Venta la Aurora

The setting around Venta L'Aurora is beautiful. Step outside and you're right by the Ponga River and forest, with the Ventaniella chapel and pass nearby. We spent nine days there and found the house excellent, especially how clean it was. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a spacious, pleasant kitchen-living room, plus a large meadow to take in the scenery. The owner is lovely and attentive, and there's laundry service, games, and entertainment. Highly recommended!

I never stayed at the house, so I can't review it. Once we saw the access road, which we hadn't been told about until we arrived, we decided we couldn't spend a week there. It's terrible, with 4km of deep potholes on a very narrow road, so make sure your vehicle is in really bad shape. If you're planning to stay there the whole time and only make the trip up and down once, it could be fine. But exploring the area means losing more time driving back and forth.

The surroundings are spectacular and the house itself is very nice, but there's a lot to know before booking. It's only a small part of the building shown in the photos. Much of the furniture is old and very worn, like pieces someone got rid of after replacing their own. There's no washing machine, microwave, TV, cell signal, internet, or landline, so you're completely cut off. For phone service, you have to drive to Sobrefoz, 4 kilometers along a potholed "road." There are no outdoor lights, so you can't really stay outside late. Entertainment indoors is limited. There are a few books, but the kids' toys are incomplete, and for games there's only part of a Parcheesi board and a jumble of cards. The kitchen utensils could also be cleaner.

For the price, it has what you'd expect and is fine for a weekend away, with spectacular views. The difficult part is getting there, up a steep, unpaved road, and there's little cell coverage. The rural WiFi only helps sometimes, since it cuts in and out.