A remote work holiday home in Normandy

The house is connected to fibre, and the Wi-Fi covers the whole house, from the ground floor to the upstairs bedrooms. QR codes for logging on are waiting on the ground floor, so everyone connects on arrival without typing in an endless password. This is not a promise on paper. Guests have already come here to work remotely, and the place suits it precisely because it is quiet.

What we will not state: a speed figure, or any guarantee about mobile signal. If your job depends on a specific number, ask the Idylliq concierge service before you book. And as with any work trip, have a backup of your own for deadlines that cannot wait.

Another point of honesty: the house does not advertise a dedicated desk or study. You work in the living spaces, which suits most laptop-based jobs very well, and those that need two screens and a printer rather less.

Without a study, the house offers several possible workstations, each with its own use. The trick is to hand them out on the first evening, especially if several of you are working at the same time.

The trap of remote working from a rental is spending all day at the same table and forgetting why you came. Here the break is a few steps away. Over a hectare of enclosed grounds means a walk under the trees between two calls, lunch on the terrace, a coffee outside rather than in front of the screen.

The real change happens at the end of the day. The beaches at Veulettes-sur-Mer and Petites Dalles are 10 minutes away: shut the laptop at 6 pm and walk by the water before dinner. Our page on a holiday home near Veulettes-sur-Mer describes the seafront and parking. The more energetic head for the GR21, which runs along the clifftops, staying well back from the edge.

For the week's shopping, the shops in Cany-Barville are 10 minutes away, with a big market on Monday morning. An early slot before the first meeting is enough, and the fitted kitchen does the rest: induction hob, oven and dishwasher for quick lunches, a Nespresso machine and a kettle to keep the morning going.

A small team can come and work together for a few days: everyone has a room or a bed, the 2 bathrooms spare you the morning queue, and the long table serves as a meeting room by day and a dining room by night. House rules apply to work stays too: no parties with outside guests, and quiet outdoors after 10 pm. For group logistics, travel, meals and splitting costs, see our page on group accommodation in Normandy.

With a family, remote working takes a different shape. One parent works in the morning while the other takes the children to the beach, and you swap in the afternoon. The enclosed grounds let children play outside, but an adult still needs to be free to keep an eye on them: a wooded hectare cannot be supervised from a screen. Bring a headset for calls; the living area is open-plan, and voices carry.

The upstairs bedrooms have blackout curtains and the ground floor has electric roller shutters. Handy for anyone going to bed early to start the day early, and for cutting the glare of the sun on a screen.

Outside the high season the house can be booked from 2 nights. This is the best time for remote working: the coast is calm, and you can extend a weekend with two or three days of work. In winter the wood stove makes office days gentler; our page on a winter holiday home in Normandy describes those weeks from January to March.

Arrival is from 4 pm. If you are working on departure day, plan the morning around it: the house must be vacated by 10 am, so keep meetings for the afternoon, once you are home. From west Paris the drive takes a little over 2 hours; by train, Paris-Saint-Lazare to Yvetot takes about 1 hour 40, then 35 minutes by car to the house. Coming from England, the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry lands 55 minutes away.

In the high season the minimum stay rises to 7 nights, with the periods set out by Idylliq. A full week of remote work is still possible in that format, provided you book early for summer dates, which go first. For a remote work holiday home in Normandy, send Idylliq your dates and ask your practical questions at the same time.