Villa or hotel? From private infinity pools, room to roam, and everything you want on speed dial, we weigh in on the great debate to help you find the right stay for your next holiday.
There comes a point during a holiday when a hotel room starts to feel very much like a hotel room and you begin to crave for a place that feels more like home. I should know — I spend a good part of my year in hotels, reviewing them for my own travel platform Two Keys and featuring them in articles I write for Travel + Leisure, Vogue Living, South China Morning Post and more.
Let’s put it out there: I’m what you’d describe as a hotel addict but I love villas and vacation rentals equally, too. I’m not just saying the latter because I’m the Head of Editorial of The Luxe Nomad, but because villas and other self-contained accommodation like chalets and condo-hotels are better in providing that home away from home feeling that I look for especially when exploring the world with my toddler in tow.
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That said, when I’m travelling for work in a city like London, I want the ease of a hotel and the predictability of my evening routine when I’m on a solo business trip: a room service club sandwich with a side of Netflix, a long soak in the bath and a face mask afterwards, and a very rare early night.
When I’m travelling with my extended family or a group of friends in a more rural setting, I almost always go for a villa or vacation rental wherever the destination. Primarily because it offers both the space to be together and space apart (more on this later), and a kitchen to boot.
So perhaps the question isn’t whether villa or hotel is better than the other, but who you’re travelling with and how you want this particular holiday to feel. Two ways to stay, two different experiences: what you choose really boils down to how you envision your holiday. Let’s check in.
The case for hotels: Design-led escapes that plug you right into the destination
A smartly dressed bellhop whisking away my bags. A grand lobby with creative bouquets and ornate chandeliers. A butler — if you’re lucky — looking after every single detail before you’ve even thought of it. Even after hundreds of check-ins through the years, the romance of a great hotel still gets me.
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I have a particular weakness for historic hotels and grande dames, where the interiors come with stories and the staff regale me about who once stayed there (I’ve discovered that Ernest Hemingway and Oscar Wilde travelled a lot in their day). I’m equally drawn to inventive adaptive reuse properties: an old bank vault turned bar, a former church that is now a restaurant, or a 16th-century palazzo reborn as a budget breaking hotel.
Another big pull is design. I love a hotel that commits to a point of view, one that understands the theatre is part of the pleasure of checking in. A lobby that could pass for an art gallery? Count me in. A tribute to Art Deco from the cocktail glasses to the room sconces? Absolutely my cup of tea. For me, the best hotels aren’t necessarily the most luxurious but those that have a distinct personality.
Looks aside, the food and drink is equally important. I prioritise spending my hard-earned cash on hotels with a brilliant in-house bar or restaurant. There’s something satisfying about lingering over a meal, ordering another cheeky glass of wine because my bed is only a lift ride away.
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Hotels have an energy that’s hard to recreate in a private house, too. Every hotel lobby has its own rhythm — a constant flow of people arriving and leaving — which makes it a good place to settle in with a laptop and pretend I’m in an office. In the morning, there’s the hum of breakfast and the scent of freshly baked pastries drifting through. Come evening, everyone is shaking the day away with a martini or another tipple (I mean, that’s why it’s called a happy hour right?). And then there’s the location: the best hotels put you right in the thick of things, with the city at your doorstep or a charming local restaurant steps away.
As you can probably tell, I tend to gravitate towards hotels for shorter city trips or a quick countryside escape when I’m travelling solo or with my husband and son as a family of three. Give me a few nights in Tokyo or Paris and I want to spend most of the day out, eat exceptionally well, have a drink downstairs, then return to a room that has put itself back together while I was gone. I’ll give extra points for a robe fluffier than my own and a lovely sweet treat at turn down — that little bit of hotel magic never gets old.
The case for villas: Effortless escapes and quality time together (but not that together)
Checking into a villa or chalet has a way of feeling like home almost immediately. Once inside, it’s less about a big-name designer — though at The Luxe Nomad, you’ll find properties by the likes of Alexis Dornier and Riccardo Tossani — and more about a certain atmosphere: spaces designed to be lived in, not simply admired.
Having grown up in Asia, I’ve stayed in my fair share of villas through the years. For me, the best luxury vacation rentals make you feel, however briefly, that this amazing space is actually yours. With my family, that illusion lasts until about the end of day one, when hats, scarves and more are strewn across the sofa and the dining table is filled with various fruits and snacks bought nearby.
Hotels may boast buzz, but it can never rival the privacy of your very own villa or chalet. Here, you really do have the whole place to yourselves. The pool is yours. So is the living room, the garden, the yoga shala, the hot tub, sauna, the rooftop bar… you get the drift. And with all that space comes the freedom to call the shots: a swim before breakfast, brunch anytime, cocktail hour starting at 2pm (you do you!), or dinner whenever everyone finally appears. There are no opening hours, no last orders and no need to coordinate with anyone but your own group.
It’s also the kind of place where everyone can let their hair down. The children can be loud, the adults can stay up late, and everyone can gather without being together all the time. For multigenerational families, that kind of experience is hard (or impossible) to recreate across a corridor of hotel rooms. Having your own long al fresco table beats coordinating with everyone to meet at the breakfast buffet at 8:30am; particularly when several members of my family still operate firmly on Filipino time.
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Children make the case stronger. Separate bedrooms mean bedtime doesn’t sentence the parents to whispering beside the minibar. Your own kitchen means the early risers (read: the little ones) can have their bowl of cereal and fruit without waking the grandparents. Nobody needs shoes, a key card and a lift ride before the day can begin.
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A common misconception is that you don’t get hotel-level service at villas. Maybe that’s the scene elsewhere but at The Luxe Nomad, having a place of your own doesn’t mean doing it all yourself. Here, you have a team that makes a holiday really feel like one: a private chef who remembers how you like your eggs, staff who reset the house, plus a villa manager who can arrange dinner, a boat trip, or a massage therapist for a much needed sparty (my kind of partying).
So, once our group needs more than two hotel rooms, a villa often starts to make financial sense. But math is only part of it. You’re not simply booking bedrooms; you’re creating room for everything that happens on a holiday. And with my extended family and group of friends, quite a lot happens in between.
Villas versus Hotels: So, which one wins?
When choosing whether to book a hotel or a villa, start with the people coming with you.
A villa makes sense when the goal of the trip is to spend time together: family holidays, reunions, celebrations, groups of friends and longer stays where people want a little more room and a whole lot of privacy. Having a proper home away from also allows you to live — and even cook — like a local.
A hotel, on the other hand, works brilliantly when you want to be in and out: shorter trips, city stays, solo travel, weekends for two. I also like it for holidays where you want to check into a stay that’s a portal to the destination, that’s if you pick hotels that aren’t just a room for the night, but cultural immersion in itself.
That being said, there’s no reason a single trip has to choose one side.
A few days in a hotel can suit the part of the holiday spent seeing, eating and doing. A villa afterwards gives everyone space to settle in, spread out and stop checking the time.
In the end, the difference isn’t really a reception desk versus a private gate. It’s what happens between waking up and going to bed.
Made your choice and thinking of a luxury villa or private chalet this time? Start here:
A Cheat Sheet to the Best Family Friendly Villas in Asia
Babymoon Bound: The Perfect Island Escape for Soon-to-Be Parents
Phuket vs Koh Samui: How to Pick the Right Island Getaway in Thailand
Winter Sun Beach Holiday in December: Bali and Koh Samui’s Best Swimmable Beaches