Torre Bella: Costa Brava area

AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE IN TORRE BELLA

Through “Charming Villas Catalonia” we booked this amazing villa with outstanding views over the surrounding countryside.
The accommodation in this historic residence provided a unique opportunity for us to spend a glorious week with our extended family of 10 people and yet thanks to the facilities and grounds – we never felt crowded.
Javier, the owner was most helpful and any small issues were dealt with in a speedy and efficient manner.
While we have stayed in many villas in Europe and S E Asia - Torre Bella is SPECIAL!

MG - Australia

A magical place!

We were privileged to be able to spend two weeks at the stunning Torre Bella -- what an incredibly special property!   The home itself is spectacular -- suffused with history, but updated and accommodating and comfortable.  It is clearly a treasured a family property -- and you can feel the love, care and history throughout.

We were a group of 12, including 6 kids, and there was plenty of space for all, including very comfortable beds. There is a great kitchen, where we cooked many family meals -- I'd also highly recommend utilizing the chefs recommended by Charming Villas.  Some of our party needed to work while we were there, and there was good wifi and plenty of quiet nooks to accommodate.  The bedrooms have good A/C, but even in mid-August, many of our group preferred to sleep with open windows, cooled by the steady breeze that flows through the home.

The property is AMAZING -- stunning salt-water pool, wonderful shaded outdoor space and lots and lots of room for lazing about.  Our group discovered the fun of padel tennis -- and particularly loved playing at night by the stadium lights.   Be warned -- the house and the property are so wonderful, it makes it hard to motivate to leave!   But Torre Bella is only a short drive from Girona, Figueres and other amazing sights, so it's well worth it to pry yourself away from the pool and explore the area.  We particularly enjoyed the beach at Platja del Riuet -- only 15 minutes away and so beautiful. 

Throughout our visit, we were well taken care of -- with both the owner and on-site caretaker available to answer questions or respond to requests and the Charming Villa team coordinating and providing recommendations.

Torre Bella is a very special place -- and we would return in a heartbeat and recommend it without hesitation!

Bonnie - Washington DC, USA

Simply Stunning

We have just returned from a week in Torre Bella and it was fantastic. It is a true gem.  So much room for all the family to eat, rest and play.  The kids only left the fantastic pool, to use the tennis courts, or play 5-a-side football!

We would happily recommend!

Russell – England

Torre Bella's stunning views

We just came back from a great week at Torre Bella with 3 families. Torre Bella has all you need for a great stay: full of character, stunning views, great facilities with the paddle court and soccer field. The pictures on the site do not do full justice to how beautiful the surroundings really are. The owner is also very helpful and follows up very quickly in case of a special need, and the cleaning lady that comes 2 hrs a day is lovely. We arranged a private chef at the house through Charming Villas, Lee Pennington, which we can also absolutely recommend! The house really has it all. Also the location of the house enables many excursions in the neighborhood (from Girona, to Cadaques to the very nice waterski club 3 km away only). In the nearby town of Camallera you have a local bakery, but also a great little supermarket that really has almost everything you need (including Fevertree tonic for the G&T lovers). The only small thing to take into consideration is absence of air conditioning - we did not mind as we are used to this from previous stays in Italy and as we prefer a house with lots of character.

We definitely recommend the house!

NG - Belgium

An amazing place .. tranquil, relaxing and beautiful

We all loved Torre Bella and did not want to leave. What an amazing place : from the minute you approach up the long curving drive you know you are in for something special. It is like an old fashioned manor house with stone floors, huge paintings, beautiful antique furniture but perfectly set out.

The kitchen is well laid out with a good hob and cooker as well as microwave. There is a large table that was only used as a repository for towels and sunglasses and books but would be great later or earlier in the season if it were chilly outside. Instead every meal (bar one during a monsoon that hit us and forced us inside to eat around the gargantuan dining table) we ate outside. Two tables : one to seat 10 comfortably, the other for breakfast for 6. Views from an amazing wrap around terrace towards L'Escala all shaded by ancient oak trees.

The rooms upstairs were great, the beds comfortable and the bathrooms as much as you needed : strong shower, copious amounts of hot water, loads of soft towels. The only complaint here is that none of the toilets or bathrooms had any hand soap so we had to go out and buy that. I do feel that there should be a soap dispenser provided in each as this only needs to be topped up at every change over but not to be able to wash your hands after a long drive from Barcelona was somewhat bizarre. Have never encountered that before in any rental!

The room lay out was also perfect. We were a party of 7: 2 adults and 5 teenagers (2 girls and 3 boys). The house is split into sort of "wings" where the doors close off. SO the boys went into the wing with 2 twins and 1 single with 2 bathrooms between them and could close the door off the landing for privacy. The girls took the double with the little ante room and light bathroom, again closing their door for privacy. We took the master room in the tower. Perfect. Could easily and comfortably slept and accommodated at least 4 more people. Plenty of plates, glasses, cutlery. A bigger BBQ would be better please? We squished all the food on it for 7 but any more and it wouldn't have coped. Prawns were relegated to the oven! Just an idea!

