The Pool and House are completely private and are not shared with anyone.
The house is located in a peaceful and quiet rural Spanish village. The majority of the properties in the village belong to working families, and so is not suitable for late night activity after 11pm or parties.
The house is built in the style of a Roman Villa. At the centre of the house is a large swimming pool, around which is a colonnaded terrace (Atrium) leading to the various rooms and terraces. The pool is heated in the months September - June (further details below).
This is an ideal location to visit the three great cities that make up Andalucía's 'Golden Triangle' of Seville, Cordoba and Granada.
The house sleeps 8, with cots available on request for small children. There are 4 completely private bedrooms, all with their own en-suite bathrooms. The house is usually configured with 2 double beds and 4 twin beds (2 per room). Each room is intended to sleep 2 people.
There is a 15-metre-long ‘sun terrace’ which has 3 distinct areas. If the sun is too hot, then sit back on one of our sofas and armchairs under the cool awning. When you are feeling hungry, fire up our large brick-built barbeque or Pizza Oven and enjoy a meal at the roof-top dining area. Just one of 3 dining areas offered by the house.
If you want things a bit cooler then the Moroccan dining area is on the ground floor, just outside the kitchen. This area spends most of the day in the shade - it is also the place where most people congregate throughout the day, whether it is for breakfast or an evening review of the day with a glass of wine and a few olives and other nibbles.
The house features a fully equipped kitchen - if there is something you needed that isn’t there, please tell us. There is a large Spanish Oak dining table, making that 3 dining areas overall !!! There is a lounge with enough seating for everyone. This includes a DVD player and a large Smart TV, which you can use to connect to your various streaming services. For those who understand such things, we have some movies and TV shows that you can watch via our PLEX system.
We have super-fast direct fibre internet WiFi which delivers speeds in excess of 50mbps. This should allow everyone to use their laptops, tablets and phones without problem.
Due to demand we can only let the house for full weeks (Saturday to Saturday) during the months of July and August. However, shorter stays may become possible during these times on a late availability basis.
The Bedrooms
Each room is beautifully colour coordinated, with its own en-suite bathroom. They also have a dressing area with built-in wardrobes. Every room has :
Air conditioning
Heating
Desk / Dressing table
Wardrobes and drawers
Extra Blankets
Bedside tables with lamps
Three rooms open directly onto the pool colonnade, with the fourth on the top floor of the main house.
Swimming Pool
The pool is heated from September to June to a temperature of 28 °C, which is the recognised temperature for swimming pools. The heat is provided via an Air Source Heat Pump which very efficiently converts the local air into warm water. In the same way that an air conditioning unit provides air that is much cooler than the local temperature at the time, the Heat Pump does exactly the same in reverse and magnifies the heat to provide warm water. During protracted periods of colder weather, the Heat Pump will have to work much harder and so it is vitally important that if you want to swim, that you use the swimming pool cover when the pool is not in use. If the swimming pool cover is not used, or if the weather is particularly cold for a long period of time, then the swimming pool temperature may struggle to reach 28 °C. Therefore while we are confident that our systems will heat the pool, given that it is dependent on factors beyond our control, we cannot guarantee it. However it will still be significantly warmer than a swimming pool without heating!
Temperature
The temperature in this part of Spain is usually quite pleasant, even in the winter months. It is not uncommon to be able to sunbathe in December – we have !!
It is unusual for the temperature to fall below 10° C (which is quite pleasant). Between June and August it is very rare to have a rainy day.
If you are looking to avoid rain, then November to early December are best avoided. However, this is an excellent time for those interested in seeing the sights of Andalucía, without the impact of the energy draining sun.
Village of Las Pinedas
If you are looking for an authentic Spanish experience, then Las Pinedas delivers. It is a very quiet village (with one notable weekend exception in August!!! - see below), situated on a small hilltop. If you are looking for a nightclub, then you won’t find one!
It is a small intimate place. The locals are welcoming but don’t expect them to speak much English. The bar is the meeting place, particularly on a Sunday afternoon where families come out for a long lunch. The men of the village will spend the day at the bar reading their newspapers and playing dominoes in the bar.
Casa Uno is situated on the village square. This features a large paved square with orange trees and seating. The village church overlooks the square. If you are staying at the house over Easter, then the Easter Sunday procession which starts and ends at the Church is not to be missed.
Every town and city in Spain has its annual fiesta, and Las Pinedas is no exception. This is when it gets noisy – very noisy. The first weekend in August is usually the village’s fiesta weekend. This sees the square full of people. There is a bar, things to eat and very loud music. The music and dancing goes on into the small hours over Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. You can’t ignore this, and it will be difficult to sleep and could be frustrating if you are checking out at 9:30 checkout on Saturday morning.
However the fiesta is great fun and if you go prepared for it, you will have a great time! Some people book especially to experience the fiesta, but we just think it is best to warn you in advance.
If you want to get back to nature, then a short walk out of the back of the village is recommended, especially in springtime when wild flowers and migrating birds can be seen.
La Carlota
This is the local town, a 5-minute car drive away. If you are going to experience the restaurants, bars and cafes, then we recommend one of the local taxis at a cost of €10 - €12 per trip.
Besides a number of significant shops and banks (discussed later), this is a good place for an evening visit – remembering that most evenings don’t start till 8pm. The main road on entering La Carlota is a wide expanse with a paved walkway in the middle. On this walkway, many of the bars and cafes put out their tables and chairs where families sit and chat while the children play. You will see many people doing ‘el paseo’ (the walk) which is a very Spanish custom.
The road features many varied bars, including a tea room. Bar San Francisco is clean and modern and the tapas are excellent. The best steak and chips can be found at Mason Rebecca (just a few yards away from San Francisco). For the biggest pizza ever then a visit or take away from Pizza Lalola is well worth it. They are so big you can put two different toppings on each half of one Pizza!
Shopping Locally
Las Pinedas
Paqui’s Autoservicio (‘self-service’) is Las Pinedas’ one shop, open six and a half days a week, though like other businesses in Southern Spain, it is closed every afternoon between 2pm and 5.30pm. Paqui (pronounced Packy) sells locally-produced ham, sausages and cheese, fruit and root vegetables, frozen meat and fish, many kinds of tinned and bottled food, soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits, and everything for household cleaning.
Spain is a country which has not yet succumbed entirely to the economics of the supermarket. The freshest and most delicious produce, much of it locally sourced, is still to be found in local shops and on market stalls – every large town worth its name has a covered market.
It is so easy to fall into the habit of using the larger supermarkets (we have !), however we now try to use the independent greengrocers, bakers, fishmongers and butchers that can all be found in the local town of La Carlota. You can wander around and find them for yourself, or if you need help just ask. By using the local independents, you not only get the best produce but you keep these people in business. It’s also a lot of fun and adds to the holiday !
Shopping Locally
La Carlota
La Carlota, (pop. 15,000), 5 km away, is the local market town. At the last count it had 5 butchers, 4 greengrocers, 3 fishmongers, 2 bakers, several pharmacies, numerous banks with credit/debit card access, a Co-operative producing excellent extra virgin olive oil, ironmongers, haberdashers, a large Mercadona supermarket, and several fairly modest self-service stores.
