Family Villa Holiday at Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils in Moliets et Maa

AD Presstrip – We were invited to stay in a 4-bedroom villa at Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own.

The approach to Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils in Moliets et Maa is along a scenic fern-lined road that winds through the tall pines of the Landes forest. The smell of the dry pines and the sound of cicadas chirruping always remind us that we’re in warmer climes, but it was our first sighting of the huge expanse of golden sand of the Cote d’Argent that firmly put us in holiday mode.

After spending 2 weeks in our VW campervan travelling through France in a heatwave, we were extremely grateful for some home comforts of a villa and even more grateful when we saw the private pool at Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils! If you’re not interested in hotel stays (and aren’t into camping), you might consider villa holidays in France to be a great alternative for your family holidays in France.

If you’re looking for French villa holidays in the south-west of France in particular, we can highly recommend Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils in Moliets et Maa and here’s why.

Our private pool at Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils in Moliets

How to find Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils

Villas La Clairière is located in Moliets et Maa, about 80km north of Biarritz. If you are driving south on the A63 / N10 towards Bayonne, you take the Castet exit and carry on along the D142 to Leon and from there the D652 to Moliets. If approaching from the north heading to Bordeaux, exit the N10 at Magesq and take the D16 to Leon and then the D652 to Moliets.

Take the D117 (Avenue de l’Ocean) towards the beach and then follow signs for Golf and Tennis de Moliets and the turn off to the villas is on the left just after the Minigolf.

Arrival at Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils

The villa complex is secure and you will need a code to enter. Check-in time is usually from 5 pm and you will need to let reception know of your arrival time so that they can arrange access. Reception hours are 9 am-12 pm and 3-7 pm.  You will be given a code to access La Clairiére which you will need each time you leave and enter.

You will find reception by keeping to the right and driving up the hill. At reception you will need to wear masks and there is hand sanitiser at the entrance. Only one person is allowed in the reception area at a time. Check-in was quick and easy (and they spoke English). They were very friendly and helpful, providing a map of the local area and answering questions. Keys are sanitised before being handed over.

During the check-in process, you will complete a form indicating what (complimentary) bread and pastries you would like to receive on your first morning. We thought this was a lovely touch.

Reception at Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils

Parking

There is dedicated parking by your villa. There is actually space for a couple of cars in case you are having a large group villa holiday in one of the larger villas.

Parking space at Villas la Clairiere aux Chevreuils

The villas

The villas are pretty well spaced out to give you complete privacy, although if you’re in your garden, you will hear your neighbours splashing about in their pool. There are different sized villas to choose from, ranging from three to four bedrooms and sleeping from 8 to 12 people.

Their decor is all very similar. They are tiled throughout with electric shutters so even in the heat of the midday sun, it remains cool. Each plot is well spaced out with a large back garden and they are separated by fences and hedges. Some of the plots back onto the forest but will still offer complete privacy.

Top tip – if you’re travelling with children, aim for a villa near the entrance so that they don’t have to navigate the steep hill on their bikes. We stayed in villa 408 (4 bedrooms) which was close to the entrance and had a large garden backing onto the forest. It was more spaced apart from neighbouring villas than some of the others in the complex.

This map shows a layout of the villa complex. The entrance is at the bottom right. ‘Accueil’ is reception and the hill from villa no. 401 up to reception is really quite steep, so renting one of the villas between 401 – 414 would mean avoiding the hill.

Map of Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils

Photos of Villa La Clairière aux Chevreuils

Here are just a few photos of the main areas of the 4 bedroom villa to give you a good idea of layout and decor. Our 4 bedroom villa had 2 double bedrooms and 2 twin bedrooms with 3 bathrooms. There was a large open plan communal area with the kitchen and dining area just off it with french doors opening out onto the outdoor dining area and pool.

Villa facilities

Kitchen

There’s an inside dining table that seats 8 and an outdoor dining table that seats 10. There is a fully equipped kitchen with pretty much everything you would need to make any meal, including a large fridge freezer, oven, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer.

There were even small electrical appliances like a coffee maker and a raclette set but we didn’t see a toaster.

Living Room

There is a large flatscreen TV and a Bluetooth speaker and free WiFi. There was a French monopoly set on the coffee table but we didn’t have time for a game with so many outdoor activities to keep us busy.

Bedroom

All bed linen and towels are provided and a thoughtful extra was the individual towelling robes. We were asked the age of the kids when we booked and assume that they guessed the size but they fitted perfectly. They were so useful considering the kids were in and out of the pool so much.

