June wedding Villa in Spain?
 

Considering a Villa for 10 to 20 people maybe in the north of Spain for a wedding/ reception/celebration - any ideas? Spain seems to be more reasonable- any experience.Should be a reasonable flight from London.

Are there flight choices other than London/Bilbao?

If not, San Sebastian is the picture perfect wedding town, but the parador in Hondarribia might be romantic.

Just be chance today I was looking at apartment and villa rentals in San Sebastian at a website called "Friendly" rentals or apartments or some such. Sorry I didn't write down the name. I'm sure you can google it up with "friendly rentals san sebastion" or a similar search.

There is a marvelous beachside mansion/castle in San Sebastian and it wouldn't suprise me in the slightest if was let for weddings. Likewise, the Torre/Museum up on Monte Igueldo would be a spectacular setting. Quite honestly, even the tennis club might be nice. No doubt the Londres hotel does weddings.

But to be honest, the first thing that came to mind reading your post was "don't plan an outdoor wedding." The northern part of Spain is notoriously unpredictable, and prone to downpours. But the food? Please invite me if you have your wedding anywhere in the Pais Vasco.

Best

Fred,
If you're serious about a wedding in the Basque Country, I suggest that you invest in a really, really good events planner.

In '07 a poster here, foodiewedding, used the services of
www.stipaisvasco.com

They had their ceremony and champagne reception at the Parador in Hondarribia and wedding dinner at Mugaritz (2 Michelin stars) in nearby Errenteria. Mugaritz has an incredible chef, Andoni, and a gorgeous countryside setting.
www.mugaritz.com

The planner even arranged a day trip for her guests down to the Rioja for wine tasting.

If you plan on a wedding in the San Sebastián area in high season, it will be tough, as rooms can be extremely hard to come by (known from lots of experience). Better in mid to low season, but of course, the weather can be very iffy.

For actual villa rentals, see
www.friendlyrentals.com but their largest villa only sleeps 8.

There are plenty of venues-hotels in and outside of Bilbao that do weddings-our Bilbao posters, mikelg or cova, may be able to give you some ideas.

One that comes to mind is the gorgeous Palacio de Urgoiti.
www.palaciourgoiti.com

Another btwn S.S. and Bilbao (same owners as San Sebastian's Villa Soro) is the new 4 star Hotel Iturregi in Getaria, which has a stunning setting overlooking the Bay of Biscay and surrounded by txakolí vineyards (we were just there-didn't ask if they did weddings but it's a perfect honeymoon spot at least).


I planned a wedding in Navarra last June at a winery (Otazu) with the divine help of a terrific, well-connected agency from Pamplona, so I do know about prices in the north.
Anywhere in the Basque Country or Navarra, expect high prices. Won't be cheap!

If you're interested in southern Spain, here's an agency:

www.spainsbestmoments.com

www.akebaso.com, as a special place in a beautiful area of the Basque Country, for example. I also like www.castillodearteaga.com or www.baserrimaitea.com.

All near Bilbao.

FRED,
One of my best friends had her wedding dinner at Baserri Maitea-that and the Castillo de Arteaga (both owned by the Zaldua group) are GREAT Urdaibai recommendations from mikelg.
We were just there in late July.

We stayed at a 5 room casa rural nearby, Casa Ontxene, facing the estuary, that also does small weddings (wedding party must take the whole house) and is quite inexpensive for the high quality (rooms under 100 euros with DVD library, CD players, Wi-Fi, free mini bar, bathrobes and slippers, jacuzzi in the suite, breakfast included, etc.) Great reviews from www.toprural.com But owner doesn't speak much, if any, English.

See it at
www.nekatur.net