venue discussion Mittenzia / Wanten / Ovenmits '10

[DutchMarco]

OK all, I think it's now long enough after Miamittens to start thinking about the next Mittens. As the list of links might suggest, I've put in a half- decent amount of thinking (not too much, of course; I've mostly been browsing the interwebs and asked my Italian colleague for some help, regarding the Italian possibilities. I've been inspired by the suggestion of staying in a castle, and I've found a few, but not in the Netherlands though. In fact, I've not found that many suitable places over here, there are a few, but mostly the venues are rather small (like this country as a whole - apart from politicians egos :-/ ) so they wouldn't fit ±25 persons like the Hollywood house (or the chateau) and when typing in a Dutch search term in Googol, I quickly end up i nBelgium and most likely then in the Ardennes - which was a nice place, but we've already done that. If we go back to France, I think we should be in another part of the country - I'm not opposed to going back to France!
Also, I've looked for "Casa Vacanza per venti persone" (or was it "persona"?) - 20 people's holiday residences in Italy. Anyway, there area lso a few British holiday hangouts (castles), I'm all up for those too! Also for the nice Villa's in Italy, no castello though.

Anyway, ladies and gentlepeople of other genders (if any), take your pick! One downside of the Italian villas might be trying to locate them on a map or in the country, since I might just be typing in wrong addresses in Googol Maps, but I always end up with a possible choice of 3 locations/coordinates. But I'm sure that can be solved.

And before you ask: Mittenzia is a jokular Italization of Mittens, Wanten is Dutch for Mittens and ovenmits, well, there are some British castles here too, they'll most likely have ovens....

http://www.celticcastles.com/a_to_z.asp

20pers:
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/amhuinnsuidhe/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/augillcastle/
http://www.celticcastles.com/chateaux/chateau-des-briottieres/
http://www.yourtuscanvilla.com/luxury_villa_tuscany_rental/profile.htm
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/ross-castle/
24 pers:
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/birkhill-castle/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/venlaw/
http://www.celticcastles.com/chateaux/chateau-de-jallanges/
http://www.celticcastles.com/chateaux/chateau-de-la-barre/
26pers:
http://www.celticcastles.com/unique/corsewall-lighthouse/
http://www.celticcastles.com/chateaux/hattonchatel-chateau/
approx 22people
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/craigrownie-castle/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/eastnorcastle/
misc:
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/lachlan/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/castle-law/
http://www.celticcastles.com/chateaux/chateau-de-pomiro
from approx 30 pers and up:
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/comlongon/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/cringletie/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/culcreuch/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/dundas-castle/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/glenskirlie-castle/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/glin/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/mansfield-castle/
http://www.celticcastles.com/castles/portlick-castle/
http://goitaly.about.com/od/castlesinitaly/tp/italy_castles.htm
http://www.italofile.com/2009/04/08/tuscan-castle-vacation-from-799/
http://www.ardennentop.be/Presbytere.htm
http://www.yourtuscanvilla.com/tuscany_private_villas/list/rating/list.

I'm just proposing some possible venues here (since otherwise we'll be arguing well into '11 about where to host Mittens '10)

Because I really dug the stay in a castle idea, I've also compiled a list of castles including British ones, see above. Since the idea of staying in a castle sounds more important to me than either Holland or Italy, I've proposed these venues. I suggest that we all go and find (European)venues and post them here, whichever venue gets liked (by) most, we'll use, whereever it is. That seems like the best/fastest way to go about it.

Looking for castles/farms/etc. in NL:
http://www.vakantieineenkasteel.nl/zoeken.html

This one looks nice and big enough (23 pple)
http://www.belvilla.org/presentation.php?Huiscode=NL-4527-04&cat=10&countryid=nl&ec=direct_nl&frames=nee&fromnumberpersons=11&Lo=vakink&periodid=1w&Pt=travisi=nl

Bu this one looks most like a castle and therefore coolest (24 ppl):
http://www.belvilla.org/presentation.php?Huiscode=NL-4527-04&cat=10&countryid=nl&ec=direct_nl&frames=nee&fromnumberpersons=11&Lo=vakink&periodid=1w&Pt=travisi=nl
1 week â,¬1972, sorry it its rather a long way removed from Amsterdam, but your plane will most likely arrive and leave from there though, so you could come a little sooner and leave a little later and see if the place is all it's cracked up to be, (cracked down might be the case, since some people have negative opinions about it).
I must say that this is my favourite of all the Dutch venues.


