Covid-19 related information

UPDATE OF 01/12/2021

As the fifth wave of Covid-19 sweeps across Europe, we understand the concern you may have about booking your next vacation.

Fortunately, with the massive implementation of vaccination, life is getting back on its feet and we can more easily project ourselves into the future…

We are therefore looking forward to welcoming you to Castelwood and have decided to keep our specific sale conditions in relation to the Covid-19, you will find them below so that you can book safely.

  • in the event of an administrative closure or the implementation of travel restrictions between countries or departments in France, all paid sums will be fully refunded within 48 hours
  • balances will only be requested one month before your arrival against the usual 6 weeks
  • except in the above cases, the general rental conditions apply to all bookings, we therefore strongly advise you to take out cancellation insurance when booking in order to deal with any unforeseen circumstances, a “special Covid-19” insurance is available

Since summer 2021, the health pass has been implemented in France, and Castelwood, like all establishments open to the public, must comply with it. We will therefore ask you, upon your arrival, to provide us with the necessary documents. Thank you.

If you have any questions, we are of course at your disposal by phone or email.

See you soon… and of course, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

Jaya, Maaike and Ian.



UPDATE OF 01/01/2021

neige dordogne

That’s it… the year 2020 is behind us… We assume that the year 2021 can only be better and we look forward to welcoming you at Castelwood for this coming season!

We understand the concern you might have about booking your next vacation in regards of Covid-19, and if we’ve learned anything in 2020, it is that it’s still a bit difficult to predict what’s going to happen.

That is why you will find below some measures that we have put in place so that you can book safely for this 2021 season:

  • in the event of an administrative closure or the implementation of travel restrictions between countries or departments in France, all paid sums will be fully refunded within 48 hours
  • balances will only be requested one month before your arrival against the usual 6 weeks
  • except in the above cases, the general rental conditions apply to all bookings, we therefore strongly advise you to take out cancellation insurance when booking in order to deal with any unforeseen circumstances, a “special Covid-19” insurance is available

We hope to have reassured you with this information and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are at your disposal and hope to be able to offer you a carefree and relaxing vacation.

See you soon… and of course, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

Jaya, Maaike and Ian.



UPDATE OF 15/10/2020

The season is coming to an end, although, we are still open until November 1st, 2020 and again from December 19th, 2020 to January 2nd, 2021 for the holiday season.

The health status is deteriorating again in France in certain places… in Dordogne we are still spared however we still continue to apply the health measures provided for in our protocol at Castelwood. A little reminder of the main measures taken below so that you can enjoy our cocoon in complete safety:

– Physical distancing will be practiced upon your arrival and departure, we will wear masks.

– Each chalet will have its bottle of hydroalcoholic gel outside so that you can disinfect your hands before entering your chalet.

– Our cleaning staff will be trained in our cleaning protocol so that the chalets are cleaned and sterilized in an optimal way, except for obvious areas such as surfaces, kitchen, floors, bathroom and toilet, everything will be cleaned, door handles, light switches, chairs, dishes, etc.

– Your beds will be made on your arrival as usual (at no additional cost), the mattresses and pillows will have been disinfected and the bed linen we use will also have been disinfected during washing.

We are also very lucky, because Castelwood is a small domain and all the chalets are independent, they all have their own kitchen and sanitary facilities. The chalets are all spaced from each other, all things that facilitate physical distance for all who wish. Ideal for taking a breath of fresh air!

We receive a lot of questions regarding possible cancellations of stays following the impact of Covid-19. Below are some important points to consider before any reservation.

For reservations in 2020 at the end of this season:

  • in the event of an administrative closure or the implementation of travel restrictions between countries or departments in France, the paid sums will be fully refunded
  • the general rental conditions apply to all bookings, we therefore strongly advise you to take out cancellation insurance when booking in order to deal with any unforeseen circumstances, a “special Covid-19” insurance is available

For reservations in 2021:

  • in the event of an administrative closure or the implementation of travel restrictions between countries or departments in France, the paid deposit will be transformed into a credit note which can be used for a later date
  • balances will only be requested one month before your arrival against the usual 6 weeks
  • the general rental conditions apply to all bookings, we therefore strongly advise you to take out cancellation insurance when booking in order to deal with any unforeseen circumstances, a “special Covid-19” insurance is available

If you have any questions, we are of course at your disposal by phone or email.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones!

