The phone rings, the e-mail goes round and the die is cast: “We’re all going on holiday together this year!” Question is, are you thrilled to bits, or gripped with panic?

Are you thinking about the epic beach-cricket matches, the long walks and the boozy lunches, or are you worried about stifling a marital row because your mates are in the room next door, gritting your teeth when some unruly sprog keeps your kids up past midnight and absorbing your sister-in-law’s pity when your offspring run out of clean clothes on day three?

In these hectic times, the chance to get away with old friends and extended families might well be too precious to pass up – but the opportunity to get away from them, and relax with only your very, very nearest and dearest, is also one of life’s finest treats. So, what to do?

You find a “gathering place”. A growing response to a growing demand, such setups consist of self-catering cottages and conversions huddled close together, allowing families and friends to live as neighbours, but not as a commune, for the week or the long weekend.

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• A country house party for £13 a night

You get your own front door (and, for nonparents, you get other people’s screamers corralled two feet of Cotswold stone away), but you also get the sociable side of life.

We’ve tracked down 12 great examples of this burgeoning breed and checked out their rates and availability for Easter and high summer. That’s the easy bit – now all you have to do is spend about a month trying to synchronise everyone’s diaries ...

1PENBERTHY FARM
Cornwall

Deep into the narrowest last gasp of Cornwall, Penberthy Farm is well worth the epic drive. It’s a courtyard of three cottages created from restored barns, with access to a perfect energy-sapping meadow and gorgeous views over farmland.

There are Blue Flag beaches to your north and south, so, if you’re lucky with the weather, you’ll probably never notice the Country Life interiors and endless yards of exposed beams in these top-end pads, two of which have four beds and a cot, the third having five and a cot. It’s magical for a gathering with older kids: tots would love it too, but keep them clear of the pond.

Book us in: these are properties 2069, 1519 and 1520 from Classic Cottages (01326 555555, www.classic.co.uk). You can get all three during the Easter break; the two smaller pads go for £435 each, the larger for £513. There’s space in August, too, when rates are £792/£969.

2 RED DOORS FARM
Devon

Possibly the swankiest self-catering cluster in the West Country, this is a popular for milestone birthday parties. You can book up to seven cottages in a private hamlet in the Black-down Hills, with three diddy properties for couples and four larger pads sleeping up to eight.

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