Some dates deserve more than a table at a restaurant. Gathering your family for a birthday, an engagement or a few days together, in a house that is yours alone, changes the nature of the occasion. Here is how we approach it, so that the celebration stays a pleasure for you and for the people who live nearby.
It starts with a conversation
A celebration at a villa is planned before you book. Tell us the occasion, how many people will sleep at the house and how many will join you for dinner, and the format you have in mind: a seated dinner, a long lunch, a whole weekend.
That first conversation lets us point you to the right house. Not all of our homes lend themselves to it in the same way. One is happy to host a family dinner by the pool; another, surrounded by vines, a larger table. Some, finally, are made for quiet and will stay that way.
Every event needs our written agreement, given before you book. Without it, parties are not allowed at our villas. The number of guests, including those who are not staying overnight, is part of what we agree together.
Celebrating without disturbing the neighbours
Most of our villas are family homes, surrounded by other family homes. A fine celebration is also one that the neighbours remember kindly, or not at all.
It comes down to a few shared courtesies: music that stays within the garden, a dinner that moves indoors after a certain hour, guests who arrive and leave quietly. In some houses a sound-level meter in the living areas, never the bedrooms, helps us keep watch. It measures volume only; it does not listen to or record anything.
None of this takes anything away from the occasion. If anything, it lets you celebrate with an easy mind, without worrying about a complaint halfway through dessert.
A birthday
A birthday at a villa begins with the table. A private chef writes a menu around the tastes of the person being celebrated, cooks on site and serves. The table is laid outdoors, facing the garden, with flowers and a setting chosen with you. The cake arrives from a pâtissier just in time for dessert.
For a surprise, our concierge team prepares everything while the guest of honour is at the beach or out walking. All that is left is to light the candles.
An engagement
A proposal is planned in secret. We can set out flowers and lanterns at the agreed hour, book a dinner for two cooked by a private chef, or arrange a boat trip for the day before or the morning after. You choose the moment; we make sure nothing gives it away.
To bring the two families together a few weeks later, a lunch at a house among the vines is a setting equal to the news.
A family reunion
Three generations under one roof need space, and a little independence for each of them. Some homes in the collection were designed with exactly that in mind.
At Domaine Sainte-Cécile du Parc, near Pézenas, a large house of character opens onto a garden ringed by vines: room to gather round the table without anyone feeling cramped.
For a smaller party, Villa Joy, at Murviel-lès-Béziers, is quieter and more intimate, close to the Orb: a pool, a covered terrace and the stillness of the countryside once night has fallen. You will find more villas around Béziers.
What our concierge service takes care of
A successful celebration is dozens of details arriving at the right moment. Our concierge service coordinates them, each quoted separately:
- a private chef, for a single dinner or the whole stay;
- flowers and the decoration of the table;
- a driver for guests who are not staying overnight;
- massages at the villa the next day;
- housekeeping during your stay, so that you find the house as it was on the first day.
You have one point of contact, who knows the house and is within reach throughout your stay.
Making it last
A family reunion is more than the big dinner. Between meals, the Languedoc has something for everyone: a tasting at a neighbouring wine estate, a boat trip off the coast at Agde, or a walk in Béziers along the Canal du Midi to the nine locks of Fonseranes. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, the canal climbs the hill there by a staircase of water completed in 1680. Young and old watch the boats pass from one basin to the next.
Before you book
Tell us about your plans from the first ideas: the finest houses are booked early, and a celebration needs a little notice. Our frequently asked questions set out our approach to gatherings; for everything else, our team will talk it through with you.
