I'm so excited we have booked our shared families villa holiday - Now what are your top tips for remaining friends ?

[rookiemater]

Yippee we are off to Majorca for a week in the summer. Lovely big villa 3 families with 4 children in total. My one slight concern is that we want to end up friends at the end of it, has anyone else done shared holidays, and what is their experience of it ?

draw up a rota of cooking and cleaning/dishwashing etc

Make sure you have individual family activities/outings as well as communal ones.

Agree ahead what you are going to do together and what you are going to do separately. Make sure you do a bit of babysitting for one another so that you can go out as a couple.

If one of you is getting cross about the arrangements then give them space. Don't have an argument with them.

Spend time apart in the days, and get back to supper to share your experiences over a bottle of wine. Every family does their own thing, unless by fluke you all want to do the same thing.

Make sure you agree who will be cooking, for who and when. Avoid the temptation to indulge in 'show off' cookery. Go out for the odd meal.

If you are going to share food, agree a kitty before you go, and what it will cover.

Take DVDs so the kids can have a Cinema in the evening, while the grown ups have some restfull wine and chat!

Agree loose rules re getting up with children, re rules for the children and re cooking.

Agree a kitty for stuff that everyone eats and drinks, eg bread, cheese, teabags, juice, water, wine etc.

Take turns to cook and clean up.

Don't feel obliged to do everything together, make sure you have the transport/ability to go out for days on your own. One hire car and 3 families = trouble.

Thanks everyone thats really good advice, particularly the bit about doing things apart in the day and the bringing DVDs, must check that villa has DVD player.