{"id":2331,"title":"This Travel Trend Changed How I Vacation With My Family","slug":"this-travel-trend-changed-how-i-vacation-with-my-family","lang":null,"description":"On the night before Thanksgiving, my family and I pulled up to Villa des Trois Clochers, a five-bedroom estate in Champagne, France. We arrived from a medieval town in Burgundy, where we’d sojourned in a $150-a-night Airbnb—charming, certainly, but a far cry from the three-story stone mansion with light-blue shutters and bright-white Juliette balconies awaiting us in Villers-Allerand. Our palatial digs, built in 1924 and surrounded by vineyards, were halfway between Épernay and Reims, and a 15-minute drive from the Royal Champagne Hotel.","content":"

We arrived to find two string light–covered Christmas trees flanking the entrance and another in the living room, where framed photos of our family lined the mantle, and chess, backgammon, blocks, and books had been neatly arranged for my toddler son. “It’s supposed to feel like your house!” said Alison Muller, the villa's guest experience manager, as she showed us around, pointing out the child essentials that her team had already stocked: milk in the fridge, a crib and sleep sack, plates, bibs, and even a practice toilet. Every morning, Muller would come to lay out our breakfast—an elaborate spread of fresh-squeezed grapefruit and orange juice, assorted viennoiserie (including a pain Suisse I was particularly fond of), and an artful arrangement of fruit. The villa also seemed to have an endless supply of exquisite Leclerc Briant Champagne, produced in Épernay from the vines we could see out the kitchen window.

$\"Dining$

The kitchen in Villa des Trois Clochers .

Joann Pai/Villa des Trois Clochers

\"Expanding our established villa portfolio was a natural extension of the way people want to travel today, driven by a growing desire for privacy and deep connection,” says Denise Dupré, founder and managing partner of Champagne Hospitality, which owns Royal Champagne Hotel and the new Château La Commaraine in Burgundy. The company also operates Le Barth Villas, which are part of their Le Barthélemy Hotel & Spa in St. Barths. The upscale Caribbean island is at the forefront of the hotel villa trend; nearby, Hotel Christopher already offers the $8,300-a-night Villa Saba.

Typically, Thanksgiving finds my brother and me arguing over oven space; he likes to make an oven schedule, but I feel it cramps my creative style. At Villa des Trois Clochers, there was a fully equipped kitchen that I didn’t touch this Thanksgiving. Instead, Royal Champagne Hotel's executive chef Christophe Raoux served us pumpkin soup, turkey stuffed with foie gras and truffles, and pecan pie. I missed the mise-en-place entirely, because I was reading in the sauna at the Royal Champagne spa while my husband got a massage and my sister-in-law watched our son. (In the meantime, the chef, presumably, stuffed an attractive bird with distinctly French trimmings.)

$\"A$

One of the villa's guest rooms.

Joann Pai/Villa des Trois Clochers

After dinner wrapped up and I’d put my son to bed, I poured myself a final glass of Champagne and played backgammon with my husband by the Christmas tree. In that moment, I finally realized why hotel-serviced villas have become such a thing in hospitality these days. These standalone homes provide access to all nearby hotel amenities—a gym, a spa, and the like—and are daily serviced by hotel staff. It is, undeniably, the best version of a vacation home.

“More and more hotels seem to have been inspired by the idea of staying in a private residence or at a friend’s villa to create personalized and contextual experiences,” says Martin Brudnizki, a renowned hotel designer, in an interview with Travel + Leisure. “People want to experience something exclusive just for them, so I think the concept of the hotel villa fits well within this feeling. It’s a fantasy world that’s fun to dip into for the length of a holiday.”

My first brush with this exquisite type of stay was at Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, in Portofino, Italy. Summer 2025 saw the debut of Villa Beatrice, among the first private vacation rentals by Belmond. The three-story villa, blending Gothic Revival with Art Nouveau style, was reimagined by Brudnizki. The palazzo has original ceiling frescoes, arched windows, a bar, and multiple terraces, one of which faces the Bay of Portofino as it meets the Bay of Paraggi.

“Our approach is not too dissimilar to our approach for hotels,” Brudnizki adds. “For hotel villas, we rigorously research the history of the building, and then, through local craftsmanship and art, we link it to the original hotel.”

$\"Luxury$

Villa Saba at Hotel Christopher.

Hugo Allard/Hotel Christopher

The trend has already taken off among the industry's major players. Mandarin Oriental is culling a portfolio of Exceptional Homes, which, while not necessarily linked to hotels, are appointed with amenities expected of the luxury brand. Examples include the eight-room estate Castello di Procopio in Umbria, Italy, housed in a restored 12th-century fortress. In 2025, One&Only also expanded its private home collection with new standalone rentals at One&Only Le Saint Géran in Mauritius, which will be followed by a similar offering at the new One&Only Moonlight Basin in Montana. And next month, Beaverbrook Estate in the U.K.’s Surrey Hills unveils Dower House, a five-bedroom estate with a helipad and a private chef nestled into the 400-acre resort.

More coming attractions: The Resort at Pelican Hill, A St. Regis Estate, will open in southern California in 2027 as part of the brand's new portfolio dedicated to \"estate living.\" Bulgari Hotels & Resorts will debut three-to-six bedroom mansions as part of its forthcoming Bodrum resort, also in 2027.

Nightly rates at Villa Des Trois Clochers start at $5,974, with a two-night

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