How many people can we accommodate?
The maximum capacity of Le Colombier (house) is 4 pesons (2 couples). We also have two smaller apartments next door: 'The Sentinel' is a duplex for 2 persons and the 'Refuge of the Imp', a studio for 1 couple. The duplex and the studio can be rented together for a party of 4. How can I see the availabilities?
The best way to see the availabilities is to choose one of the apartments (see right column on home page) and from there you will see the calendars (up to date). Select dates and the system will return the best rate available according to the period of the year and the length of the stay you selected. Continue to see the total costs. Then, you can make a booking request. How can I see the costs?
Kindly use our online system and follow step by step what is explained on the website: select the offer, select your dates and the system will come up with the best offer considering the length of stay and period of the year. About stairs and levels...
Our apartments are in two medieval houses, part of the French National Heritage. We had therefore to keep intact the original structure with its 3 different levels. For Le Colombier house we have the following levels: 1. At street level we have the entrance + 1 double bed room with bath room en suite. 2. First floor: living space including kitchen, dining room and lounge. 3. Roof level : 1 double bed room with bath room en suite.
For the 'Sentinel' duplex: lounge and kitchen are on the first floor (part of the medieval defence walkway where the guards were watching out of the ramparts for enemies or bandits). Roof level : 1 double bed room with bath room en suite (shower + bath). This apartment is accessible by the same staircase used in the former centuries to reach the covered defence walkway. Please note that, although the staircases are fully practicable, our apartments are unfortunately not suitable for people having mobility problems or very big people.
The studio 'Refuge of the Imp' is at street level. What about parking?
A genuine medieval city is not very well adapted to modern cars as everybody can imagine. But this will add charm and romance to your stay and make it unique. It is possible to drive to the house and unload the luggage. After that, it is necessary to park the car on the public parking 100 meters away. There are plenty of parking places (some of them are free of charge) around the medieval city but no place is specially reserved for us. Recently we made an agreement with the owner of parking places inside the old city of Riquewihr. An optional secluded parking facility is now available when you make an online booking. About heating in Winter
In fact the concern is not the heating itself but the behavior some of our guests might have. In most of the places for rent during the Winter, heating is not included and comes on top of the rental amount. We have chosen - for the comfort of our guests - to include "reasonable heating". This can be a big risk for us since not all people have a reasonable notion of heating and cost management, especially nowadays when energy is getting so expensive. Some people will push the temperature up to 25°C while being only with a T-shirt. Such a behavior does not have the same impact on costs as leaving the temperature on 21°C and wearing a sweater.
We also found out that some people go out for the whole day and leave the heating at full power! One day we found the value of the air conditionning of Le Colombier apartment switched to 31°C after the people departed... We have invested a lot of efforts and money in the restoration of that places in order to offer some of the nicest places available in Alsace at a very reasonable rental rate. We wish to maintain that level of rates as low as possible. To achieve that we need to make sure that our guests understand this correctly, share and agree with our approach and behave accordingly. About children
One well behaved child over 10 years old can sleep on the sofa bed in Le Colombier and the Sentinel and is welcome under the full responsability of the parents. A credit card print is requested upon arrival to cover damages if any. No extra person possible in the studio. How big is the city?
There are only 1200 inhabitants in Riquewihr, but an incredible number of places to visit, restaurants and coffee shops and places where to eat cakes or taste great wines! Riquewihr is indeed one of the most beautiful villages in France, it is not only a slogan. Some 12 kilometres away only (10-15 minutes) is the town of Colmar (approx 90 000 inhabitants) where you will even find more boutiques and all kinds of lovely things to eat or to buy... ______________________________________________________________________
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about the Sales Conditions 1. Question - Why have such a long and precise Sales and Conditions page? 1. Answer - Having the conditions on our site is mandatory by law. If you came accross sites or places without this, it only means that they are not complying with French and European rules and regulations. A lot of people offering accommodation are not always aware of the legal aspects. If a problem occurs, they will be in trouble and will put their guests into trouble. The content of our sales conditions is what is provided by the French administration and professional organizations. We did not write them ourselves. This is explained in the first paragraph. When a tourist is renting an apartment or a house, his legal status is not different from a family or anyone renting a furnished flat for any other personal reason. The main philosophy is very simple and easy to understand: the renter must take good care of what he rents. 2. Question - What is "taking good care"? 2. Answer - The answer is very simple: not being careless! Let us take some examples: breaking a glass can happen to anybody. Unless it is thrown against the wall in a moment of anger, it is an accident. During more than 3 years of activity at Le Clos de la Rose (our Bed and Breakfast near the Champagne vineyards), we had to change maybe 5 glasses. We never asked anybody for a single penny because of a glass. And we never had any other damage but a fireplace window shield broken by accident (fire was mishandled). The client's insurance paid for it.
But a renter thinking that because he is paying a rent entitles him to be unbehaved should be charged for the damages. A renter having his black shoes shining with some costly bath towel should be given the towel to take home and be charged for it. A renter not caring for removing his shoes full of mud when he comes back from a walk and crossing the house and the sleeping room carpet with them is an unbehaved person and should be charged for the extra cleaning. All this has more to do with behaving and education than with real risk. 3. Question - In the sales conditions it states "the tenant promises to take out insurance against tenancy risks" and below it states "the landlord promises to insure the accommodation against tenancy risks on the tenants behalf". Does that mean I do not have to take out the insurance? 3. Answer - It is mandatory to have a personal insurance here around. Most of the personal insurances cover the risks when travelling and renting another place for a short period of time. But since in some countries it is not mandatory to have a personal insurance, we are obliged to mention this and make sure the traveller takes this into consideration. As an owner we have an insurance for majors risks. But this does not cover the damages our guests might create. Kindly check with your personal / home insurance if unsure. 4. Question - The sales conditions state that the credit card print taken as a security deposit will be valid for a 1 month period after departure of the traveller. I would have thought it would be cancelled when we leave, if we left the place as we found it? 4. Answer - The reason is very simple to understand: it is impossible to inspect in detail the place when people leave. Most of the problems are often discovered much later. Take our Le Colombier house in Riquewihr. It is quite large and full of antiques and a lot of sophisticated equipment. Some of them are used only from time to time. Other owners say such a problem is sometimes discovered by the following guest only and not by the house maid. Should a place remain empty for a week or 2, you see that a month delay comes to reality even if it is not always the case. 5. About our cancellation policy-As for most of online sales / bookings, deposits paid to us are not refundable. Why? 5. Answer- Everybody will understand that a hotel with 50 rooms can be quite flexible because a cancellation has a limited effect on them. Since we have only 3 apartments, we cannot take the risk of blocking them, turn down a lot of requests and end up with somebody who changes his mind when the stay gets nearer. The policy we are applying is widely applied for holiday rentals all over the world. We understand that the traveller might face some unforseen circumstances. Therefore we strongly recommend you take a cancellation insurance.
Rmk: If you pay your deposit / stay with some credit cards like a Visa Premier or Mastercard Gold, your credit card is usually offering you a free cancellation insurance. Check with your credit card company. Anyway, a cancellation insurance can be obtained from most of the banks and is rather cheap. Should you have any other question, do not hesitate to ask. |