Jaya, Maaike and Ian.



UPDATE OF 30/05/2020

Finally! Our Castelwood access barrier has been revised and is ready to work again to be able to receive you… We will be opeing on June 2nd for the 2020 season!

We are in the starting blocks and look forward to seeing you with us and we are sure that, you too, want to cross the access barrier 😉

The French government has announced that the borders to France, from other European countries, will be opened again from June 15th, 2020 onwards.

This is great news!

To reassure you before booking at Castelwood, it is obvious that if the situation with regard to the Covid-19 deteriorates during the season and we would have to be closed again (or travel restrictions put in place), the paid amounts will be fully reimbursed.

In addition, the balance of your stay will only be requested 2 weeks before your arrival.

If you wish to consult the measures that we are putting in place to guarantee the safety of all, you will find them below in the update of 01/05/2020.

And finally, we are of course at your disposal, by email or phone, for any of your questions.

Have a good day!

Jaya, Maaike and Ian.




UPDATE OF 01/05/2020

Castelwood is ready to host you, the nature is magnificent thanks to a varied weather between sun, heat and a little rain… but unfortunatly, to this date, we have still not received an opening date from the French government and are therefore still in administrative closure. Normally, we should have news at the end of May 2020 regarding tourist establishments open to the public. A new update will be published as soon as we know more.

In order to be able to host you, as soon as it’s possible, and in the best conditions, we have implemented, and already tested, a protocol for cleaning and sterilizing chalets so that everyone can spend their holidays in complete peace of mind.

Below are some steps we will be taking to keep everyone safe:

– We will change the arrival and departure times in order to have more time to prepare, clean and sterilize each chalet between two occupants. Arrival times will be between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. and departures must be before 9 a.m.

– Physical distancing will be practiced upon your arrival and departure, we will wear masks.

– Each chalet will have its bottle of hydroalcoholic gel outside so that you can disinfect your hands before entering your chalet.

– Our cleaning staff will be trained in our cleaning protocol so that the chalets are cleaned and sterilized in an optimal way, except for obvious areas such as surfaces, kitchen, floors, bathroom and toilet, everything will be cleaned, door handles, light switches, chairs, dishes, etc.

– Regarding the sleeping areas, we want to offer our guests, if they wish, to bring their own bed linen, pillows and duvets. This is obviously not an obligation, it will be an option that you can check on the form of additional services which will be sent to you upon reservation of your stay. For those who do not wish to take this option, your beds will be made on arrival as usual, the mattresses and pillows will have been disinfected and the bed linen we use will also have been disinfected during its washing.

– On-site activities can take place (creative paper workshop, guided and commented hikes, painting workshop) but with a maximum of 10 people at a time. The workshops will take place outside and a safety distance will be set up between the participants. The person offering the workshop will also wear a mask.

– Concerning the swimming pool, we await directives from the sanitary services, but for the moment, only the indoor swimming pools will not be authorized to open, which is not our case given that we have a beautiful outdoor swimming and paddling pool, in the middle of nature. However, we may have to limit the number of people at the same time… We will have more news, on this specific subject, that will be provided in our next update.

– To this date, we do not yet know if the weekly meal that we offer will take place. If this is not feasible we will reflect on how to provide a takeout meal for those who wish.

– Our bakery service will operate normally, we will take all necessary measures to guarantee absolute hygiene in the production of your bread and pastries.

We are also very lucky, because Castelwood is a small domain and all the chalets are independent, they all have their own kitchen and sanitary facilities. The chalets are all spaced from each other, all things that facilitate physical distance for all who wish. Ideal for taking a breath of fresh air after these past months!

We hope that all this information will be useful to you, if you have specific questions, we are of course at your disposal.

See you soon and take care of yourself and your loved ones!

Jaya, Maaike and Ian.