Max 32 pple:
http://www.belvilla.org/presentation.php?Huiscode=NL-7121-02&cat=10&countryid=nl&ec=direct_nl&frames=nee&fromnumberpersons=11&Lo=vakink&periodid=1w&Pt=travisi=nl

[Becky]

Marco! You seem to have missed this pre-planning thread:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=38220.0

Just thought I'd point you to the discussion so far

[DutchMarco]

This one is an option too:
http://www.belvilla.org/presentation.php?Huiscode=IT-06010-12&cat=10&countryid=it&ec=direct_nl&frames=nee&fromnumberpersons=11&Lo=vakink&periodid=1w&Pt=travisi=nl


including pool instead of moat! And it's in Italy, so it might even be warm enough to swim in it.
ax. 22 persons - pets though on the house's detail page it says no pets! Not that we care, no dogs/bitches expected at an event like Mittens)

Torre di Celle - Tutto / Place: Monte S. Maria Tiberina

3 apartments + 1 tower

including: ground floor:
3 living rooms (TV, fireplace, VCR, Stereo)
3 open kitchens with microwave, dishwasher, laundromat
3 bedrooms (2-persons bed)
1 bedroom (2x 1-persons bed)
3 bathrooms (shower, sink, toilet, bidet)  I foresee that to be used in very unadult ways, at least verbally/suggestively

1st floor:
licing room(TV, fireplace, VCR, Stereo)
open kitchens with oven, microwave, dishwasher
living kitchen (Fireplace, oven, microwave)  | don't ask me what a living kitchen is! It's well-equipped though.
bedrooms (2-persons bed)
bedroom (2x 1-persons bed)

Cleaning service: â,¬250

Oh, I believe the hills are also included in the rent.
Downside of this place, is that even if we're all close together when in the different houses, we will be in different houses (with a tower! Who knows how to make parachutes of umbrella's?
(yes, I DO foresee the temptations to do silly/hazardous things with it)

[Dualnames]

I don't really mind over the place that much, since it's not Greece anyway, and since I'm going to come to my first mittens no matter what (as long as its scheduled when I get my vacation period off work).

I'd like to know how much does it go from money though and I think it would be wiser to round up the choices a bit.

But I'd love to scream "Wow" on this one though:
http://www.belvilla.org/presentation.php?Huiscode=NL-4527-04&cat=10&countryid=nl&ec=direct_nl&frames=nee&fromnumberpersons=11&Lo=vakink&periodid=1w&Pt=travisi=nl

[m0ds]

Yes, that place is awesome! A good find so far! Besides storms I'm sure the weather will be just fine, so a place like that with epic outside views & just a nice large outdoor space would be awesome. Does it come with stinky animals and kids everywhere though? I haven't looked at the others, but that's a hell of a list!

[DutchMarco]

Ah yes, I apologise for the large list, But in my defense I must add that I divided the options by sleeping capacity, so if we can decide upon how many people will (most likely) be Mitticians this year (I'd say ±25 would be a safe guess) we could narrow down the choice. And I must say that the Italian villa you refer to looks awesome, the only downside I see (and it's quite a big one in my eyes) is that it doesn't have one common room, but several, they may be close by, but I still have teh feeling that his would be sub-optimal, so this fact alone has demoted this evnue to the bottom of my personal list. But that's just me gibbering. As enticing as an Italian holiday looks, (I don't seem to have the links ready anymore, which my Italian colleague mailed me (I'll have a look in my work e-mail), those were some very nice residenzas (I hope I haven't insulted anyone Italian with that word!) my current favorite would be the Elderschans (the one Dualnames screamed "Wow" at) Though any of the British castles are high on my list too! Though oddly enough you have to look carefully so as not to pick the ones which only sleep 2. A whole f-wording castle for 2? That's insane! Ah yes, that would be British aristocratic excentricity for you, mah dear.

Oh BTW mods, I havent' seen any mention of animals, only that there don't seem to allow pets.

[m0ds]

I wasn't bashing it, it's not like anyone else has listed any locations yet

The one I liked is the same as Dualnames, so thats 3 out of a prospective 30

[abstauber]

I second Dual's post. The date is much more important for me than the place, because I have to send in my vacation plans in on october this year

Oh I'd love to go to Holland

[DutchMarco]

I just found the links my Italinan collague found on thee interwebs for me, they look rather cool so I thought I' dtoss them in the thread:
Search term used: Una casa vacanze per 20 persone. (accomodation for 20 persons)

<http://www.interhome.it/Casa+di+vacanza/Italia/Cilento/Paestum/IT6090.800.1/IT-IT.html?lCode=IT-IT&dtCheckIn=2010-07-03&duration=14>
<http://www.interhome.it/Casa+di+vacanza/Italia/Lucca_Pisa/Orciatico/IT5249.800.8/IT-IT.html?lCode=IT-IT&dtCheckIn=2010-07-03&duration=14>

[LimpingFish]

Any plan that can possibly bring Mittens to Ireland is a plan I can get behind!

Of the Irish castles mentioned in DutchMarco's first post, Portlick would be seriously cool, but we'd be talking â,¬17,500 for a seven-day stay. For, say, twenty four Mitteneers, it would work out at...â,¬750 a head? But it does come with it's own minstrel's gallery, so Tull fans can party like it's 1975!

Ross Castle would be a cheaper alternative (and it's in brown trout country!).

Both are close to Dublin.

Other, reasonably priced locations include:

http://www.beaufortireland.com/ (â,¬5000+, up to 30 pers)
http://www.castlerentals.net/Ireland/blackwater.html (â,¬8500, 18 pers)
http://www.castlerentals.net/Ireland/lisdonagh.htm (â,¬8000, 20 pers)

But Portlick would be sweet.