We were a family of six consisting of grandparents in their 60s, mum and dad in their 30s, and two young children aged four and two and were looking for family friendly accommodatioon in Alsace.
After trawling numerous websites we stumbled upon Pierre et Vacances Le Clos de Eguisheim and it looked ideal - a new development of appartments which opened in 2007 only five minutes walk from the centre of the extremely pretty village of Eguiesheim right in the heart of Alsace wine country.
We discovered that Pierre et Vacances is owned by the same parent company as Center Parcs and having holidayed with the orgnisation before took that as a good recommendation.
We booked a duplex appartment for six people for the week of June 3 to 10.
We arrived at just after 7pm on the Saturday evening and our first impression of the complex was good. It's a cluster of buildings mimicing traditional Alsatian half timbered style in beautifully maintained lawned gardens around an indoor swimming pool and large sunbathing deck.
The English speaking receptionist was charming, and very helpful. When we asked if we could find some where close by to buy milk for the youngest child she explained all the shops were closed at that hour but offered to give my daughter a carton of milk from her own 'fridge and refused to accept payment!
After parking the car in the extensive underground carpark we found our way to our appartment which met our highest expectations. On two floors, it had a large, bright living room with a dining area and tv opening on to a wide balcony with a table and six chairs. There was a very well equipped kitchenette with a dishwasher and a downstairs shower room. Upstairs were two double bedrooms and another bathroom.
Everything was spotlessly clean and welcoming.
After checking out the childrens' bedroom we realised we had forgotten to pre-book a safety rail to attach to the youngest child's bed, so I ran down to reception to ask for one. Within minutes two staff members had delivered one to the appartment.
The children and their parents slept in the two bedrooms, and we, the grandparents slept on a pullout sofa bed in the living room which proved to be fine.
To save on cost we had turned down the offer of a welcome pack of essential food items, so it was good to discover that every morning including Sundays a local baker visits the complex between 8am and 9am and sets up a stall nxt to the reception selling delicious croissants and pastries as well as a selection of traditional French breads. He also has butter, jam, and honey all very competitively priced.
After breakfast on our first day we headed to the indoor swimming pool and were impressed with the cleanliness of the changing rooms and of the whole complex. The pool isn't overly large, but during the week we were there there were never more than a handful of swimmers in it at anyone time.
On the Monday we discovered several large supermarkets within a ten to 15 minute drive on the edge of the nearby picturesque town of Colmar so were able to stock up with essential supplies.
Eating out in Eguisheim is a pleasure. Although nothing more than a large village it has 20 restaurants and we tried three of them, all of which were excellent in their own way although our favourite proved to be the Auberge Alsacienne in the main street, where the ambience, food, and service were superb and the two course menu at 21 Euros was fantastic value. They also did imaginative childrens' meals which our two loved.
All in all we had a very relaxing and enjoyable week at Le Clos de Eguisheim and would be happy to return there.
My only slight reservation in recommending it to others is that there are no lifts so if you have mobility problems or don't want to tackle lifting cases up a couple of flights of stairs it would be best to book a groundfloor appartment.