Bastide des Lauves

We were 15 people and everyone was very happy with the stay. The house was clean, spacious, and fully equipped, with a beautifully maintained garden. The owner was flexible about arrival and departure times, and his parents were lovely and welcoming. It’s just 10 minutes from the center of Aix-en-Provence. Thanks so much for everything, hope to see you again soon!

This place is absolutely not luxurious. It’s dirty, old, and poorly maintained. The pool was neglected and dirty, and smelled like mud. Lots of things were broken or very worn, including the kitchen, bathrooms, and dishes, and the walls were stained.

The grounds were lovely, with a magnificent pool and a very well-kept garden, but the house itself was nowhere near the standard we expected. It has a lot of potential, but we can’t recommend renting it. When we arrived, the cleanliness was questionable, with dirt on the walls and cobwebs. Furniture was damaged, including broken doors, cracked drawers, and worn lounge chairs. There was very little equipment, just one refrigerator and hardly any crockery, and no ventilation. During the heatwave, the owners wouldn’t provide fans, saying, “We’re hot too, and anyway, the temperature will drop.” They seemed to be doing the bare minimum. The Wi-Fi was unreliable and there was no sound system for music. They prioritize cutting costs and use only one cleaner for the whole house, so we didn’t get access until 7:30 pm instead of 6:00 pm.

We paid €1,000 a night, and it was a complete joke. We booked directly for 12 people, signed the contract, paid, and exchanged texts that day to confirm our agreed 6 p.m. arrival. But the house wasn’t ready. Jean-Christian called it “a communication problem,” but to me it looked like someone mismanaging reservations and making his parents do the cleaning. The rooms weren’t ready until 11:30 p.m., and it took 24 hours for the house to warm up. The bedrooms were 13°C the first night. I felt sorry for Jean-Christian’s parents, who struggled to get the house ready and refused our help, clearly uncomfortable with their son’s poor management. They told us, “Eat in peace, we’ll take care of it.” The exterior rooms were damp, with blistering paint. It was dirty, the oven and WiFi didn’t work, and the dishwasher door was broken. The living room cabinet door was also broken and fell on us when we were looking for towels. The barbecue hadn’t been cleaned either.