English

Contact
Mr. Karel Martinet and Mrs. Marlies Martinet
Address: De Drie Hoefijzers (The 3 horse-irons) Julianastraat 98, 4566AJ Heikant (Netherlands)
https://www.drie-hoefijzers.nl/informatie/contact/
Tel: 0031 114 370555   Email: driehoefijzers@zeelandnet.nl or contact us by email   Website: www.drie-hoefijzers.nl

Description
In the middle of our small working arable farm (with some beef cattle) we have created in 2011 a spacious guesthouse in a tastefully converted stone barn.
During July and August this fully equipped (five star) self-catering property is available for a “stay at the farm”. (The rest of the year it is used for cooking sessions.) Our holiday accomodation offers 3 bedrooms: one double with bathroom en-suite and two twin bedrooms which share a second bathroom. Full central heating, freeview and wi-fi. It is beautifully furnished and fully equipped with e.g. dishwasher and laundry, see link  https://www.drie-hoefijzers.nl/site/wp-admin/post.php?post=570&action=edit
The farm yard with a typical big black barn is still in original state. As you will be our only guests, your privacy will be assured. Great to share with family and/or friends (4 beds)

Location
We are located in Heikant, a small border village in the municipality of Hulst. The region is Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. This is a part of Flanders which belongs to the Netherlands (province of Zeeland). It is situated between the Belgian border and the shores of the river Skeldt/Westerschelde. This river is the marine connection between the city of Antwerp and the North Sea. Our farm is an excellent location for exploring the famous Belgian cultural cities Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent and Brussels. (The Belgian border is less then 100 yards from our farm!) All the famous Flamish cities can be reached by car within one hour driving. Also the famous Dutch Delta Works are located in Zeeland and can be reached within one hour by car.

Environment
The Dutch environment is the typical flat polder area: a fruitful rural area (by clay deposit) with dikes, trees and water elements such as creeks and kolks.  As there are a lot of lanes in the area it is a very nice environment for walking and cycling.
Beside the presence of the border the village of Heikant and its environment is also known for the culture ot the flax plant which was intensively cultivated and processed here. Even today you can still admire here the blue flowering flax fields during summer. The flax plant produces the strong and long fibres which finally will result into linen, used for luxury clothes and table ware. (It also was used for making the famous lace of Bruges.)  Today a small statue of a worker in the flax fields remembers the people who had to work so hard for a poor living.
At 7 km distance the small city of Hulst is situated. It is one of the best preserved fortified towns in the Netherlands. Hulst also claims to be “the most Flemish town in the Netherlands”. The Willibrordus Basilica and the town hall are two precious monumental buildings.
Finally, the land of Hulst is also the “land of Reynaert”, as in this medieval animal epic about the cunning fox Reynaert several locations in this area were mentioned.
In the eastern part of the council the unique “Drowned Land of Saeftinghe” is situated. It measures 3.500 hectares, consists of silts and salt marshes and boasts a very rich flora and fauna.

Details guesthouse and facilities
Guesthouse area available for guests: ground floor about 60 square meters, first floor about 70 square meters.
Ground floor: Hall, combined living room and kitchen of about 30 square meters, a standard toilet and an adapted toilet. The kitchen equipment is very complete.
Upstairs: 3 sleeping rooms, 4 beds totally.  Two bath rooms with bath, shower and toilet. (One bathroom is “en suite”) We also have a small badstead available for babies. (Upon request.)
You have free access to our yard where you can walk and sit. Our farm is a rather small farm, however we have some agricultural activities. We grow the usual crops like wheat, barley, corn and sugar beets and we have some cows in the meadow around our yard. Also chickens (with a cock), a  cat (at the moment nog dog is present) and we have (at a safe distance) some cabinets with honey bees. We also have a garden with a very wide variety of vegetables and fruits. We sell some products from our own farm: Marmelade, apple juice, wallnut oil, honey and eggs. And of course we can show you things and try to answer your questions. At the chapter “Hoevelogies” you can see pictures of our guesthouse.
Indoors, in  a  barn,  there are several games available for you, like table tennis, table pool, table football, darts. We have a number of bikes, suitable for all ages. (For free!) You can play petanque if you wish.
We have a small playing ground for the children. You can watch them play while you sit at your own terrace. An inflatable small swimming pool (2 m long) is also available. We have some touristical documentation available. Besides that we have a list of shops and also a list of interesting touristical topics. Both available in the language of the Netherlands and in English.

Reservation
The price is € 800 per week (t0 be paid in advance) and is all-inclusive: including VAT, local taxes, bed/bath linen, cleaning costs. Also the use of all available facilities (wi-fi, games, bikes) is free. Only 100 euro caution costs in advance are required, but will be normally paid back if you had a regular stay.
As we have only one guesthouse, we do not have a professional website in the English language. We are sorry for that, but we hope that you will understand that. Of course you are very welcome if you are not a native Dutch speaking person. We like to meet people from abroad and we are glad to have also a basic knowledge of  the French and German languages. In the past we already had visitors from Germany and Spain.
If you want to make a reservation for a stay or want to look at the available data, you can look at the reservation schedule when you follow this path: https://www.drie-hoefijzers.nl/ontwikkelingen/reserveren/
Only data in bold area available. Principally we rent our guesthouse for the standard period of one week, from Friday afternoon 15.00 h until Friday morning 11.00 h next week! (7 nights)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.  Maybe we will meet once?

Karel and Marlies Martinet