Large gîtes for families: reunions, cousinades and big families

On Saturday at noon, the cars pull up on the gravel of the old flour mill. Someone counts heads: twenty-two, twenty-three, the last one arrives with a pie. The big table is already laid in the middle of the room, and the smell of the roast mixes with the cool stone.

That is a family reunion in a large gîte. Not a hotel where everyone retreats to their room, but a house big enough for four generations to eat, sleep and share the bathroom under one roof. The millstone no longer turns, but the table still brings people together.

Photo : Georges Drouard — Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

The cousinade: gathering without scattering

A cousinade is the extended family meeting once a year or every two years. The large gîte exists for exactly that, because it keeps everyone in one place: people sleep on site, the children drift from one room to another, and in the evening nobody has to drive home.

That is what sets a large gîte apart from a village hall. You live in it, not just for a meal. Breakfast drags on, the games settle on the big table, and at night the house does not empty out.

Count the bedrooms, not the beds

For a big family, a gîte is not judged by its bed count but by how those beds are arranged. Beware of listings that claim “sleeps twenty-two” by counting two sofa beds and an open mezzanine: grandparents will not sleep on a mezzanine, and a baby has no place on a sofa bed in the living room.

Ask for the list of rooms one by one: how many double beds, how many single beds, how many rooms with their own bathroom. Parents of young children will look for a room next to their own; teenagers, on the other hand, will want a room slightly apart so they do not wake the whole house.

The kitchen, centre of gravity of a big family

In a family reunion, everything revolves around meals. A kitchenette cannot feed twenty people: you need an oven big enough for two dishes, hobs that take several pans, and a table where everyone fits without a makeshift extension.

Ask about the dishwasher and the cupboards too. A family cooking for twenty turns up with a week’s worth of supplies, and those have to be stored.

Children, and the question everyone forgets

With children, two details change everything: the pool and the stairs. In France, a private in-ground pool must be fitted with one of four safety devices (fence, alarm, cover or shelter, law of 3 January 2003). A fence that closes is worth more than an alarm nobody hears. Check the stairs and the upstairs windows too if toddlers are coming.

These are questions to ask the host before paying the deposit, not on arrival.

Book early, especially for the dates that matter

School holidays and long weekends sell out months ahead. For a summer, allow several months in advance; out of season, you can book later and often more cheaply.

Our page How to choose a large gîte goes through the contract details, and Our selection of 10 large gîtes in western France lists examples with their capacity and amenities.

Sources

• Gîtes de France
• Service-public — Swimming pool safety