A family Christmas in the countryside: planning the stay
Traveller relations
A countryside Christmas always starts with the same realisation: the flat is no longer big enough. Three households to sleep, two diets to cook for, an oven already full and children who will not sit still. Getting everyone under one roof in the countryside solves most of it, provided you plan the stay like a small project. Here is the method, step by step.
The house: what to check before booking
Four criteria separate a real family reunion from a tense cohabitation.
Bedrooms, not just sleeping spots: with three generations, every household wants its own door. As a benchmark, our houses run from 6 to 9 bedrooms for 15 to 24 guests; in Saint-Amarin, each of the 7 bedrooms even has its own bathroom.
The table and the kitchen: Christmas Eve dinner is served at one single table, or it splits the house in two. Check the length of the table and the kitchen's real capacity, oven, hobs and fridge included.
The fire: a fireplace or a wood stove is half of the Christmas decor. Every house in our Christmas collection has one, from a Norman wood stove to a mountain hearth.
Warmth on arrival: ask how the heating is managed. Our houses have a connected thermostat, so the house is warm when you open the door, not an hour later.
Bedrooms, menus, groceries: divide before you arrive
Whatever is settled before departure no longer needs negotiating on site, and that is a good thing. Assign the bedrooms in advance, giving the ones closest to the shared bathroom to families with children when bedrooms do not have their own. Hand each household one full meal rather than sharing every dish: one dinner each, and nobody lives in the kitchen. Do the big grocery run on the 23rd from a shared list, and stagger the arrivals so the first household in lights the fire and opens up the house. And if nobody wants to spend the 24th cooking, several of our houses offer a private chef or meal delivery on request.
The days: outside in the morning, inside in the afternoon
December in the countryside gives you few hours of daylight; take them. A morning walk around the house or to the village, then the afternoon happens indoors: board games, the games room, and for the grey afternoons between Christmas and New Year, three of our houses have a heated indoor pool. Come evening, the houses with a screening room turn the lounge into a cinema, while the children rule their own kingdom and the grown-ups linger at the table.
Booking: the calendar and the per-person budget
Christmas week goes early: in September and October the choice of big houses is still complete; by November it closes down. On budget, the big household works in your favour: divided between 15 or 24 guests, the night comes to around 48 to 62 euros per person depending on the house, at the prices shown as we write. The price of a hotel room, for a whole roof.
Where to gather everyone this year
Our houses to rent for Christmas and New Year all have the fire, the long table and 15 to 24 beds. And if your tribe aims big, our villa rentals for 15 guests are cut for long tables.
