The true story behind Villa Ragazzi

We decided to tell you our story, who we are, how we met, why we wanted to create what would become a reference for the gay community: Villa Ragazzi. It all started a little over 20 years ago, at the time I was Webmaster for a big insurance company, which explains why it's me, Cédric, who is writing these few lines today.

At that time I had arrived in Lyon a few years before. When I took my first apartment I immediately knew that I was not made to live alone, I had to have people at home! I started telling everyone I cared about that my door was open if they ever needed a bed. After a few months the situation overtook me and I found myself with new people every evening, which was not a problem, but when I was made to understand that my sexuality could be problematic for some , I kicked everyone out. Welcoming yes but uncompromising with tolerance. A few years later I met the one who would change my life forever...

Stéphane was at the time a figure in the Lyon gay community, he had a bar in which I met him regularly but his status as boss made him totally invisible to me. Until the evening of November 15, 2003 when he finally succeeded in catching my attention by using well studied stratagems. We never left each other since... Shortly after we met, he missed his first passion, cooking, and Stéphane decided to leave Lyon to take over a restaurant in the surrounding countryside. Of course I followed him, he taught me to carry more than 2 plates at a time (a feat lol) and I helped him with service in the evenings and on weekends. We stayed there for 3 years. And then one evening Stéphane told me about the crazy project he had in mind: to create a gay guest house in the south of France! He was waiting for he said "to meet the right person to do it together" (that was Me!). The idea of finally having a place where I could welcome people, with Stéphane's experience to establish a framework, completely thrilled me.

So I went for it. We visited 24 houses before finding the one that met all our criteria: the possibility of having independent access so that our guests could be totally independent, the possibility of having 5 bedrooms, a swimming pool... It must have been between Nîmes and Montpellier, for reasons of ease of access and the proximity of our friends at the time. We bought the house in 2007, I didn't want this house, I liked the structure but the extent of the work to be done to get what we wanted scared me. Once again Stéphane was right, he saw the full potential of the villa on the day of the visit. I started to work remotely, combining renovations during the day and webmastering at night. 2 years of hard work later we opened with 3 bedrooms, closing the winter season to start work again and open 1 then 2 additional bedrooms.

15 years later we are proud to still be there with more and more visitors from all over the world. Proud to have been able to create the space of tolerance and diversity that I had always dreamed of with a level of service at the height of a hotel / restaurant.

With us, all gays are welcome, and if you hear otherwise, it's a lie. With us, conviviality is essential, prejudices are put aside and the magic happens every time. All the guests at the tables d'hôtes that we organize every evening and the loyal customers that we have welcomed since the first year can testify to this. We wanted it "gay only" so that everyone can be themselves without being afraid of the gaze of their neighbors at the pool.

They can also tell you that no, the villa is not a place of debauchery in which everything is permitted in plain sight. Of course people meet and we are very happy to have contributed to marriages, but always with respect for the other residents.

But in the end, isn't the best way to get to know Villa Ragazzi to come and see for yourself? We are waiting for you, we love you and we hope to be with you for many more years.