What a villa week actually costs
Line by line, with the extras included rather than revealed later.
A villa is quoted at a weekly rate. The weekly rate is not what the week costs. This is not a scandal, exactly — it is how the market has always worked — but it produces a predictable and avoidable shock, and it is worth setting out plainly.
The quoted rate
Take a well-specified Cap d’Antibes house in August at a headline rate of €60,000 a week. That figure is the rent. It typically includes the house, the pool, and a weekly change of linen. It typically does not include anything else.
What sits on top
- Tourist tax. Per person, per night, set by the commune. Small, but it is not in the quote.
- Cleaning and turnover. Usually a fixed charge, sometimes daily housekeeping billed separately.
- Utilities. On some contracts, particularly for longer lets, electricity and pool heating are metered and charged at the end.
- Staff. A chef, a housekeeper, a butler and a driver are four salaries for the period, plus their food and often their accommodation. A private chef alone will typically run into four figures a week before the shopping.
- The shopping. Provisioning a house of ten for a week is a real number and nobody quotes it, because it depends entirely on what you eat.
- The security deposit. Held, refundable, and often substantial. It is not a cost, but it is cash you have to move.
- The agency’s commission. Usually twenty to thirty per cent, paid by the owner out of the rent. You do not see it. It is nonetheless the reason you were shown this house rather than another one.
Yacht charter, for comparison
The arithmetic is worse and more predictable. A charter fee attracts French VAT at twenty per cent, reduced pro rata only where time outside French and EU waters is properly evidenced. On top of that sits the Advance Provisioning Allowance — fuel, food, berthing, harbour dues, local taxes and agents’ fees — customarily twenty-five to thirty per cent of the fee, and sometimes more. Crew gratuities are conventionally around ten per cent.
So the working rule is straightforward: quote a French-waters charter at roughly one and a half times the headline fee. A €200,000 week is a €300,000 week. Anyone who tells you the headline and stops has told you a third of the story.
The broker’s commission — conventionally fifteen per cent of the charter fee, though many houses pay twelve — is paid by the owner. Again, you never see it, and again, it is part of why that boat was on your shortlist.
Why we set it out this way
From April 2025, revealing mandatory charges progressively rather than up front has been unlawful in the United Kingdom. That is a good rule and it should have been the norm anyway.
Our own arrangement is simpler than any of the above. We are paid an annual membership fee, published on the membership page. We take no commission from any villa agency, broker or owner, and we do not mark anything up. When a supplier invoices you, you pay what they charge and you see the invoice.
That does not make the villa cheaper. It means that when we tell you a house is worth the money, there is nothing behind the recommendation except the recommendation.
JADAMA is a private membership house for Monaco, Cannes and the French Riviera. One manager to six members, response within fifteen minutes, and no commission from suppliers.
What membership costs