On a good day, you could see as far as the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Gaucín, a picturesque medieval town dating back to the 12th century, was a short drive away, and had the kind of small local establishments that make shopping pleasurable. The garden was enormous and beautiful.

Judging by the gardening books in the well-stocked bookshelves, it must have been landscaped by the English owner, an interior designer with a taste for shabby chic. The house was spacious, with two large double bedrooms big enough to avoid any guilt or envy and three other rooms that easily accommodated seven children.

Most significantly, it came with a full-time cook. Thus, we avoided any brush with that other well-known holiday flash point: cooking meals. How much to pay? Who should cook? What and when should they cook? All these questions were removed from the equation by our non-resident cook, Claire Bailey-Lomas, a fantastic chef and font of local knowledge.

She arrived on our first day and announced that she would be cooking a fusion of Spanish and Moroccan cuisine, which she would aim to serve at the same time every day (apart from at the weekend). This is the first time that we have ever been cooked for on holiday and largely accounts for the fact that I managed to read three books in less than a week.

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BACKGROUND

• 5 top tips: family holiday savings

• 10 top family holidays

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• Ask our expert: child-friendly cottages

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It also pays to rent villas from a reputable company. CV Travel is the doyen of the European villa landscape and we have travelled with them before, as have other friends, and the reports are always excellent. They have unrivalled local knowledge and know exactly what people want from their holiday. Their houses are impeccably clean and invariably the kind you would buy if you had the money.

This is not always the case. We once had an experience with a Corsican specialist where the local villa rep tried to persuade us that the Corsican rats that had taken up residence were completely different to those anywhere else in the world. As she had also directed

us to the only bad meal we had there, and suggested that we read the instruction manual for the fridge when we wanted her to mend it, we’d already lost faith. So when the CV Travel brochures start tipping through the letter box, we’ll be reviewing them closely.

CV Travel (020-7384 5894; www.cvtravel.co.uk) features a wide choice of properties in Europe, Morocco, South Africa and the Caribbean. A week’s rental of Casa Gandolfo for up to ten people, including the services of a cook, costs from £2,225 to £4,795, excluding travel

TIPS FOR VILLA SHARES

Don’t go with another family just because the adults get on.

Don’t get drawn into competitive cooking.

Don’t go with anyone who takes a nanny if you don’t have one.

Don’t go with a high-energy family if you are lounge lizards.

Don’t go with anyone who is on a diet.

Do take turns with the cooking, or better still, get a cook.

Do share costs and agree on a budget.

Do make sure your children get on before you book a holiday together.

Do make sure you have similar views on children’s bedtimes.

Do go with children of a similar age.

Villa holidays can be a fantastic experience or something of a disappointment; it all hangs on the standard of the property. Pick the right villa operator and you’re ahead from the start. As well as CV Travel, if you’re looking for a cosy cottage in the UK, Rural Retreats (01386 701177; www.ruralretreats.co.uk) offers a high standard of picture-book cottages, town houses and larger properties.

If you want to go super-plush, with nannies, cooks and assorted staff, try Scott Dunn (020-8682 5000; www.scottdunn.com). Further afield than the Med, Carrier (0161-491 7630; www.carrier.co.uk) has a global portfolio of some of the most desirable holiday villas on the planet, from Anguilla to Zambia, and Elegant Resorts (01244 897000; www.elegantresorts.co.uk) has a similarly reliable level of property.

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