A multigenerational trip sounds wonderful when everyone is discussing it over dinner at home. It becomes slightly more complicated when six people have different bedtimes, morning routines and opinions about what constitutes a reasonable breakfast hour.
Terre Blanche gives us unusually good tools for that problem. Even the suites begin with real living space, and the larger villas create the possibility of traveling together without requiring everyone to occupy the same room all day.
I saw that firsthand in my Premier Suite, and then on a much larger scale when our group spent an evening in one of the resort villas.
Why did my Premier Suite work so well?
My 60 square meter Premier Suite had a separate living room, a large bathroom and a terrace with enough furniture to actually spend time outside. The living room could easily become a children’s area with the pullout sofa while the bedroom remains a bedroom.
That may sound like a small distinction until you travel with children. Being able to close a door, read after bedtime or have coffee outside before everyone wakes up can improve a family vacation considerably.
What are the larger villas like?
The villa where I spent an evening had two bedrooms, a private pool and Jacuzzi, a dining room, separate living room and generous outdoor space surrounded by nature. It immediately made me think about milestone birthdays, friends traveling together and multigenerational families.
Terre Blanche currently has several larger villa categories, including two bedroom Prestige Villas and an even larger Villa Terre Blanche. The exact category matters when we are matching bedroom count and occupancy, but the more interesting idea is what these accommodations let a group do once everyone arrives.
Someone can go to bed early without ending the evening for everyone else. Grandparents can have quiet time while children are at the pool. A villa gives the group a center of gravity.
Why did the private villa dinner work so well?
We had a private dinner in the villa, and the atmosphere was completely different from our Michelin starred evening at Le Faventia. The villa dinner was casual. People moved around, talked more freely and settled into the space. It felt much more like an evening together than a restaurant reservation.
For a celebration, I would seriously consider doing both. Have the formal dinner when everyone wants to dress up and make an evening of it, then use the villa for the dinner where the point is really the group itself.
We also had a perfume making class arranged at the property through an outside provider. That is another advantage of having private space: experiences can sometimes come to the group. The resort can arrange a range of outside activities, so we are not limited to what physically belongs to the hotel.
Who benefits most from the villa setup?
Multigenerational families are an obvious fit, and I saw quite a few during my stay. I would also consider the villas for friends celebrating a birthday, couples traveling together, a small family reunion or anyone who wants resort services without living in a conventional hotel.
Many of the families I noticed were French. That gave the stay a little more local texture than a French resort where every conversation around the pool seems to be in American English.
Terre Blanche is not a rented farmhouse where you disappear into rural Provence and manage everything yourself. It is a full resort. For the right group, that is precisely the point. You get the privacy and living space of a villa with restaurants, spa, golf, childcare and a concierge team nearby.
Related reading
Related reading: Provence With Kids and Grandparents: Why Terre Blanche Works for Multigenerational Travel · Michelin Star Dining at Terre Blanche: Inside Le Faventia and a Very Different Villa Dinner · Terre Blanche Provence Review: Is This Luxury Resort Worth Staying At?
