Group gîtes

These group gîtes are all geared towards wellbeing and personal development. Yoga, meditation, qi gong, training courses, tantra: find the gîte that suits your activity.

A group gîte is a large furnished rental designed to sleep a good number of people. You might go with friends, with family or as a group on a retreat. Because everyone shares the house, often out in the countryside, people get close quickly.

What the gîtes in our guide offer

What is a group gîte?

A group gîte is a property designed to accommodate a large group. These XXL rentals can take groups of 10, 15 or even more.

Group gîtes are usually country houses or former châteaux.

The style changes from one gîte to the next (medieval, rustic, contemporary), but you'll always find a large living area, a fully equipped kitchen and around ten beds. Depending on the gîte, the beds are in private rooms or in dormitories.

A group gîte is made for communal living. That's why everything there revolves around the time you share.

Meals are cooked in a roomy kitchen and eaten together around one big table. In the evening, tucked up warm under the duvet, people chat about their day before falling asleep a few metres from each other.

On a retreat, living together matters almost as much as the practice room: the group often bonds over meals or in the evenings.

What types of group gîte are there?

The Fédération nationale des gîtes de France recognises four categories of establishment, and the services on offer vary a lot from one to another. So do your homework before choosing a room for hire at one of these centres.

The hikers’ stopover gîte

This group gîte is less than two kilometres from a hiking trail. The manager or owner lives on site and will explain the signposting around the gîte and which trail to take, so you don't get lost in the woods (or the hills).

The leisure gîte

A group gîte classed as "leisure" has plenty of activities on site to keep you busy. It also has to provide basic equipment and make qualified instructors available to you.

The seminar gîte

If you're organising a spiritual retreat or a workshop, this is the kind of gîte where you should hire your room. You'll find them in the mountains, by the sea or in the forest. These gîtes include:

• meeting rooms;
• a catering service that adapts to what you need;
• an internet connection (optional).

You sleep in peace and quiet, and you have what you need to get some proper work done during the day.

Gîte for parties and events

As the name suggests, this type of group gîte is mainly meant for parties: birthdays, weddings, christenings… If you're looking for somewhere to celebrate a happy occasion, start with this category.

Why choose a group gîte?

Still not sure about booking a group gîte? When you're going away with a group, this kind of place solves quite a few problems.

Room for everyone

If you've ever organised group activities, you'll know that accommodation is often a headache: not enough room, awkward logistics… With a group gîte, everyone sleeps under the same roof.

These places are often out on their own in the countryside, so they're quiet and spacious. You and your guests have the place to yourselves, and you can make the most of both the house and the area around it.

Shared bedrooms, a big kitchen, dormitories: everything gets people talking. Even the most introverted guests can slowly come out of their shell.

Recharge your batteries

Because group gîtes are so close to nature, you get proper rest there. There's no traffic or building work to wake you: all you hear is the birds and the wind.

To book a room, browse the gîtes listed above and write directly to the venue you like.