The Buisson family
The Languedoc-Roussillon is a region in Southern France and has five departments. Owners Louise and Franck set up home in the ‘department’ Pyrenees-Orientales and transformed an old derelict house into four child-friendly holiday apartments. Here is their story…
Myself, Louise, English came to France for university and never went back to the UK. Married Franck, French from the Ardèche region, and we have 2 boys aged 8 & 6.
Why did you decide to start your own holiday accommodation business?
We wanted to live in a nice environment for us and our family. found a very large property and it was a good way of being able to afford to have a bit more space around us than the norm !!
What was the toughest part about setting it up?
The tremendous amount of work we had to do to the very un-looked after property. then the week after we bought the house there was a huge snow storm, which like never happens here, and there was so much snow we could’nt access the house, Fallen trees everywhere etc. !! We couldn’t really afford all of the work so were using our customers holiday deposits to pay for the builders – the work had to be finished on time as we couldn’t even reimburse the paid holidays, and was a very stressful experience !!
Rural child-friendly holidays
And what was the most memorable/enjoyable?
Our children have the best play ground ever, and when we organise birthday parties the kids just have so much fun its brilliant !
The woodland play area
The gardens are fabulous for play
What couldn’t you live without and why?
The tranquillity and the beautiful setting, I could now never go back and live in a city, you get used to the countryside very quickly.
Resident donkeys
What does your average working day involve?
Organising the children, making breakfasts for the b&b clients, cleaning rooms & gîtes, taking réservations.
What advice would you give to families wanting to holiday with you and why is your place so special?
Bring a couple of good books, plenty of suntan lotion and be prepared to unwind. Its the perfect setting for a family Holiday, the children will love it and when its easy to entertain the children, your own Holiday becomes so much more relaxing!
The ponies are always popular!
If you could pick just two attractions/places to visit in your area what would they be?
Collioure for its beautiful architecture and little quaint Streets full of artists studios. The lake at ST Jean Pla des Corts where there is so much to do for everyone, in a beautiful setting – tree climbing, bouncy castles in the water, swimming in the lake, feeding the ducks, a great little restaurant ….
Collioure
Is there anything you would like to highlight that might be interesting to families with babies/toddlers/young children who are thinking of staying with you?
We obviously have all the baby equipment you will need so less luggage needed. The pool is heated at 30° from mid-march until mid-novembre so even for tinies its perfect, and lots of children have learnt to swim in our pool.
Pool view and distant sea view from one of the apartments
In one sentence can you explain what life is like where you live?
Perfect !
Louise and Franck also have two holiday homes in the centre of Argeles sur Mer they own so if you are looking for a rural child-friendly holiday or want to be in the centre of it all they have both!
You can see all of their holiday homes here and they are all suitable for families looking for a holiday with babies, toddlers and young children. All Holiday Tots families get free linen, cots, high chairs and end of stay clean!
