It is hard not to enjoy the complete independence of self-catering. There is nobody to please, nobody to tease out one’s life story. I enjoy the sheer casualness of it all; the rare freedom can be exhilarating. And I especially enjoy a self-catering break when I want to be alone with my family.
My ideal holiday morning might go like this…
I am the first out of bed. If the sun is shining and the sea is near, I lay a table on the terrace for breakfast, tuck the bread into the oven, chop grapes and papaya into the melon – and then nip down to the water for a vigorous tour of the bay by breast-stroke. Back in the kitchen, dripping the sea onto the floor, the coffee on, I retrieve the warm bread and rouse the others – a cup of coffee for each one. Breakfast could come at lunchtime, lunch could come at six – we dance to our own tune.
I really don’t like the expression ‘self-catering’
I associate the word ‘catering’ with grim, or mass-produced, food. But our collection of 1200 very special self-catering places is a world away from the soulless, unloved holiday homes associated with the word. We have chosen them for being different. They have, we hope, some of the personality of their owners.
We offer you soul – stacks of it. To have found these places yourself you would have had to dedicate large chunks of a lifetime to research. We have done the hard work for you; we have visited each and included it because we like it. All you have to do is exploit our hard work – and enjoy the results.