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Homes & Villas

There’s a different way to holiday — one where the space is entirely yours, the pace is set by who you’re with, and where you stay becomes as much a part of the trip as the destination itself. A private home or villa gives every trip — whether it’s a family week in Bali, a group celebration in Italy, or a quiet escape closer to home — the space and freedom to actually unfold.

From apartments in coastal cities, private villas in Bali and Thailand, unique escapes that are worth booking for the property alone — this is your next holiday at its best.

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Hotel or Villa: How to Choose the Right Stay for Your Trip

More space, fewer compromises and locations hotels rarely reach – here’s what a private holiday villa actually gives you. The difference between a hotel and a villa isn’t really about the room. It’s about whether the space is yours. At sunrise in Seminyak, that means a private plunge pool – no competition for a sun lounger. […]

AsiaAustraliaHomes & Villas

The Ultimate Guide to Big Family Holidays

Juggling everyone’s needs – from toddlers to grandparents – isn’t easy, but a little planning goes a long way toward a great family holiday. Big family holidays can be the best of times – if you know how to plan them. From toddlers to grandparents, getting everyone on the same page (and in the same […]

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Inside Villa Skyfall: The Indulgent Lombok Hideaway That Has 007 Written All Over It

High in the hills of Kuta in Lombok is Villa Skyfall, a James Bond-themed residence that is so over-the-top luxurious it would suit either 007 or one of his feline-stroking nemeses. If you are going to hatch a nefarious plan to take over the world, there are worse places to do so than poolside at […]

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How to Plan a Family Holiday to Bali

From accommodation and activities to budget and travel tips, this is our foolproof guide to planning an incredible family adventure in Bali. With endless stretches of golden beaches, world-class resorts and family-friendly attractions, Bali is the ideal family holiday. But where do you start when it comes to planning – where should you stay, how […]

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The World’s Best Family Villa Stays

Taking each day at your own pace, private pools to play in and plenty of space for all: these are the world’s best family villa stays. For a home-away-from-home experience with all the luxuries of a hotel, a villa stay simply can’t be beaten – especially for families seeking a sense of seclusion away from […]

How to find the perfect private pool villa in Ubud, Bali. Dream by Luxury Escapes.

The Akasha Seminyak Bali Luxury Villas

What is a private villa holiday?

You’re not sharing a pool, a lobby, or a breakfast room with other guests — the whole property is booked exclusively for your group. That usually means a private pool, a full kitchen, multiple bedrooms, and living space that works like a home rather than a hotel corridor. The day starts when you want it to, meals happen on your terms, and the rhythm of the holiday bends to your group rather than the property’s timetable. For many travellers, that shift in pace is the thing that stays with them long after the trip.

Jewel of Akatarawa

The best private villa destinations

Bali has private villas to suit every group. Seminyak and Canggu are great for groups of friends who want a private base with easy access to beach clubs and restaurants, while Ubud suits families and couples looking for something quieter. In Thailand, Koh Samui‘s large villas make it a strong choice for families, while Phuket‘s clifftop positions suit couples and honeymooners after something more dramatic.

New Zealand has alpine villas near Queenstown for small groups who want landscape as the centrepiece, or coastal stays in the Bay of Islands for a slower, more domestic pace.

For something closer to home, look to New South Wales south coast and Queensland’s Whitsundays, for extended family trips where multiple generations need space to coexist comfortably.

And for milestone occasions — a significant birthday, a family reunion, an anniversary worth marking properly — Italy and Greece offer villa settings that are hard to replicate anywhere else: a stone farmhouse in Tuscany for a group who want to eat and drink their way through a week, or a whitewashed clifftop property in Santorini for a celebration that should feel genuinely different to an ordinary holiday.

Villa Tramonto

From apartments to unique escapes

Apartments suit couples or small groups who want a self-contained base in a city or coastal town — more space than a hotel room, a kitchen, and the ability to live at street level rather than in a resort compound. Bed and breakfasts and guesthouses sit at the more personal end of the spectrum: hosted stays where the accommodation is still private but the experience has more character than a serviced property tends to offer.

Unique escapes cover the stays that don’t fit a standard category — a converted barn, a treehouse, a heritage cottage, a property with a setting or story that’s the reason for the trip itself. And at the upper end, ultra lux properties offer the full complement: architecturally significant homes, staffed service, private pools and indoor-outdoor living spaces that match or exceed what the finest hotels provide. What connects them is the same principle — the space is yours, and the experience is shaped around your group rather than a property’s schedule.

Everything you need to know about holiday homes & private villas

What's the difference between a private villa and a hotel?

A hotel gives you a room within a shared property. A private villa or holiday home is the whole property — yours exclusively for the stay. The pool, the outdoor space, the living areas: none of it is shared with other guests. The trade-off is that you won’t have a resort’s breadth of on-site facilities. For many travellers, that’s precisely the point.

Is a villa holiday more expensive than a hotel?

Per person, often not — particularly for groups. Villas are priced as a whole property, so the cost splits across everyone staying. Four to six people sharing a villa frequently works out at a similar or lower per-head cost than the equivalent number of hotel rooms at the same quality level. Having a kitchen available can also reduce what you spend eating out, if that suits the group.

Do you have to self-cater in a holiday home?

Not necessarily. Many properties include daily housekeeping, and some include breakfast or other catering as part of the package. Having a kitchen doesn’t mean you have to use it — it’s there for the mornings you’d rather not go out, or the evenings when cooking together is part of the appeal.

How far in advance should I book a private villa?

For peak periods — school holidays, European summer, Australian coastal properties over Christmas and New Year — six months ahead is sensible for the most in-demand properties. The best villas book out earlier than most people expect. Shoulder-season travel is more forgiving, but it’s rarely worth waiting if you have fixed dates in mind.

Are private villas suitable for families with young children?

Many are, though it’s worth checking a few specifics before booking: pool fencing, ground-floor bedroom access, kitchen equipment, and how close the property sits to supermarkets or local food options if you’re partly self-catering. A private pool with no other guests around is often what makes a family holiday actually restful — but the right property for a family with a toddler looks different to one that suits teenagers.

Which type of holiday suits a private home or villa?

Longer stays benefit most. A week in a private villa gives you time to settle in — to find a routine, explore the neighbourhood at your own pace, and feel less like a visitor passing through. Families find the format practical in ways hotels rarely manage: kids can go to bed at their normal time while adults have an evening, the kitchen handles breakfast without a restaurant negotiation, and the pool belongs to everyone without the sun-lounger scramble. Groups of friends tend to find the same thing — that shared living space produces a different kind of holiday to adjacent hotel rooms, one where the evenings actually happen together. For couples on longer trips, the villa becomes a base rather than a room to leave.