Houses to rent for Christmas and New Year

A family house for Christmas

The fire first, since that is what everyone pictures: a period fireplace in the tower salon at Champrond-en-Gâtine, a wood stove in the farmhouse at La Chapelle-Hareng, a fireplace at Le Plessis-Placy, a fireplace in the salon at Montereau, and at Saint-Amarin a mountain-style hearth with a view of the ridges. Around the fire, the practicalities follow: kitchens equipped for a festive meal for fifteen or more, enough bedrooms for every couple and every family to have their privacy, play areas and games rooms where the children have their own kingdom while the grown-ups linger at the table. And for the grey afternoons between Christmas and New Year, three of the houses have a heated indoor pool, so you can swim even in December.

A house for New Year's Eve

The 31st calls for a different setup: space, music, a house where the party is welcome. Montereau says it in so many words, celebrations welcome, and its jacuzzi stays usable in the heart of winter. Le Plessis-Placy is the choice for large gatherings: 24 beds, a private chef to take the dinner of the 31st off your hands, and a salon made to last until the twelve strokes of midnight. Saint-Amarin offers the New Year's Eve that feels farthest from home: the Markstein slopes thirty minutes away during the day, then the outdoor jacuzzi at 37°C under the December night. The three houses with a screening room, La Chapelle-Hareng, Montereau and Saint-Amarin, make the film night of the 30th possible.

The details that matter on December 24th

The things you usually check too late, settled here in advance. The five houses all have a smart thermostat: the house is warm when you arrive, not an hour later. When the family converges on the morning of the 24th from several cities, the journeys stay manageable everywhere except in the Vosges, and even there, Saint-Amarin is only forty minutes from the Mulhouse TGV station. The kitchens allow a full festive menu, from the oven to proper tableware, and every house has a washing machine, which, with fifteen people over several days, is no small detail. One last thing: December books up early. These five houses appeal to summer groups too, but it is the holidays and the celebrations, with family or with friends, that fill the calendars first.