Les Limornieres - Saule

This is a really 'chilled out' location. You can easily spend lazy days at the Gite, relaxing in the garden. Great fun for little ones. Very quiet location. Masses of toys, books, DVDs and outdoor toys. We loved it. The owners are on site, and pass by occasionally for a friendly chat, but are far from intrusive, makes for perfect holiday.

We; me, my husband and our 6-year-old daughter, stayed in Saule gite for 7 nights in July. We arrived on a Sunday evening and really appreciated the welcome pack of food left in the fridge for us; cafetiere coffee, proper milk (not UHT!) eggs from the resident chickens, peaches, tomatoes, wine. The garden is very large and beautiful; chickens, herbs, flowers, vegetables, lots of green lawn for playing, swings, trampoline. And a very cute kitten! The setting is so quiet, surrounded by farmland, but a 5 min drive to the village which has a boulangerie, post office, bookshop/newsagents, little supermarket, butcher and weekly market, church, restaurants, bars, plus a fantastic prehistoric museum which has an interactive festival annually. Really helpful info folder in the gite with advice on local produce, places to see etc. We visited Loches, medieval town, a chateau (many chateaux in this region) open air pool in Descartes. Nicole and Alex are lovely, and always helpful. The gite is well equipped with dvd player and dvds for kids and adults if it rains, loads of kids' books and indoor toys. A barn full of outdoor toys including bikes, dressing up box, boules, pogo stick, frisbee, balls. Rest days in the gite and garden were lovely. Well equipped kitchen with full sized dishwasher and plenty of tea towels provided. Weather was very warm yet the gite stayed cool and dark enough for my daughter to sleep at 7pm with the blackout blinds on the windows. Lovely private outdoor eating area. Also a large dining table in a communal area. It would be great fun to rent all 3 gites with friends and/ or family and use this area for suppers. We will be back!

We really enjoyed our stay and the boys had plenty to do. Great welcome and hospitality.

Lovely, romantic getaway from the hustle and bustle of London. Situated in a location where you can hide away or explore to your hearts content. Kids loved it!

Everything that you could want for your baby or toddler is provided for here - just bring things you need for the journey and pack light! Superb child-friendly environment - the smallholding itself has chickens, flowers and interest a-plenty as well as all the toys, and the farms around are also a source of wonder to smaller children. Hosts Nicole and Alex are supremely helpful and their suggested itineraries, along with the wealth of information about local sites and attractions provided in the gites, can really help you make the most of even a short break.

This was the first time time we used a baby friendly property and we would definitely repeat the experience. We have been on holiday with our toddler before but this was the first occasion that my husband and I felt like we'd had a holiday. Nicole and Alex were so welcoming and had thought of everything. Loads of age appropriate toys and some great suggestions of places to visit. I especially enjoyed Nicole's home cooked meals, just delicious and a real treat not to cook.

We were really impressed with how easy Alex and Nicole have made it to get away as a family for a holiday. Everything we needed for our one year old had been thought of. The site is beautiful and the location is a great base from which to begin exploring the surrounding villages and chateaux.

Very nice spot - helpful and friendly owners, beautiful garden, very relaxing location.

great place, owners lovely..and fab food if you dont feel like cooking ..even better a cosy little bar on site.... happy days!

Excellent accomodation in a superb location. Very baby friendly for our toddler (2,5years) and baby (11months) whilst being adult friendly too. Highly recommend. Superb hosts.

My husband and I and our 4 year old daughter have just returned from an idyllic stay in Chêne cottage, les Limornières. I cannot praise Nicole and Alex enough for the wonderful setting they have created and their warm hospitality, les Limornières is simply magical and Chêne cottage was just perfect for us. On arrival Nicole and Alex had provided us with bread and cheeses, red wine, milk, jam, eggs; they were even thoughtful enough to drop over a bottle of fizzy for my husband's birthday. There were toys, books and DVD's in abundance for our little girl within the cottage and she has come home requesting new 'heart' bed linen just like she had at the gîte. Outside, where she spent most of her time, the grounds are large and great to run around, ride a bike or space hopper between the chickens, vegetable patches, swings, slide and trampoline. There are a few farms around that you can walk to to buy fresh dairy produce; Les Limornières is situated up on a flat plain and is so rural we saw perhaps two cars or a tractor a day, because of this ideal positioning our daughter could take her scooter and scoot safely off ahead each day as my husband and I took a walk, you could easily see or hear any traffic approaching, but as said, there really wasn't any. In the evenings my husband and I could happily sit and finish our supper whilst our daughter went off to play in the play barn lit with twinkling fairy lights; we would have to literally carry her off to bed most nights.

