This one gets a big thumbs up from me! Beautiful house and garden, great views, excellent location, 5 km from historic lakeside town of Banyoles, 20 km to Girona, 35 km to the beaches, and a very low rental rate for what you get: if you are 27 guests it comes to €33 pp/day in high-season, €27 pp/day in mid-season, and only €22 pp/day in the off-season! The house is always impeccably kept and the owners are genuinely kind and caring for their guests.

Location: 2 km from Camós and 5 km to Banyoles (to be exact, the location is just off the kilometer 5 marker on the GIV-5147 road between Paloll de Revartit and Camós), the main thoroughfare here is the C-66 highway that links the coast at Palamós & Palafrugell & Begur, with Girona and the low-Pyrenees going towards Andorra to the northwest. Girona, the Costa Brava´s historic capitol city, is a very fast 10 minutes away on a 3-lane highway. Just behind Can Tapies are the Serra Llonga mountain nature preserve - see my Google Earth photos - and the area is full of nice old stone villages and good restaurants. Camós, the nearest town, is 2 km or 20 minutes walk away, but best shopping is in Banyoles, an important market town since the middle ages, now famous for its gorgeous environmentally protected lake where rowing events were held during the 1992 Olympics. It is worth looking for imagines of this area from your internet searcher. The views in just about any directions are gorgeous. From the elevated hillside position of Can Tapies you have wonderful views from the Pyrenees down to the coastal plain stretching out to the east, and behind the house, a huge private woods on the 15 hectare property backed by parklands. You have nature hikes from your front door, the lake to swim in 5 km away, and hundreds of beaches to choose from starting only 25 km away as the crow flies - due east.

The house: situated just of the GIV-5147, the road is paved to your front door. No off-road driving necessary, the wide driveway leads to the esplanade in front of the house, where there are a couple of outdoor covered sitting/dining areas. The first is a handsome gazebo or kiosk with 4 tables and 24 wicker chairs perched above the pool area, which is set in an olive grove a terrace level below. The panoramic views from here are magnificent comprising of the Pyrenees down east to the coast and most of the coastal plain. The other outdoor sitting/dining area here is under the arches and beside the built-in BBQ (see photo below). The main entrance to the house consists of a series of stone chambers leading to the different apartments, all quite atmospheric and the walls have ancient farm implements on display. From this downstairs hall there is a door leading to the new playroom, where the garage was, and three separate stairways going up into the three different apartments.

Apartment 1, with 5 bedrooms: The largest of these apartments is just up a rather grand flagstone staircase with wrought-iron balustrade opening onto a large banquet hall 80m2 seating about 14, but with a couple of extra planks of wood on tripods this table can seat over 30 guests This is important to keep in mind. At Can Tapies, you have separate dining rooms if you want to eat apart, but you also have 3 options if you want to eat all together. Indoor meals in this 80m2 dining room, on the terrace just outside this dining room, and downstairs outside near the front or back barbecues. Back to Apartment 1, in this same 80m2 space, there is a nice sitting area with several leather sofas and easy chairs, and beyond that large terrace, partly covered, overlooking the driveway and pool areas below. Once again the views are spectacular. There is a separate walk-in kitchen with normal sized refrigerator, dishwasher, and a breakfast table seating 5 px. There is also direct access to another beautiful terrace from the kitchen, with beautiful wooden beams.

• This apartment has 5 en suite bedrooms:
• 
  bedroom 1) very large with one double bed (150x190cm) and two single beds (90x190cm) and private bathroom with bathtub
• bedroom 2) also large with one double bed (150x190cm) and two single beds (90x190cm) and private bathroom with shower
• bedroom 3) with double bed (150x190cm) and private bathroom with shower
• bedroom 4) with double bed (150x190cm) and private bathroom with shower
• bedroom 5) with double bed (150x190cm) and private bathroom with shower

Oh, there is also a very handy WC (with toilet and sink) just off the large salon and dining room, so you (or your guests) don't have to go to your rooms to go.

Apartment 2, 3 bedrooms: is orientated towards the back of the house, and has a large flagstone private terrace with bbq you can see in one of the photos. This flat has a large kitchen/dining/living room with a fireplace and TV and the dining room table here seats 10 guests. The kitchen here has a normal sized fridge and a dishwasher. The 3 bedrooms here are all en suite, with private bathrooms:

• bedroom 6) very large with a double bed (150x190cm) and 2 single beds (90x190cm) and private bathroom with bathtub
• bedroom 7) large with 2 double beds (150x190cm) and bathroom with shower stall
• bedroom 8) large with 2 double beds (135x190cm) and bathroom with shower stall

This apartment also has a very handy WC (with toilet and sink) just off the salon.

Apartment 3, 4 bedrooms: on the same floor but with a separate entrance from Apartment 1 is the 4 bedroom apartment, which also has a central dining/living room with a dining room table seating about 10 or so, the living room with fireplace and TV and exit to the main terrace, and a separate kitchen with a breakfast table for 6, with large refridgerator and dishwasher. This is the same large terrace as the 5 bedroom apartment, and you can in fact walk from one apartment to the other on the covered part of the terrace. This 4 bedroom apartment was originally conceived as the caretaker´s house and so the owners only put one bathroom in, but it is a large bathroom, separated into two parts, the bathroom door opening onto a anteroom with a large sink, and beyond that, another door leading to the toilet and the shower stall. The four bedroom here:

• bedroom 9) with double bed (150x190cm)
• bedroom 10) with double bed (150x190cm)
• bedroom 11) with two single beds (90x190cm)
• bedroom 12) a small room with just one single bed (90x190cm)

So you see, Can Tapies in fact has beds for 35 guests if you filled every bed, not to mention the cots that are available for babies. However, this house is licensed and registered, and like all legal houses, the maximum allowed capacity is 2 guests per room, so for 24 guests in 12 bedrooms, plus maybe a baby or small children. There are 9 bathrooms and 3 WCs.

The outdoors: the new 12x5 meter swimming pool is on a terrace just below the house with a fairly wide lawn and some shade trees, 16 deck chairs, and a small WC and changing room and small table for 4 under a porch beside the pool. Oh, and there is also a poolside shower, and the owners have bought a ping pong table which gets moved around from place to place. There is also a washroom downstairs with two washing machines and a clothes drier and a sink for hand washing.

In short, Can Tapies is wonderful property in a privileged location. The comments from past guests couldn´t be better. It helps that the owners, who live about 1.5 km away just off the road into Banyoles, are genuinely kind and helpful, and always willing to make improvements to their two houses, like the new 100 m2 games room and child safety fence around the pool at Can Tapies. Again, be sure to read the Comment's Page above, and ask me for additional information, such 3D visit and Google Earth photos showing the excellent location, a copy of the local area info I have compiled and improved on recently, and there is even a 3 minute-long movie of this house I can send you. I look forward to hearing from you.