The long lunch
Forty metres of covered pergola and a table where nobody looks at the clock. It starts as lunch and ends as afternoon tea.
Families
Family love
Many generations under one roof. A 16th-century villa near Valencia, furnished over centuries, with two wood-burning fireplaces: 7 to 14 guests, always rented whole and always to one family.
A family villa near Valencia
Time worth its weight in gold
Few things are worth more than seeing everyone together. Grandparents with grandchildren on their knees, brothers and sisters who haven't been in the same place for years, cousins getting to know each other properly for the first time.
That time is precious, and here we look after it. The water, the wifi, the cleaning and every detail of the house are our job. Yours is simply to be there: the hugs, the long lunches, the late-night conversations and the memories you take home are all yours.
Grandparents and grandchildren
Children bring the house to life
And the grown-ups too. Watch a grandmother with her grandchildren in the garden and for a while she is young again. It happens every time a family arrives, and it is the loveliest thing about this house.
There are mornings of pancakes with strawberries from the vegetable garden, and days when a watermelon becomes juice or homemade ice cream appears. The first thing the children want to see is the hens. What they remember most when they leave is the ride on the little tractor through the mandarin trees, with a grown-up beside them.
They learn the gardener's name, ask what is being planted and when it will be picked, and live the house in a way the rest of us had forgotten.
Just like staying with the grandparents
Help for families
The beds made, the table laid, and someone who always has whatever you forgot.
Arriving at the grandparents' means arriving to find everything ready. That is what we want this house to be: the shopping done if you'd like it, the cots set up and every bed thought out for whoever will sleep in it. And when something is missing, because something always is, it turns up: nappies, the little one's milk, an extra set of sheets, the children's dinner before the grown-ups', or a paella for everyone on the day nobody feels like cooking.
We have children of our own, and our home has always been full of our children's friends. We can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so that all you have to do is be together.
How it began
How Villa Paula began
For many years our family lived scattered around the world. To get together we would choose a place and rent a house big enough for all of us: brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, in-laws, our mothers. Two or three weeks together, every year.
This house was born from that tradition. So when a family arrives, it feels to us like the start of something we know well.
What you take home
The days you remember
Evenings by the fire
The children are asleep and the grown-ups keep talking by the fireplace. The kind of conversation that doesn't fit into a video call.
Everyone's film
A cinema room with a projector and 7.1 sound, and three generations deciding what to watch.
Afternoons in the garden
The pool, table tennis, garden games and the giant tumbling-block tower. There are corners for being all together and corners for everyone to do their own thing.
The house table
A pizza from the clay oven, the children's favourite, a paella class or a long breakfast.
History you can live in
A house to be lived in
Some historic houses are seen from behind a rope. This one is lived in.
The billiard table dates from the 18th century, and grandfather and grandson play on it. The art library sits by the fireplace so the books can be opened. The ceramic Virgin on the façade has been there since the early 19th century, and the children always ask about her.
Bedrooms
A place for everyone
Seven bedrooms, each with a name. The grandparents in a double, with their own air conditioning and heating. The children in the Children's Room, with four single beds. The cousins in the twin rooms, whose beds can be pushed together or kept apart. The Library as a spare room. And two cots, one fixed and one travel cot.
For the little ones there is a changing table, a baby bath, a toilet seat reducer, stair gates, a pushchair and pool and beach toys. For the grandparents, not a single step from the car park to the inside, a ramp when needed, and a shower seat and grab bars.
All year round
Beyond the house, winter included
The Turia riverbed, a short walk away. The beaches: Malvarrosa 20 km away and El Saler 24 km. And in Valencia, the Oceanogràfic aquarium, Bioparc and the City of Arts and Sciences.
In winter, February sunshine, two fireplaces in the house and the wood-fired hot tub. The winter school holidays are the best time to bring everyone together.
What families ask
Is the house suitable for babies and young children?
Yes. There are two cots, a changing table, a baby bath, a toilet seat reducer, stair gates and a pushchair. The windows have bars, and the hot water is limited to 40 °C in summer and 45 °C in winter.
How does the pool work with children?
The pool is always enjoyed with an adult beside it: one child, one responsible adult. If you have any questions, we'll tell you everything when you book.
How much does it cost with children?
The same. The villa is rented whole, from €1,399 a night: the entire house, for the whole family. There is no charge per child.
Can grandparents with limited mobility come?
Yes. There are no steps from the car park to the inside. There is a ramp when needed, a shower seat and grab bars, and a wheelchair.
What is there to do with children near Valencia?
On the estate, the hens, the vegetable garden and the little tractor. Beyond it, the Turia riverbed, the beaches, the Oceanogràfic, Bioparc and the City of Arts and Sciences.
What if there are more than fourteen of us?
Write to us with the number of people and their ages, and we'll tell you how to fit everyone in.
Tell us who's coming
How many of you there are, their ages and the dates you have in mind. We answer ourselves, the same day.