The pool? Perfect. The stones around the outside and leading towards to pool could maybe be brushed or tidies up as every now and then the odd loose bit made you wince but the pool house offered not only shade from the sun but loungers, a table tennis table, a fridge and a huge separate shower/toilet. Lighting meant that it was used until the wee hours every night...!

The pool was a great temperature and clean. José is the garden/maintenance man who is a perfect gentleman and came every day to check the chlorine levels and that we were ok. The fridge/freezer died on us on day 5 but one phone call (in Spanish!) and he was there in a flash and when it still wasn't working 2 hours later we had a spare delivered whilst an engineer was booked. Great service.

Karina came in every day (Except Sunday) to clean and will clean where you want. Very friendly and efficient. Another small gripe is that there were no big bin bags provided. Again a huge roll can be bought at little cost and should just be there. Dishwasher soap, washing up liquid all there so that was good. Washing machine was used a lot. Super quick and efficient and the lines outside perfectly positioned for sun and a breeze so things dried in no time.

The area around? Valdevìa is a little hamlet about 10 miles from L'Escala. There is a small village Camallera about 2 miles away (north back towards the AP7) that has a small supermarket where you can top up on bread, milk etc but for a bigger shop it is worth driving the 15 minutes to L'escala where there is a Mercadona and a Carrefour as well as (tucked away near Carrefour) an amazing fish shop that cooks certain fish on site and opposite a great bread shop.

L'Escala itself has loads of beaches. We only went once, north of Empuries and got battered by the sand as the winds were up due to the Tramontana, but the beach was ours to run around on, the sea was warm,  the sand soft underfoot and teenagers had fun. we strayed a bit to far north where there were no facilities so bring water etc with you. Closer to Empuries the beaches are busier but there are facilities and places to buy water etc.

We ate out twice : once in a fish place near the port that was good but nothing to rave about, the penultimate night we ate out at La Gruta. What a find!! A Bib Gourmand with 3 menus of 2 or 3 courses all for a great price E34 for 3 courses plus bread and water for the entry level menu that couldn't really be distinguished from the next level up. They all had the same pudding which were made to order so you chose when you ordered at the beginning. Staff attentive, a busy place : we were very lucky to get in when I called at 1 o'c on the same afternoon. Definitely worth a try and then a stroll along the sea front. Loads of lovely looking bars and restaurants with music playing and people wandering around.

Thank you for a brilliant holiday. We loved it, we did not want to leave and will hopefully return again.

JB - Esher, UK

TORRE BELLA WILL NOT DISAPPOINT

Our extended family of eleven has rented wonderful vacation houses in Italy and France, but our most recent rental, Torre Bella in Spain was everyone’s favorite - a standout. (The photographs do not begin to capture the beautiful location.)

The hilltop location of Torre Bella offers breathtakingly beautiful views of the Bay of Roses (one of top 30 beautiful bays in world) mountains, rolling farmland and olive groves, and there are wonderful places from which to enjoy it, whether it is the spacious wrap-around terrace with optional dining area and cocktail areas, or the Cabaña by the pool.  The pool/cabaña area has a large seating area sofas, chairs and a shower plus a ping pong table.

The inside of the house is spectacular and consists of a 13th century watch tower, now renovated into a cozy vaulted room on the ground floor with a large fireplace and sofas, and an upstairs master bedroom.  It seamlessly merges with a 15th C. Castillo that is comfortably furnished in a cozy/grand way with lots of paintings and a sense of history enhanced by interesting stone archways and plenty of room throughout.  Upstairs each family had its own suite with a great view and attractively tiled and modern bathroom.

The spacious eat-in kitchen is completely and attractively equipped with a big table seating 8 or more.  A large dining room was adjacent to the kitchen. A wonderful housekeeper came daily for one hours to tidy the kitchen and bathrooms.

A typical day for our family went somewhat like this:  Informal breakfast in kitchen - coffee on the terrace- then a visit to places such as Empuries, Barcelona, Besalu, Montserrat, Girona (Dali Museum) wine country (Cavas Freixnet tour ) or the beach (Cadaques);  Afternoon return for swim in pool, ping pong in the cabaña area or family “padel” games on the padel court (We didn’t use the adjacent “sport court”.) At some point during the day we drove 15 minutes to a big market for dinner supplies. 

Most nights we sat under the stars at the big round table on the terrace looking at the lights of the Bay of Roses. After dinner, there might be a another game of Padel under floodlights, more swimming or reading.. 

We ate out one night at a fun, well-recommended restaurant 10 minutes away called La Bassa, but mostly we chose to stay at Torre Bella as it was so lovely and there was plenty for the children to do.

Our last night, we booked a wonderful chef, Francesc, who provided a fabulous Catalonian dinner in the formal dining room.  It suited all tastes and was a memorable way to end our special stay.  TORRE BELLA WILL NOT DISAPPOINT!