Towelling robes for the family at Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils

Pool area

For us, the pool plays a big part when choosing somewhere to stay. The kids love to have a pool. We all do really and the best Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils has a beautiful pool. In these current times, having a private pool gives an extra sense of safety.

Talking of safety, there is a pool alarm which you have to deactivate before jumping in otherwise the shrill alarm will go off until you enter a code. Despite setting off the alarm accidentally a few times because we had forgotten to deactivate it, it gave us peace of mind that the kids could not get into the pool without our (or our neighbour’s) knowledge!

The pool is about 15 m long and 5 metres wide and about 115cm deep from end to end. There is no shallow end.

During our stay, the pool maintenance team came along and treated the pool in the middle of the day. We couldn’t use it for 45 minutes and were not aware that they were going to come along and do this so this is something you may want to ask reception about. Maybe they can arrange to come around when you are out or at a more suitable time.

The pool at Villas La Clairiere aux Chevreuils

Check out

Check out is at 10 am but be aware that due to extra safety measures in place, you will need to strip the beds of all the linen and place them along with the towels into bin liners. Someone came along at 10 am to give us these, but if you are leaving early, you may want to advise reception the day before.

Useful information

The Moliets et Maa area

The area surrounding the villa is beautiful and definitely worth exploring is you can tear yourself away from the pool. Moliets is located in the largest area of forest in western Europe and is a short drive or bike ride to an enormous golden sandy beach (the Côte d’Argent).

The local town of Moliets is pretty quiet but as you head to the beach, you’ll discover a bustling holiday town with lots of restaurants and surf shops.

Things to do in Moliets

These are the most popular things to do in and around Moliets. For a more complete list of things to do, see the Landes tourism site.

Biking

The area is great for biking. There are loads of cycle paths. There are a few hills and some areas where you need to bike on the road, but for the most part, you follow cycle tracks through the forest or the golf course.

We had our bikes with us so we were able to make the most of the cycle tracks in the surrounding area and we would definitely recommend either bringing bikes or renting them to make the most of the area.

Cycle tracks through Moliets golf course

Golf and Tennis

Moliets golf course is one of the best in the country and is just a stone’s throw from the villa. There are also tennis courts. For more information on golf courses in the area, see the Landes tourism site. If you’re interested in golf or tennis lessons, you can contact the club. You don’t need to be a member to participate.

Moliets et Maa golf course

Beach

The beach (Plage de Moliets) is an enormous stretch of soft golden sand backed by dunes as far as the eye can see and is hugely popular with surfers. The waves weren’t too large for swimming, but there were notices by the beach safety hut warning of rip tides. The beach is patrolled and there is a designated swimming area.

Being the surf capital of France, you may want to give surfing a go. There are lots of surf schools to choose from if you want to give it a try.

Moliets beach

Adrenaline Park

The Adrenaline Park is one of France’s original adventure parks and has activities for kids from 5 years old. There are high ropes, junior quad biking and junior motorbikes (from 6 years) and paintballing (from 8 years).

Places to see near Moliets et Maa

If you feel like venturing a little further afield, we can highly recommend visiting Biarritz which is one hour further south on the coast or the beautiful Basque town of Bayonne. If visiting a plus beaux villages de France (one of the most beautiful villages in France) is something you’d like to do, the nearest one is Bastide La Clairence which is about one hour away.

Booking Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils

For more information on the villas, have a look at the Summer France website: A week’s stay in a three-bedroom prestige villa at Villas la Clairière aux Chevreuils costs from £507 total for up to eight people which is extremely reasonable.

You can also book by contacting Summer France:  0203 475 4756

Finally, if you’re looking for similar accommodation in a different area of France, make sure to check out the Summer France website: www.summerfrance.co.uk because they have a whole range of  family-friendly accommodation across France.

Conclusion – review of Villas La Clairière aux Chevreuils

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the villa. We loved the villa and the pool area so much as it was peaceful and private and after the initial check-in, there was no need to come into contact with anyone. The villa was extremely well appointed and we felt very at home there. The only thing lacking is a BBQ – but understandably this is completely necessary given the unique location.

The area is heavily focused on outdoor activities which suited us perfectly, particularly with the lovely weather and the beach is one of the best beaches we have come across in France. It’s the perfect destination for a family (or a large group) to come and get away from it all and we highly recommend it if you’re looking for French villa holidays for your next holiday.