Artist's 3 bedroom family home on edge of peaceful hillside Drome wine village.

Si vous cherchez une habitation typique d'un village provençal et qui a une âme, l'appartement de la Famille Haling, mitoyen de leur maison, est à recommander. Maison de village donnant sur des rues étroites, l'habitation est rustique mais décorée avec soin. On y trouve notamment de superbes photos du propriétaire, par ailleurs artiste. Comme toutes les maisons dans ce type de village, il n'y a pas d'espace extérieur (hormis un balcon) et pas de possibilité de garer sa voiture près de la maison, mais il y a une place charmante à proximité (où l'on peut se garer), avec un café-restaurant très agréable sous les platanes. Pour les familles, il y a un parc près de l'école du village où les enfants peuvent jouer en toute sécurité.

Enfin, l'accueil des propriétaires, amoureux du village, est très sympatique et leurs conseils avisés permettent de découvrir tous les charmes de la région.

What a great place! My wife, 11 year old daughter and 3 year old son just got back from our 11 days in Venterol: we loved the house. It was perfect for us -- we could easily have accommodated a fifth family member (there's a bunk bed in one of the rooms that we didn't use). The house is decorated with antiques and art work. It feels very real and very homey -- it doesn't have the sense of an artificially created "vacation home" environment. That's a crucial consideration for me.

The kitchen is big and easy to work in. We shopped in local markets -- held weekly in the nearby towns of Nyons and Valreas, with amazing, very affordable produce and of course cheese and the other ingredients of French cuisine. We mostly ate at home, which was healthy, economical and delicious. French big box style stores are also conveniently nearby -- a sad development, but the food there equals what you can find in a place like Fairway in NYC. There is a bakery in Venterol itself, as well as a wonderful small restaurant and a more typical bistro in the town square.

I had never heard of Drome or Vaucluse before -- these are the two "departments" closest to Venterol (it's in the former). I'm very glad we ended up there, rather than further south, more in "Provence" proper. Venterol's region is far less crowded and expensive, but I found it to be exquisitely beautiful. Venterol itself lies up against small mountains (high hills?), giving it a pleasing topography -- a landscape defined by vineyards, olive trees and green ridges. (We had weather luck: only 2 or 3 days of temps above high 80s).

You can work very hard and make many day trips. Vaison, Avignon, Orange, Aix, Arles and other well known destinations are an hour to 90 minutes away. It's even possible to get to the Riviera in about 2 and a half hours (we did a day trip to Cassis. loved the Calanques boat trip. didn't like the beach and the crowds). We also did a very nice, very manageable day trip into the Alps. Ultimately, we preferred hanging out in Venterol or in the nearby villages.

George (the owner) was extremely helpful. He's owned the house in Venterol for 40 years, and he knows the region extremely well. He has an engaging expatriate sensibility. We valued his presence.

The town has a small playground. There are plenty of hiking trails, swimming spots, and vast opportunities for biking.

We give this place the highest possible recommendation

This is a classic old converted farm house in a classic Drome Provencal village, reasonably close to nice towns. However, we would not recommend staying here for several reasons:

1. There are numerous aspects of the property description that are inaccurate and could affect your experience. Ask owner for floor plan. Bathroom is substandard--e.g., camp style showers. There is no separate living room--it is part of the master bedroom, so it cannot be used if someone is sleeping in this room. This would leave only the uncomfortable kitchen as a hang-out space. The laundry facility is shared with the owner and requires permission to enter his property. Furthermore, the machine has an extremely small capacity. The bathroom is located in the basement, two flights of stairs down from the bedrooms--very inconvenient in the event of a midnight bathroom need. The house is very dark. The natural light of this region is beautiful, but you wouldn't know it in this house. There are no clear views of the natural landscape--only of the next-door building. There is no outdoor space (e.g. patio, garden etc.) with this house except, again, for a courtyard which is part of the owner's house and you need to share with him.

2. The owner is not only 'in the village' as he suggests. He is in fact in an attached unit and makes his presence felt daily if not more often. For the first week of our 5-week stay, he made excuses to abruptly enter the unit every day. Even after that, he persistently hovered and badgered us (by loud knocking, rude emails, or hollering from the road) about various things. These ranged from aggressively telling us to turn off the lights (the place is extremely dark--see above), pressing us to water the flowers, threatening to keep our deposit, and judging the character of his renters. His ongoing insertions into our lives negatively affected our experience. It is unprecedented and unacceptable for a vacation rental. It seems that the owner is not cut out for vacation rental property management because he continually demonstrates he cares far more about his house than about the enjoyment of his renters.

3. The kitchen is not fully equipped (for anyone who cooks) and we bought a number of additional things (inc. kitchen knives, salad bowl, oven dish, cutting board)

Overall, we think you can do much better for you money in this area. Go find the relaxing vacation rental experience you deserve to enjoy this beautiful part of the world.

My husband and I went to Paris, France for the first time together. We loved every minute of it. It was our getaway to Venterol that made the France trip so memorable. It was nice to get the train from Paris and be " in the country side."

George, the owner/host really knows the area, and its history so well. He was a great travel guide. The day trip to Avignon is highly recommended. The house is so charming. The village is a peaceful to walk around. You get a true taste of the village life, with the village square and village church. The house is well maintained with a working kitchen and fridge. We would go shopping for bread, cheese and sausage and pack sandwiches for our day trips. This is a lovely and peaceful retreat house with a wonderful owner.

Perché dans un charmant village à 4 km de Nyons, Venterol offre tous les avantages : près des commodités mais dans un environnement calme et préservé. Seule la cloche de l'église rythme le temps. Le gîte est une ancienne maison très bien décorée par Georges ce qui lui confère une âme. S'il faut faire la vaisselle et la lessive cela n'est pas grave car nous avons trouvé un endroit merveilleux. L'accueil de notre hôte à fini par nous charmer et ce n'est pas un scorpion dans la salle de bain qui nous fera changer d'avis. Nous reviendrons volontiers !