jpgalvin

I've spent a couple of weeks searching around for a large villa/house in France (6/7 bedrooms, 13ppl, including 5 children) and there are lots of great places, but many of the villas I've found are away from towns. Budget is max 5,000 euros per week. Anybody have leads, past experiences with places that are actually in a village? We'd like to be able to walk into town instead of having to jump in a car. Dordogne, Languedoc, Emerald Coast, and Provence are areas I've searched fairly extensively.

Anybody have any good leads on an agent who could help with a search?

Thanks,
John.

Robert2533

Unless you're looking for an exclusive luxury property, I recommend you check out europe.rentvillas.com and let someone else do the legwork, or VRBO and deal directly with the owner.

Or check out www.interhome.com, they have one property in Aix en Provence that will accommodate your group and may meet your needs.

jan47ete

Never have had a need for so large a place but here are some sites I've checked out or used for myself(www.___com):

homeaway
shortstayapartment
karenbrown
sabbaticalhomes
holidayhomes
villavacations
bluhome
slowtrav
apartmenthotels
gites-de-france.fr (not .com)
agriturismo
travelintelligence
cheapaccommodations
vacationspot
holidayhome
VRBO (vacation rental by owner)
site59
frenchways
frenchcottages
frbo (for rent by owner)
specialplacestostay

Good luck. jk

kiwipete

Try 'Palazzo A Greve' they have 3 villa together that you could fit all into. We sayed there 5 years ago, only 100m to town centre Greve in Tuscany
Kiwipete

CaliNurse

Have you checked provenceparadise.com?

I believe the place is an easy and quick walk into St Remy. Otehrs on Fodors have stayed and recommend it although it is beyond my budget.

Perhaps combining a few of the cottages will work for you? See Tripadvisor--some of Provence Paradise's reviews are from large famiy groups such as yours.

ONe of the rental websites has a section where you can specifically put in your choice as "in town"--if i find it, will post it.

Good luck!

CaliNurse

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p157364

Here's the Homeaway site for Provence Paradise. The stated rate is within your budget, and the stated number of people--12--is almost what you need. I'll bet William has a way to fit #13, a child, in comfortable

And it is easy walking distance to town, but i'm not sure of exact # of minutes.

IN csae you're wondering how i know about htis place...i've been on a long search too. Fun but sometimes overwhelming, n'est-ce-pas?

jpgalvin

Thanks for the input! I've spent hours on vrbo, and homeaway, and SimplyChateau as well, but even with all the choices it's hard to find just the right place without some follow up to each owner, which can be a bit overwhelming.

I DID stumble across Provence Paradise in my searching, and it does look great, and I've heard great things about St. Remy from friends who have been there. It's perfect, except it seems like you share the pool and maybe some other features with others. I'll email the owner and also look into the Palazzo in Greve.

nytraveler

You don;t say when you're going - but you're looking for a very large property - and many of them will be in the luxury market - not your price range.

I think you may have to make some compromises in terms of exact locations and amenities.

Also, in the exploring I've done when we were looking for a house - the larger ones do seem to be outside of the town - since people with such a large house typically want privacy and more property than you would get in a town center.

jpgalvin

NYtraveler: August or July 2011. Yes, you're right, there's always trade offs.