Les Limornières is within an easy 30 min -1 hour's drive of most of the major Loire chateâus, this visit we went to Château du Rivau and Villandry, both perfect for a little girl who dreams of becoming a warrior princess. We also paid a visit to the Château and museum in Le Grand Pressigny, again our daughter loved it and the views of the surrounding countryside are breathtaking. Sunday there's a good farmer's market in Descartes and Thursday a smaller market in Le Grand Pressigny. We also enjoyed a great Sunday lunch at the hotel in Le Grand Pressigny and are looking forward to trying 'Grand Ma's' next visit. More great lunches were to be had at La Giraudière in Villandry, and Les Gueules Noires in Vouvray, which was followed by some tasting and purchasing of some great Vouvray wines.

We recently spent a week in Saule cottage - Les Limonieres and would recommend it to anybody. The setting is gorgeous, the accommodation superb and the Crawfords were the perfect hosts, always going that extra mile to make sure we had everything we needed.

In terms of travelling with a young child it was about as stress free as it could have been. This was due to the fact that the cottage was so well equipped and stocked with all manner of age appropriate toys/books etc. This, coupled with the play barn, swings, slide, trampoline, chickens and ample space meant that there was never a dull moment for our little girl (18 months old). Amelie and Isabella were fantastic playmates too and made Eve's first holiday one to remember. Thank you!

We have just had a long weekend at ChezANIA, Les Limornieres, and we have come back feeling refreshed and relaxed. With so many self catering holidays or breaks for mum it feels like the same old routine just somewhere different.... This is where Nicole and Alex make a difference. All the details are thought out, including a wonderful welcome of snacks, cheese and wine on your arrival (seriously who has family and friends that even do that for you?!) to toys, dvd's, games, books, bedding, cutlery, high chair etc etc for our daughter. Mums, I highly recommend you opt for the great value menu option that Nicole does - without so much as lifting a teaspoon - et viola - there was a delicious three course home made dinner complete with cheese and bottle of wine.... heaven! The gite is spotlessly clean, the environment, gardens and play areas are just right and perfectly safe. The gite itself is a cosy, large one bedroomed cottage with a lovely woodburner in the centre, it was toasty warm (on a bitterly cold winters weekend) and all the creature comforts are catered for (including Sky TV and lovely hot showers) and has ample space for two adults and a toddler and baby. On a personal note, you cannot help but be impressed with this family at their quiet determination, passion and care they have for this business. It shows, I cannot recommend it enough and we cant wait to go back!
Guest Rated 'Outstanding' for baby friendliness, and customer care and 'Excellent' for location and interiors.

A great place to stay with small children, ours loved everything from feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs, to bouncing on the trampoline, swinging on the swings, playing in the sandpit and riding on the (toy) tractor. They EVEN ate the meals that Nicole made for us - what more can you ask for?

We had a fantastic time and could not find fault with either the accommodation or the property owners, Nicole and Alex. It was more like staying with friends as I had exchanged several emails with Nicole before our arrival.The Crawford's have 2 children themselves and so they are used to kids running around their property making lots of noise. There were lots on indoor and outdoor toys for our son to play with, not forgetting their two girls who are absolutely lovely, a true credit to their parents. We would certainly consider returning here for a holiday and would recommend this accomadation as somewhere you can actually relax with children!

We had a lovely time at Les Limornieres...the Crawfords are lovely people. They had thoughtfully left a box of age-appropriate toys and books and Nicole changed them midway through our stay, which thrilled our daughter who also loved petting the friendly cat, watching the chickens, riding on a child-sized toy tractor, jumping on the trampoline, swinging on the swings and romping around the enclosed grassy courtyard. Les Limornieres is located in a lovely area within a gentle hour's drive of several of the most-visited Loire/Cher/Vienne/Indre chateaux. But just visiting the local markets and poking around smaller villages is also very interesting. We can't wait to go back!