Livonian homestead "Branki"

The Home "Branki" is managed by the "Stūrīši-Branki" family and we have 4 households in the centre of Livonian (Liiv) village Mazirbe. All houses neighbour each other in a beautiful landscape – the garden and the surrounding fields are for you to walk around in and enjoy. Each house has a unique history and style, varied types of rooms and amenities. Stay with us if you appreciate nature, wild sea, great local food and warm, loving hospitality from a passionate family. Our breakfasts are WOW! The space The "Branki" Household has two, interconnected bedrooms with a small private kitchen, refrigerator, toilet, shower and a balcony. You will be living on the entire 2nd floor, which is accessible by one flight of stairs (private entrance from outside). The space would be best suitable for those who don't mind sharing the living space between themselves - one of bedrooms has a studio layout. Price is per person per night, please make sure your booking reflects the right amount of persons staying! When you ascend the stairs to your floor, you will be greeted by a small balcony with rocking chairs, where you can spend your time and enjoy the view. Once you enter, you are greeted by a studio layout and you will see: On your left, the shower, entrance to the bathroom and a corridor leading to the 2nd bedroom and a kitchenette (2 hobs, a kitchen sink, fridge, bin and useful household items). On your right, there is a couch, chairs and a cabinet full of cutlery, cooking utensils, dishes and anything else you might need. Opposite the entrance you will see a table with kettle, toaster and more shelves with dishes; further into the room, is a large king-sized bed, sectioned off from the rest of the space with a bookcase. As you follow down the corridor on your left, you will pass the bookcase, a small nook and enter the second room, which has two single beds and a double bed. All bed-frames here are antique. The room also has chairs, a dressing table and a table which can be used as an office desk or for dining. It's very spacious and historically we haven't done much to the second room, so you can observe the original roof of Livonian houses in its full wonder. All available surfaces on the ceiling and some wall nooks are used for drying tea and for spices. Some bouquets are there just to add the very pleasant smell of drying herbs and flowers in the house. Don't worry if the leaves fall or you break some, it is there for your enjoyment mostly! If people staying are happy to share the space, we are able to accommodate up to 10 people with roll-away beds. IMPORTANT TOPIC: FOOD You can order breakfast. Please let us know about your dietary preferences as we can look to accommodate almost any diet or dietary restriction. "Stūrīši-Branki" over the years has gained a reputation of our massive & tasty breakfasts. These breakfasts are large enough for you to have something left over for a lunch snack or a proper lunch, depending on appetites. However, when it comes to food, you will be taken care of. Our family is famous for our food generosity. If you stay with us at a fortunate time, when the local farmers and produce growers bring us something interesting, we always look if we can share them with our guests. All of our food is bought from great, hardworking farmers - supplying fresh meat, dairy products, locally-grown vegetables, individually crafted local foods (Sklandrausis, for example), berries, mushrooms and when the sea has the right conditions our village fishermen sell finger-licking good smoked fish. If our Chief has inspiration, we also frequently provide guests with side-dishes for dinner (such as potatoes, veggies, dessert and so forth). Igors' is a certified chef with over 25 years experience in making truly remarkable, tasty foods are they traditional, international or original. You must try the wonders he can do in a proper countryside kitchen! We often host large groups, which visit the "Stūrīši-Branki" household to learn more about the Livonian history and sample some traditional food. On these days we can offer lunch or dinner. If you are interested to hear about this, let us know. Additionally, Mazirbe has the only store in 20km radius and it is well-stocked with household items, food, drinks and cooking essentials. It is 2 minutes away from us and if you stay longer, you can order specific items with the store directly. IMPORTANT TOPIC: BEACH Our house is 5-15 minutes away from the beach, depending on which route you choose to take - the shortest distance will be more central and can get busy over summer weekends. Other routes will take you further away and you can enjoy near-seclusion. Please note, we do not provide beach towels, please bring your own. PRICING: Children are welcome and we can arrange a crib. As AirBnB doesn't have separate pricing option for children, the price is as follows: *) free for children until 5 years old; *) 15 EUR per night for a child between 5 - 14 years old. We will provide you with a discount appropriate to this amount before confirming your booking request. Whilst we can and will accommodate any diet, if we are low on produce in the countryside or if accommodating the diet would incur extra preparation and expense, we would charge a €5 surcharge of which you will be informed in advance. Price is per person per night, please make sure your booking reflects the right amount of persons staying! Guest access Guests have keys to their house/room and homeowners have someone always present to mind the houses. Guests can only access their rooms & the outside territory. You are welcome to ask to visit the Museum "Stūrīši" (listing available through my profile). During your stay "Stūrīši-Branki" family speaks Latvian and Russian fluently. Don't worry if you don't know these - we have mastered the art of hand-gesturing in all languages and appropriate keywords for your understanding in German and English. The AirBnB account is managed by an English, Latvian & Russian speaker. In case you have any problems during your stay, which cannot be resolved with keywords, you will have a contact person to help you any time! Other things to note "Stūrīši-Branki" households have been in our family for generations. Our guesthouse business started spontaneously 11 years ago and we are so happy to be able to live and work in our favourite place on Earth! ♥ Our family operates a private Museum (which also is a guesthouse), and if there are no guests staying, we will be happy to show you the Museum and the materials we have collected. We have made our best effort to supply our visitors with the best options and amenities, however, the countryside has its limitations, which is why we ask you to respect the nature of the location. IMPORTANT TOPIC: WATER Due to the peculiarities of the location next to the sea and also in the Slīteres National Park (protected area with many rare beauties of nature), it is very difficult to have access to endless running water. We live a sustainable lifestyle, conserving water and only using it when it’s available - we have an 8 m deep Well. Please take into account when booking that you won't be able to have endless running showers and we will sometimes have to switch the access off for 3h or so (to let the water replenish in the Well). IMPORTANT TOPIC: PRICING If not booked, a traditional firewood heated sauna (hot rocks and steam) is available for hire to all guests who stay at least 3 nights: €50 for 2 people. It takes a whole day to prepare, so please give us as much notice as possible. IMPORTANT TOPIC: CASH We highly advise bringing cash, as otherwise, you will have to drive to Dundaga (20km) or Ventspils (70km) to be able to visit an ATM. Mazirbe has the only store within 20km radius and a café where you can pay by card. IMPORTANT TOPIC: WiFi Our households do not have internet of any kind. Overall, Mazirbe is a true getaway from the world. Phone reception has to be earned (aka you have to find your spots or use the right operator) and there is no free WiFi in the village. But don’t worry, if you do need to stay connected and find the right spot to keep your device, you will achieve amazing internet speeds and will be able to get things done. We will provide advice on how to best achieve this.