Countryside homes with a pool
Six houses, six pools, never the same one twice. Two indoor pools heated all year round, a third under a veranda, a large 5x11 metre pool in the middle of a park, a walled village pool near the Royan beaches, and a small heated pool that becomes a jacuzzi once winter arrives. Rather than lining up adjectives, this page gives you, for each house, what listings too often forget: opening dates, water temperature, and the pool's setting.
Champrond-en-Gâtine, Eure-et-Loir
Champrond-en-Gâtine
From €828.00 / night
from €55.20 per person per night, at 15 guests
La Chapelle-Hareng, Eure
La Chapelle-Hareng
From €840.00 / night
from €56.00 per person per night, at 15 guests
Le Plessis-Placy, Seine-et-Marne
Le Plessis-Placy
From €1,164.00 / night
from €48.50 per person per night, at 24 guests
Montereau, Centre-Val de Loire
Montereau
From €888.00 / night
from €55.50 per person per night, at 16 guests
Saint-Amarin, Grand Est
Saint-Amarin
From €936.00 / night
from €62.40 per person per night, at 15 guests
Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan
From €870.00 / night
from €62.14 per person per night, at 14 guests
Holiday home with a heated pool: real dates and temperatures
A "heated" pool with no figure and no calendar tells you nothing. Here are ours. At Saint-Amarin, the indoor pool stays at 28°C all year round, counter-current swimming included. At Champrond-en-Gâtine and at La Chapelle-Hareng, the indoor pools are heated and usable all year. At Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, the water is guaranteed at 25°C minimum from April to October. At Montereau, the large heated pool opens from late April to early October depending on the weather, with safety fencing. At Le Plessis-Placy, the 3x2 metre outdoor pool, heated as well, serves as a large jacuzzi through the winter. If your dates fall out of season, the indoor pools are your best options.
A holiday home with a private pool, all yours
A private pool is, first of all, everything it spares you: no opening hours, no sun loungers to watch for, no strangers in the water. With children, it is also a responsibility, and the safety equipment varies from house to house: a rolling safety cover on the pool at Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, fencing around the one at Montereau, a fully enclosed garden at Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan as at La Chapelle-Hareng. Every house also has a play area: the children get out of the water without leaving the garden.
Villa with a pool: indoor or outdoor?
It all depends on the season and on what your group expects from the pool. For a July stay, outdoor wins: 55 square metres of water at Montereau, the park all around, or the pool at Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan with its adjoining summer kitchen and the Royan beaches fifteen minutes away. From October to March, only an indoor pool will do: under the Norman veranda at La Chapelle-Hareng, within the walls of the farmhouse at Champrond-en-Gâtine, or at Saint-Amarin, where you swim facing the mountains. Regular swimmers will remember Saint-Amarin's counter-current lane; large families, the dimensions of the pool at Montereau. There is no wrong choice, only pools designed for different stays.
Your questions before you book
Which pools are open in November or February?
Four out of six. The indoor pools at Champrond-en-Gâtine, La Chapelle-Hareng and Saint-Amarin are heated twelve months a year, and at Le Plessis-Placy the 3 x 2 metre stainless-steel pool is heated harder in winter to become a large hot bath, with submerged benches that seat eight. The pool at Montereau is closed from early October to late April, and the one at Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan is only guaranteed heated from April to October.
How warm is the water?
Between 25 and 28°C depending on the house and the season, which is the range pool professionals recommend: warm enough for children to stay in, cool enough for a real swim. Saint-Amarin keeps its indoor pool at 28°C all year and Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan guarantees a minimum of 25°C from April to October; the other four pools sit between those two figures. Indoors, the temperature does not depend on the weather; outdoors, at Montereau and Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, the heating follows the opening season. The winter hot bath at Le Plessis-Placy is heated harder: that is its role, not a pool for swimming lengths.
How big are the pools?
From 3 x 2 metres at Le Plessis-Placy, the smallest, to 5 x 11 metres at Montereau, the largest. In between, Champrond-en-Gâtine lists 6 x 3.50 metres with a depth of 1.60 metres at its deepest point. For La Chapelle-Hareng, Saint-Amarin and Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, we give you the dimensions on request.
Can we swim lengths?
In three houses without hesitation: Saint-Amarin has a counter-current swim, Montereau offers 11 metres of length, and the pool at Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan is built for swimming lengths. Champrond-en-Gâtine is 6 metres long, enough to swim without counting the turns; La Chapelle-Hareng lists no dimensions. Le Plessis-Placy is the one house where you do not swim: its pool is for cooling off in summer and warming up in winter.
Are the pools safe for children?
Two outdoor pools have a safety device listed on the house's page: a rolling cover at Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, where the upstairs also has its safety gate, and fencing around the pool at Montereau. The three indoor pools are reached through the house, and neither they nor the small pool at Le Plessis-Placy have a device listed: with young children, talk to us before you choose.
Is the pool reserved for your group?
Yes, in all six houses: the pool belongs to the house you rent whole, and nobody else enters it during your stay. Champrond-en-Gâtine sits in the heart of its village, with neighbours close by, and its page states that the pool and its terrace are not overlooked.
Can we enjoy the pool on Sunday, the day we leave?
Yes, until 10 pm, in all six houses alike: the late Sunday departure is included. It is a real extra day by the pool: lunch stretching out on the terrace, one last swim for the children, and a house you close at dusk instead of handing back at 10 am.