France - Alsace
Villa Rosa
A Karen Brown Recommended B & B
Host: Anne Rose Denis |
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Karen's Review Of This Property:
The Villa Rosa is a wonderful old family home, located in a forested region of Alsace, in the hills above Colmar, offering eight rooms for overnight guests. You will be charmed by the owners whose dedication, gracious hospitality and artistic talents (evident both in the kitchen and in the garden), make this a very special place to stay. The inn is a mélange of artistic and whimsical—a theme staged by the two yellow-painted bikes set by the driveway as if ready to take off for a country picnic. The guestroom decor, while always simple, includes some distinctive touches: teddy bears are often nestled on the beds, and many are adorned with lovely Alsatian stenciling, very Bavarian in appearance. The rooms can only be described as intimate in size and many are up some very narrow, steep stairs or almost ladders (although a few are also accessible by outside entrances)—definitely pack light if you plan to stay here. While rooms vary dramatically, they are all clean and all are named for the rose featured in the print that hangs on their wall. Ask to see the book that shows the Villa Rosa, a rose created and named for the inn! Please note there is a strict non-smoking policy in the guestrooms and the dining room—the guest salon is the one smoking area in the house. We agree with our readers—it is the owners, Francis and Anne Rose who make the Villa Rosa so special.
Located along this Karen Brown Itinerary:
Wine Country - Alsace
Credit Cards Welcome: VISA MC
8 Rooms, Double Occupancy: €60.00 - €65.00*
1 Cottage: €80 daily, €400 weekly*
*Breakfast not included: €8–€10
Table d’hôte: €25
Open: all year
Phone: 03.89.49.81.19 Fax: 03.89.78.90.45
8 Rooms, Double Occupancy: €60.00 - €65.00*
1 Cottage: €80 daily, €400 weekly*
*Breakfast not included: €8–€10
Table d’hôte: €25
Open: all year
Phone: 03.89.49.81.19 Fax: 03.89.78.90.45
Directions: Located 12 km east of Colmar following the D11.
| Combined User Ratings: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating: 1 |
Quality Rating: 1 |
Welcome Rating: 1 |
Charm Rating: 1 |
Traveler Reviews:
(show / hide)
We are at a loss about the recommendation for this establishment. We had no welcome, the owner was hostile towards our children, the pool and surroundings were dirty (our entire family had welts on our body after using the pool), and we were locked INTO the hotel late at night (we tried to exit to get to our car to obtain some medicine in a first aid kit for our children’s pool rashes) and NONE of the exits opened -- you needed a key (and none of ours worked to the main front door exit) -- we had to bang on the front door to get the owner to show up -- it was frightening and a fire hazard. This hotel was many miles to civilization through a series of hairpain turns and switchbacks on a mountain road. During our 30 days in France, most of the time using wonderful Karen Brown recommended B&B’s (see our other reviews) that were wonderful -- this was, well to put it politely, a dump. I can only think (after observing Madame Denis’ overly fawning behavior towards departing French guests the next morning - she knew we were unhappy and that we were trying to pay her/check out a day earlier than anticipated and she had the gall to charge us full price plus a tax etc...) that the only reason she is in the Karen Brown guide is that she knows how to play up to travel book writers and people that agree to eat at her restuarant. (An old greasy dog that failed to move out of the hallways as we hauled our luggage in by ourselves combined with a cursory look inside the kitchen made us think twice). There are stacks and stacks of old papers and notebooks in alcoves on the second floor. I WILL NOTE that the guest book entries in our room were ENTIRELY in French -- not ONE entry in English. I speak fluent French so I know what I saw and observed.. a phony at her best. Good luck to anyone who stays here, esp. with children and the serious threat of a fire hazard -- anyone with kids or elderly should IN PARTICULAR not stay here. We are sending a copy of this review as written to the local health and housing authorities in the appropriate district so that no one experiences what we did. I also hope that Karen Brown guides will publish this review instead of burying it due to its ’negative’ tone -- to do otherwise would be remiss and unfair to the spirit of her loyal following. As I stated earlier, this is our first negative experience in our 15 years of using Karen Brown. For the safety and wellbeing of the readers, I hope that this review will not be taken lightly and will save other travellers from our experience. I repeat -- this hotel is a fire trap. No escape plan is posted in the room, the doors are locked from the interior, and the hallways are dark at night with steep narrow unlit staircases. In summation, Madame Denis should be ashamed of herself.
