Question: We would like to rent a nice house or villa in France, within reasonable distance of the Channel ports, for our ruby wedding next summer and invite all the family for the week. We will be a party of up to 12 adults, although some are not staying for the complete week. The problem is finding accommodation for couples (who would appreciate en suite bathrooms) and not children. Somewhere near local markets would be lovely, a pool would be an appreciated luxury, and a dishwasher is essential.

Liz Okey, via e-mail

The Travel Doctor replies: One of your options would be to hire Le Castel (00 33 2 33 17 00 45, le-castel-normandy.com), a Napoleon III château in Normandy, which can be hired on a self-catering basis or with meals included. To rent the six en suite rooms costs £640 a night for self-catering or £751 a night for hotel service, which includes breakfast for up to 12 people.

Le Castel specialises in house parties, and an anniversary dinner with fireworks could be arranged. It’s an hour from Caen and Cherbourg (served by Brittany Ferries from Poole or Portsmouth), has a splash pool in summer, and there are markets on almost every day of the week in nearby towns and villages. And it does have a dishwasher.

If you hire on a B&B basis, you can have as many or as few rooms as you want each night. Rooms cost from £124 to £142 a night.

Or try Simply Château (0845 3899582, simplychateau.com), which has several larger properties on its books with six en suite bedrooms.

Times recommends

• New York hotels on sale in January
• Skomer Island, Wales: Britain's best job?
• Red Sea: the complete guide