dining room, so you don´t have to go to your rooms to go.
The 3 bedroom apartment is downstairs and orientated towards the back of the house, and has a large flagstone private terrace you can see photographed here to the right. This flat has a large kitchen/dining/living room with a fireplace and TV and the dining room table here seats 10 guests. The kitchen here has a normal sized fridge and a dishwasher. The 3 bedrooms here are all en suite, with private bathrooms, 2 bathrooms with shower stalls and one bathroom with a bathtub. One bedroom has a double bed, and two very large bedrooms have 2 double beds each. This apartment also has a very handy WC (with toilet and sink) just off the salon. Upstairs, on the same floor but with a separate entrance from the aforementioned 5 bedroom apartment is the 4 bedroom apartment, which also has a central dining/living room with a dining room table seating 10, the living room with fireplace and TV and exit to the main terrace, and a separate kitchen with a breakfast table for 6, with large refridgerator and dishwasher. This is the same large terrace as the 5 bedroom apartment, and you can in fact walk from one apartment to the other on the covered part of the terrace. This 4 bedroom apartment was orginally conceived as the caretaker´s house and so the owners only put one bathroom in, but it is a large bathroom, separated into two parts, the bathroom door opening onto a anteroom with a large sink, and beyond that, another door leading to the toilet and the shower stall. Two bedrooms here have double beds (again, all double beds are 150x190cm), one bedroom has two single beds (90x190cm), and the fourth bedroom is a small room with just one single bed.
So you see, Can Tapies in fact has beds for 34 guests! There are 12 double beds and 7 single beds, not to mention a couple of cots for babies. The house is licensed for 2 guests per room, so for 24 guests, plus maybe a baby or small children.... There are 9 bathrooms and 3 WCs.
The outdoors: the new 12x5 meter swimming pool is on a terrace just below the house with a fairly wide lawn and some shade trees, 16 deck chairs, and a small WC and changing room and small table for 4 under a pergola beside the pool. Oh, and there is also a poolside shower, and the owners have bought a ping pong table which gets moved around from place to place. There is also a washroom downstairs with two washing machines and a clothes drier and a sink for hand washing. In short, Can Tapies is wonderful property in a priviledged location. The comments from past guests is very very good so far and I am sure this property is going to be a big success. It helps that the owners, who live about 1 km away just off the main road, are genuinely kind and helpful, and always willing to add improvements to their two houses. I can´t wait to get Comments for the website from families who have rented for this coming summer!
![]() ![]() This sign indicates that the Catalan Tourism Authorities regularly inspect and license the property. We have also visited and recommend all the properties we have selected for our listings.
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