Two of us and our dog stayed at Villa Zen for a month in Jan/Feb 2019, with 2 friends joining us for part of the stay.
The villa and grounds are lovely and the panoramic views are wonderful. The villa is located on a gated, private domaine which is only a short distance from the beach. We saw one or two people walking up from the beach, but it is a steep climb and part of the way there is no pavement – the road wasn’t busy but this could be different in season. However, it took less than 5 minutes to drive down and park either in the 85 place free car park or on the seafront itself (again free). Dogs aren’t allowed on the beach nearest the villa. The villa garden is large and our dog found plenty to explore (although he was puzzled by the artificial grass to start with). We walked him every day in the forest which is about a 10 minute walk away from the villa.
Villa Zen is well-named - there is a wonderful feeling of space and peace, with uninterrupted views of the bay. There are plenty of areas to sit out in the garden and, if there was a large group of you, I think people would be able to ‘get away’ from each other outside. Although there are other villas close by, you are not overlooked. It was also very quiet most of the time – there were a few days when there was tree trimming going on around the domaine and there was some building work on a couple of plots on the domaine but there was no intrusive noise. Sounds travelled up from Sainte Maxime town centre – again not intrusive and it was lovely to hear the church bells.
The photos give a true idea of the villa, the surroundings and the views. We regularly rent villas and apartments and this is one of the best equipped and maintained we have come across.
Communication with Thierry (the owner) was very good and our damage deposit was returned very quickly. Fleur (the local manager) was responsive and helpful.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Villa Zen and were sad to leave – we could happily have stayed for another month! We hope to return - but for longer next time.