Planning a Group Holiday: The Importance of Balancing Time Together and Space Apart
Planning a group holiday comes down to balance. You want enough time together to make it feel like a proper holiday, and enough space apart that nobody comes home needing a second one to recover. Most of what follows is small and practical, the sort of thing that is easy to overlook until you are halfway through the week. Each point comes back to the same idea: a group holiday works best when it is planned for both.
Start With the Occassion
A family reunion across several generations asks for something different from a week away with friends or a milestone birthday. Each has its own rhythm, and its own idea of how much time together feels right. A reunion might want long shared meals and a quiet corner for the grandparents. Friends might want late evenings around a table and mornings to themselves.
Settle the occasion first and the rest follows. The house you look for, the days you plan, and how much you leave open.
Choosing a Big Group Holiday Home
Spaces to Gather and Spaces to Retreat
The right house does much of the balancing for you. Look for generous shared spaces, such as open living areas with seating for everyone and a dining table long enough that nobody ends up at the far end. These are the rooms where the best moments tend to happen, usually without anyone planning them. A games room does the same job in a different way. At Starre Manor, the pool table, poker table and chess board give the group a second place to gather, so one living room doesn’t have to hold everyone at once.
Then look for the opposite. En suite bedrooms, a reading nook, a fireplace to settle beside with a book. At Lym House, the wood burners and the hot tub give people somewhere to slow down, together or alone. Small spaces like these let people step away for an hour and come back refreshed, which is often what keeps a whole week together feeling easy.
Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Layout of the House
A house’s sleeping number only tells you part of the story. Check how many bedrooms and bathrooms there are, which have doubles or twins, and which are en suite. Then think about who is actually coming. A multigenerational reunion may need a ground floor bedroom for grandparents, and parents with young children will want to be close to them. A milestone birthday cares more about big shared spaces. At Starre Manor, the Barn annex gives a couple or smaller family a place of their own, which is a good example of how layout can build in space apart.
If a dog is joining the holiday, check that the house welcomes them, as it is one less thing to negotiate. Both of our houses are dog friendly. The closer the house fits your group, the less anyone has to compromise on comfort or privacy.
Getting There: Parking & Car Sharing as a Group
Cars decide more about how a group holiday feels than you might expect. Sharing for the journey keeps arrivals simple and the group together, but having a spare car at the house means anyone can head off for a wander, a swim or a quiet coffee without organising a lift. That is time apart in its simplest form. So check how many cars the house can hold before you go, particularly in parts of the UK where parking is scarce.
If anyone is driving electric, check whether the house has EV charging, and ask about the charger type and any costs. It removes range anxiety on the way home and means nobody has to plan the week around a public charger.
Planning Meals for Your Group
Meals are where a group holiday is most naturally together, and where it can most easily go wrong. The trick is to share a few and leave the rest loose. Easy breakfasts and lunches give people the freedom to eat when and where they like. One or two shared dinners become the anchor moments of the week. That is why we’d suggest a self catering house, even if you don’t plan to cook every day: it lets you choose how much of each you want, and it leaves more of your budget for the things you came for.
Making Sure Everyone Is Included at the Table
A shared table only works if everyone can sit at it. Ask about allergies and dietary needs early, so everyone can eat safely and comfortably. Find out likes and dislikes, and agree who is happy to cook and who would rather clear up. Set a rough budget for meals out as well, so nobody feels pushed into an evening they hadn’t planned for.
Bringing in a Private Chef
A private chef for one evening is one of the easiest ways to create a shared moment. Dinner is cooked at the house, nobody has to book or travel, and the group can stay at the table as long as they like. We work with Mark Hix and Chiara Tomasoni, a MasterChef: The Professionals finalist, who can cook at our houses.
Plan a Few Moments Together
With a large group, it isn’t realistic for everyone to do everything together. Everyone has a slightly different idea of what the holiday should be. That is why it helps to agree on a few anchor moments across the week: an arrival dinner, a big day out, an evening set aside for opening a few bottles back at the house.
Keep them to a few. They are what make the week feel shared, and they only work if they stay special.
Leave Room for Time Apart
What happens between those moments matters just as much. Leave mornings open, so some people can sleep in while others head out for a coffee. Time apart doesn’t always mean time alone, although it can. It means an itinerary that isn’t so full that nobody has room to breathe.
At a family reunion, it might be the cousins heading to the beach while the parents walk the coast. With friends, it might be one person with a book in the garden while the others go for a long lunch. After a big celebration, a free morning makes the next evening better.
How much to plan depends on the occasion, the people you are with and how long you are staying. As a rule, plan a little less than you think you need.
Two Houses That Find the Balance
All of the above comes down to the house you choose. Ours were each set up with a group in mind, so there is always somewhere to gather and somewhere to step away.
Starre Manor, Beer
Starre Manor is a Tudor manor in Beer, made up of Starre House and the Starre Barn. For time together, the large living and dining spaces and the fully equipped kitchen give the group one table to come back to. The games room, with its pool table, poker table and chess board, gives everyone a second place to gather when the evening runs long.
For time apart, the Barn is a converted annex with its own private courtyard and a cast iron bath, a quiet place for a couple or smaller family to retreat. Along side two separate living rooms and three inglenook fireplaces across the house there is always a corner to cosy up to. The outdoor space leaves room to wander off with a coffee, and the South West Coast Path runs along this stretch of coast, a walk that suits a mixed group because anyone can turn back whenever they like.
Lym House, Lyme Regis
Lym House is a five bedroom Georgian house in Lyme Regis that sleeps ten. For time together, the large living and dining spaces, the two wood burners and the hot tub give the group plenty of reasons to end the day in the same place. For time apart, each couple or family has a room of its own, and the wood burners make it easy for someone to settle into a corner with a book while the others play a game.
The town does the same job outside. A guided fossil walk with Lyme Regis Museum makes a good shared morning, while the harbour, the Cobb and the town’s dog friendly cafes reward a slow wander on your own or in twos. If the weather turns, our guide to rainy days in Lyme Regis gives the whole group something to fall back on.