-- Katherine Miles (July 8, 2008)
| Overall Rating: 1 |
Quality Rating: 1 |
Welcome Rating: 1 |
Charm Rating: 1 |
PROPERTY RESPONSE:
Concerning this comment, we would like to react. The guests say they had no welcome. They arrive the 22th of july and it was Emilie who welcomed them. If they hadn’t welcomed, they didn’t had the room. Now, it depends on what they want to say by ’welcome’. After that, they think that the owner was hostile towards their children. They don’t explained that their children played with a landing net. So my director arrived and told them ’it’s not a toy’ but without being hostile. More over, they had remove the net and they would have been able to injure themselves. So, Anne Rose did this for them. Concerning the pool and surroundings, it’s an exterior swimming pool near trees. So the leaf should be in the pool. That’s why we put a landing net to remove them. I don’t think it’s the pool which did welts on their body because we are in the standards and an outside company checks regularly the swimming pool. Concerning that the guests were locked into the hotel, there are doors which are open all the day and the night. Mme Denis waited them until 23h15 and at 23h30 she locked the door because it’s a 2 star hotel not open 24 hours/24. In the room, there is the map of the hotel with the exit, so the guests just had to look at the plan to go out. But instead of it, they yelled, Striked in windows, slamed shutters and they waked up all the guests of the hotel. More over, the exit are lit the night and the key opens the door but only the good door. We are also in the standards concerning the security. I don’t understand why they say that the hotel is at many miles of civilization. It’s located in a little village, but not in the fine bottom of the mountain. The hotel overlooks the Vosges, it has a splendid view. I don’t understand why they have choose our hotel if they don’t like the mountain! The hotel is not a dump, it’s a familiar hotel, not a four star hotel. I think this guests are very demanding and nothing can please them. It’s very hard to say that the hotel is a dump. It’s intolerable. The hotel is in the guide Michelin ant the guide du routard. So, if it was a dump, it would not in this guides and it wouldn’t be certified by the green key. The guests say that Mme Denis thanks too much french guests but they are repeat guests and friends. It is necessary to know what takes place before being able to judge. Concerning their depart, the guests didn’t pay the local tax which is a legal obligation. We can’t do anything for that. This clients were very demanding, they called 4 times and always we were patient with them. We informed them about all that they asked for with a lot of kindness. Concerning the dog, Noée, it has 12 years old. So you can understand that it’s difficult to it to move. In the website, it is clarified that there are 2 dogs in the hotel. Guests understand that very well. The papers in the alcoves it’s called a library. I don’t see in what it is disturbing that there is a library with a lot of books. The guest book is a real book. We do not enjoy writing in the book. All the book isn’t in french. There are also german and english writers in this book. The customers didn’t look at all the book. Concerning the local health and the authorities, we are not worried. I (Ophélia) would like to say that it’s intolerable to be so much angry and nasty towards the hotel. When I see this comment, I tell me it’s not possible, they exagerate. I go into the pool and I have no welts. I think this guests are very demanding and a familiar hotel doesn’t correspond to their needs. I hope the other guests of this guide are not as them. We don’t understand this type of person who think that they are the best and criticize all.
-- Ophélia, trainee and Anne Rose, owner (July 8, 2008)
1. Be forewarned that the twisting turning road to Trois Epis is known for its challenge to Porsche drivers like myself. If you are in the region for the wines or you are elderly, please take a moment to reconsider. Look at a map with elevation gradations and you’ll see for yourself. On a clear dry day, not bad - at night or the rain - look out. The doors are locked from the outside at night. You cannot leave. There is no way out. In case of fire and if you decide to stay, make an escape plan - smoke is not conducive to clear thinking. If you have children, think twice carefully. I have never stayed anywhere where this is done. In the US it’s against the law for a hotel or a guest house to do so. Perhaps this review will get the hotel to make an adjustment or provide safe egress. The mats on the broken chaise lounge chairs by the pool are old and stained. That may or may not be important to you. If you want to use the sauna, you need to pay 6-8 euros. Otherwise they’ll just turn it off and you can read the guide afterwards to figure out what went wrong. Now you know. The hotel is on a main drag. The town itself is up and behind the hotel so if you want to be in Trois Epis, stay elsewhere. For dinner, nothing beats Turkheim and at 10 pm - there is a nightwatchman who goes through the town singing ’all is well’ (in French)with a crowd of people behind him. Kids went nuts. L’Homme Savage for dinner BTW. We’ve used KB guides in Italy, GB&Scotland(3x), Switzerland, France(3x), Germany - never a disappointment in 18 years. Remember - One bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch. This one has a worm though.
-- Anonymous (August 12, 2008)
| Overall Rating: 1 |
Quality Rating: 1 |
Welcome Rating: 1 |
Charm Rating: 1 |
PROPERTY RESPONSE:
1. I don’t understand why people complain about the road of Trois Epis which is located in a mountain so it’s normal if there are bends. Trois Epis isn’t in the road of the wines, it’s a health resort, not a vineyard. 2. The doors are locked during the night but guests have the key to open the door. Is it too difficult to understand that a small hotel isn’t opened 24/24? In the room, there is a book with indication which show to the guests how they can go out. 3. In the room, the same book shows the emergency exits and there is a plan. Guests have to acquaint with this document which is in the book. The hotel is in the standards, the French standards not the American standards. 4. The lounge chairs are not broken because there are new. In every guides, it’s specified that the sauna is charged 6 euros, I don’t understand what is the problem. We are a 2-star hotel and in France, it’s rare to find a 2-star hotel with a sauna. Why all would be free? 5. The hotel is located in Trois Epis but not in the town center. More over, Trois Epis isn’t a town but a village where there is few storekeepers. I don’t understand also this remark. This guest complains more about the town than the hotel. We can’t do anything for the village. And, finally, it’s not our fault is there’s only one restaurant and 3 hotels in Trois Epis. Turckheim is a typical village, not Trois Epis. You can understand that Turckheim is more attractive than Trois Epis.
-- Ophélia, trainee and Anne Rose, owner (August 12, 2008)
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