2/10 Terrible
Bridget C.
10 October 2018
Le Mirials - what a mess!
The hamlet of Le Mirial was delightful, a truly peaceful away from it all. Madame Albaret, who looks after the keys, was most welcoming and helpful. In fact everyone in the hamlet was friendly. The surrounding countryside is beautiful, with miles of quiet walks. You could not ask for a lovelier Auvergne holiday retreat.
Unfortunately the gite itself was a great disappointment. It seems that the owner is still in the process of renovating it and when he has finished it will probably be excellent. At the moment, however, it is not in a condition where it should be rented out. New electric wiring has not been finished. Bare wires with a bulb at the end hang from the centre of every room, whilst none of the wall plugs and switches in the kitchen have been finished with the usual protective covering.. The stairs to the first floor have no bannister, nor a handrail of any sort, and that is potentially dangerous as it is a flight of about fifteen steps.
The stairs to the top floor where the double bedrooms are located, are extremely steep and narrow. We are reasonably fit but chose not to use that floor at all, instead sleeping on the metal bed and the settee on the floor below (which is permitted).
Overall the gite is clean but definitely scruffy. The understairs cupboard housing a toilet is a black hole choked with countless house-cleaning and building materials. A cupboard under the kitchen sink is cluttered with more half-used cleaning materials, whilst both the kitchen and the bathroom sinks had a pile of grubby old sponges. The kitchen walls are half-way painted. Most drawers and shelves are cluttered with an over-abundance of utensils and other equipment. To sum up, the gite remains an unfinished DIY project.
We should state that all the kitchen electric equiment (washing machine, dish washer, toaster, kettle etc) is very new and works well. Parking on the grass below the gite is easy.
We wish the owner success with his renovations, but feel that until they are all safely finished he might hesitate to rent out his property.
Bridget C.
Stayed 7 nights in Sep 2018