Three Generations, One House: Multi-Generational Villa Holidays in Asia
Grandparents, parents and children under one roof is the best kind of family holiday and the easiest to get wrong: the layout test that decides it, and the houses in Bali, Phuket, Koh Samui and Niseko that pass.
A holiday for three generations is the one trip where the house matters more than the destination. The grandparents want quiet mornings and a short walk to everything; the parents want a kitchen that works and a pool they can see from the table; the children want the pool, the lawn and each other. Put all of that under one roof and you get the best kind of family holiday. Get the house wrong and you get a week of stairs, shared bathrooms and a toddler’s nap that silences the whole building.
So before the view, the beach or the price, run the house through what we call the layout test. It is five questions, and an honest listing answers every one of them.
First, does every bedroom have its own bathroom? Count them, because bedroom numbers flatter: plenty of large houses ask eight bedrooms to share five or six bathrooms, which works for a group of friends and fails at seven in the morning with a grandmother waiting. En suite on every room is the single most useful line in a family listing.
Second, where are the stairs? Many of the best houses in Bali and Phuket climb a hillside or spread over three floors, and the room with the best view is often the one at the top. Ask which bedrooms sit on the living level, whether there is a lift, and how far it is from the bedroom to the table after dark.
Third, can the generations be apart as well as together? The houses that work best have a shared heart, a living room, a long table and a pool, with bedrooms set away from it in separate wings, pavilions or villas, so an early night and a late one can happen in the same house. Two villas behind one gate, taken together, are often the neatest answer.
Fourth, how does the house handle water? Look for a pool that can be seen from the kitchen and the table, a shallow end or steps, and a gate or fence where small children are involved. On a surf coast, ask how the sea behaves too: Bali’s west-coast beaches, and Phuket’s west coast in the May-to-October monsoon, have currents that call for care, and some days are for watching rather than swimming.
Fifth, who cooks, and who helps? Fourteen people eat three times a day. Find out whether the house has a cook or a chef, whether meals are included or charged separately, and whether babysitting can be arranged. The answers are set house by house, never by the word luxury on a listing.
In Bali, the house we would start with is Ocean Palm Estate in Pererenan, on Canggu’s quieter western edge. It passes the first test outright, with seven bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and terrace, for up to fourteen, and it has the shared spaces a group needs: a central garden, living pavilions that open onto the deck, one long table, and a jade-tiled lap pool with a jetted spa pool one step above it. The estate staff are there daily, and a private chef cooks on request, with meals charged separately. The beach is about five minutes away by car and the airport around 45 minutes. It is booked whole, by request, with a minimum stay of two nights, and five from 16 December to 10 January.
On Phuket, Villa Narissa above Kamala Beach is planned for exactly this: seven bedrooms for up to eighteen guests, with private bedrooms, a family room for children and adults, and open-plan living that runs out to the pool. Further north, across the Phang Nga line, the Jivana Beach Villas estate on Natai Beach is two six-bedroom beachfront villas and one of seven, each let on its own, so a large family can take Villa Ananda and a neighbouring villa and give each generation a house.
On Koh Samui, Inasia Beach Villa at Lipa Noi is two independent villas on one beachfront property, eight bedrooms between them, on a beach its listing calls child-friendly. It looks west over Lipa Noi to the offshore Five Islands, so the day ends with the sunset.
For a winter trip, Niseko works for three generations if the house does the work. The HakuVillas Super Penthouse in Upper Hirafu, two hundred metres from the gondola, spreads seven en-suite bedrooms for up to sixteen over three floors joined by a private lift, adds an en-suite nanny room, and comes with chalet hosts, a chauffeur and a private chef. For something smaller and quieter, Yukihyo in Soga is a five-bedroom house among birch and pine, with safe outdoor play areas and a Japanese bath, built for a large family or several smaller ones.
Whichever island, book the house before the flights. The large houses that pass the layout test are a small share of any island’s stock, and they go first in the school holidays and over Christmas. Send the desk the ages as well as the numbers (two grandparents in their seventies, four adults and six children from two to fourteen tells us far more than twelve guests) and we will come back with the houses that fit.
For more Bali houses that take a large family under one roof, see the large-group villas on The Luxury Bali, our sister site for Bali.
Plan the bedrooms for the grandparents and the pool for the children, and the parents will look after themselves.
The estate’s own site. Ocean Palm Estate keeps its own website, with the story of the house, its rooms and the full gallery: ocean-palm.com.
Tell the concierge who is coming, with ages as well as numbers, and when, and we will shortlist the houses that pass the layout test for your dates.
Good to know
What makes a villa good for a multi-generational holiday?
Its layout more than its size: a bathroom for every bedroom, bedrooms on the living level or a lift, a shared heart with bedrooms set apart from it, a pool that can be watched from the table, and a cook or chef so nobody spends the holiday in the kitchen.
How many bedrooms does a three-generation family need?
Usually one for each couple, one for every two children and a spare: two grandparents, three couples and six children typically need seven or eight bedrooms. Count the bathrooms too, because a bedroom without its own is the first thing to cause friction.
Where in Bali suits a three-generation group?
For up to fourteen, Ocean Palm Estate in Pererenan, on Canggu’s quieter western edge: seven bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and terrace, a central garden and a jade-tiled lap pool with a jetted spa pool, with the estate staff there daily. It is booked whole, by request, and is about five minutes from the beach by car.
Is Niseko suitable for grandparents and young children?
Yes, if the chalet does the work: choose a house close to the lifts or with a driver, with a lift or bedrooms on the living level, a drying room and a cook, and plan for the cold. Niseko’s season runs from December to March, with January bringing the deepest powder and the busiest weeks.
When should we book a multi-generational villa holiday?
As soon as the dates are fixed, and earlier still for school holidays, Christmas and New Year, when the largest houses go first. The houses that pass the layout test are a small share of any island’s stock.
