A few weeks ago we published two posts on the wide range of reasons Home Base Holidays gave for arranging home swaps. One of our most experienced home exchangers, Marilyn Martin, left a comment with another good reason - a get-together for a family celebration:
'We have been exchanging homes since 1975, at first with family members and then in 1981 we had our first "public" exchange. Over the years we`ve had over 70 swaps, at first with our young family, then on our own, and in recent years with friends or extended family.
In May this year we have a double family birthday celebration and would like to spend a weekend with all our family together. With this in mind can we send out a special plea to anyone out there with a home large enough to accommodate 4 couples and 2 small children? (We can bring beds for the children if necessary).
We offer our traditional country cottage in beautiful Cumbria, convenient for the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, York and Scotland. 3 bedrooms sleep 6 but we have a sofa bed, Z beds and cot if needed. We are happy to bring bed linen or launder our exchangers linen as we realise this may be an unequal swap.
The weekend we would like is 13 - 15 May, or a few days either side if required. We offer a straight swap for that period plus a non-simultaneous swap of up to 6 days between 15 and 20 March so in effect this is a 2 for 1 offer!
Ideally we need a home 2-3 hours drive from Cumbria so are looking for Scotland, North Wales and the Northern counties of England. Look forward to hearing from anyone who may be interested in a country weekend.' - Marilyn Martin, HE19593.
Note: Shortly after leaving the comment above, Marilyn sent an update:
'I would just like to add that after posting my comment here a few days ago, Lois sent me some valuable advice on searching for a suitable swap. I followed her advice and after only one email I found our ideal swap for a family weekend. Thank you Home Base!'
It was great to hear that Marilyn and husband John had found a suitable home for their family reunion weekend so quickly. This is the advice given to Marilyn:
As you need to find a home large enough to accommodate 4 couples and 2 small children, one of the best ways to narrow your search results to the most likely offers is to click 'Show more options' under the search box when you browse listings from your member area. You will need to search on England one county at a time (then do separate searches for Scotland and Wales).
Once you select England and a county, choose 10 from the drop down list beside 'Homes which accommodate' and any other important criteria (e.g. 'Children welcome' and 'Weekend exchange') and then click Search.
General Note on Searches: Although the more open you can be, the more choice of exchange offers you will have, the Detailed Search options provide a number of ways to limit results to the homes most likely to suit your particular needs.
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