Knapp family - Boston, USA

9 of us stayed a week in Torre Bella, and it could have comfortably accommodate a few more.  What a fantastic place - a magnificent setting with panoramic views over the Cost Brava in the distance, and a beautiful and interesting old house.  It was really well equipped, fabulous big pool and pool house, table tennis, paddle tennis court and mini football pitch - all floodlit. Not air conditioned but had plenty of fans, and the top en-ensuite room had 2 meshed windows offering a cool breeze at night. Huge terrace area shaded from the sun in the sitting areas, and extensive lawn.  Very private, at the top of the village, it is very tranquil.  Easy access to the coast - 15 minutes by car to Sta Marti, and there are some lovely local villages to pick up groceries and eat out.  Javier the owner really made us feel at home and that nothing was too much trouble.   Great experience all round.

Stephenson family - Wimbledon, UK

Beautiful house in perfect location

Torre Bella is a marvellous property. It is a truly special building, with visible and fascinating history, and spectacular 360 degree views right across to the Bay of Roses. It was perfectly big enough for three families with children of different ages, allowing space for all, and plenty of activities (the tennis, table tennis, football...) to keep everyone amused. The location is wonderful - just 10 minutes drive from Escala, where there are good beaches (and good beach cafes and bars). Javier was extremely helpful - organising a large paella for us for one evening, for example, and always available to answer any questions. And Richard and Sara at Charming Villas made the process of booking and organising our trip very simple. I recommend the house and the company very highly, and we will hope to return.

EG - UK

Our stay at Torre Bella was a fantastic experience. A wonderful place that we enjoyed tremendously. THe onwer Javier was very helpful and extremely service minded. For sure we will return!

LE - Denmark

The pictures can’t do justice to the beauty and tranquility of Torre Bella. Perched on a hill with staggering views from every part of the house and garden it is a place of peace, with masses of space to sit and chill, but also enough fun to keep a large young family entertained for days. The pool and lawn are beautiful by day and night, the paddle tennis and football great under floodlights in the evening, table tennis, croquet and the nearby beaches fun in the day. And the thick stone walls of the house keep the interior cool and inviting. Wanted to learn more of the history of the place actually with interesting crumbled buttresses that don’t lead anywhere and spaces that seem to have no access. Very interesting house. It is the first villa in many years of renting that we have wanted to go back to. Thank you.

JC – UK

We went to Torre Bella with two families with 4 young children. The accommodation was great with separate suites of rooms for the two families and lots of space inside and outside for sunny or rainy weather. The views and privacy are exceptional and the location is great for the beach at Empuries and for access to the main roads...

AE - UK

Torre Bella exceeded our expectations. The villa is grand but remarkably comfortable. The views are stunningly beautiful - with a clear day allowing sight of both the snow topped Pyrenees and the Mediterranean Sea. The rolling hills and olive groves in between give one the sense of being quite above and secluded from the world. Yet simultaneously, you are in the middle of the best part of Catalonia, and there is much to see that is easily accessible. In one week we included afternoon visits to L'Escala (close to Torre Bella with lovely stony beach, recommend El Xiringuito on the waterfront for lunch), Cadaques (cross the mountains to get there, classic beautiful beachfront town), Girona (we enjoyed the large market, walking through the churches, and having lunch near the lion statue that tourists come to kiss for photos), Sa Riera (nicest beach we went to, waterfront path between beaches is stunning, and unexpectedly our favourite little restaurant called El Raco de Sa Riera - get the monkfish!) and Begur (wealthier town with great hike up to the castle ruins for the best views of the region), Figueres (Dali!), and Banyoles (quiet town but non-touristy and a very nice walk around the rowing lake with views up to the Pyrenees). We were always torn between going on these outings and just staying at Torre Bella - swimming, playing paddle tennis and football with the kids, and enjoying the many quiet and beautiful spots to sit and enjoy life. The heavy wooden shutters meant that light can be completely blocked out in the bedrooms, and we all (children included!) took up Spanish hours of staying up in the evening and sleeping in very late. The bathrooms are very beautifully tiled with remarkable views from the showers, and there was ample hot water for all our large group. I would HIGHLY recommend ICOOKIT - we had Jordi come to give my husband a cooking lesson in the villa, but I understand he gives groups lessons and does catering as well. He is an exceptionally professional, kind, and talented chef. All logistics with Charming Villas, the Torre Bella owner, and ICOOKIT were friendly, helpful, and clear. I will recommend them to my friends and I hope we will get back too.

EG - UK

What an unforgettable holiday at Torre Bella! The villa is very comfortable and delightfully cosy, surrounded by stunning scenery. Especially enjoyed swimming in the large pool and dining out 'al fresco'. The visits nearvy were all within easy reach, we loved Sant Martí d'Empuries and its lovely beach. The Greco-Roman ruins were very interesting.

GT - USA

Excellent Villa - well maintained & exceeded expectations. Very helpful Charming Villas team who were also open to answering additional questions. 

BS - UK

We couldn’t have found a more beautiful, serene and comfortable place to spend some special time with our  friends and family. Torre Bella is a splendid place, surrounded by so much beauty.Thank you; we look forward to coming back soon.

AT - UK