Accommodation only vacations

Barbecues on the beach, sharing the spoils of a fishing trip with village fishers, shorelines fringed by forests of noisy birds: not all our beach resorts provide perfect peace, and that’s what makes them great. Banish the thought of an enormous, faceless beach resort that prevents local people enjoying their own shorelines. Instead, enjoy small, locally owned hotels that are happy to share the shorelines. It means you get to meet people as you go, find out the best snorkelling spots, get the best weather report and the tide timetable, and get first dibs on catch of the day, too.

“How on earth did you find this place?” someone asks, as the trees part and you find yourself on the doorstep of a sleepy Portuguese quinta, a crumbling farmhouse, or a chic eco-retreat. With our selection on the site, we’ve made our rural accommodation easy to discover. Now you know where to look you can enjoy magical hinterlands that are walking and cycling wonderlands. Expect farm stays, forest stays, rental bikes and perhaps even a saltwater pool. We focus on locally owned properties where the family farm might be just next door, and where there is a wealth of local knowledge to supplement your stay, so you can enjoy solace and quiet, fully supported. They might be off grid – they might still have all the mod-cons – but they share our commitments to benefitting local nature and communities.

Our ecolodges are built with intense awareness for the debt they owe their locations. They serve as bases for conservationists and researchers, act as hubs for rural communities and provide employment – often for Indigenous communities for whom there are few other nearby opportunities. Our ecolodges are built with the natural environment in mind – whether that’s using local building materials and aligning with the special architecture of a village, or using traditional construction techniques – and employing local craftspeople to oversee their creation. They might use solar panels, recycle rainwater, source food from their front yards, and supply toiletries from local businesses. They might be locally owned – they will almost certainly employ local staff and guides.

Have you stayed in a tipi or yurt before? What about a cool cave, or a wilderness cabin? A treehouse, or a whole rainforest? Our selection of unusual places to stay might seem unusual if you’re used to four walls and a roof, but they are often very typical for the regions in which they’re based – providing authentic immersion in a community or an ecosystem. There are glamping pods with panels open to the night sky so you can see constellations or the Northern Lights, and mud huts that use traditional building techniques where there is wood in short supply – offering a cool retreat from the heat of the day. Wherever you go in the world, our unusual places to stay ensure you’re sleeping in style.