The best villas in Spain
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If you’re seeking space, privacy or the freedom to set your own schedule, taking over a private villa as your own is a hard-to-beat holiday experience. From a character-packed Mallorcan finca to a whizzed-up Ibizan hideout, we’ve rounded up the loveliest villas in Spain to rent this summer – each hand picked for their on-the-button locations, clever design and seal of approval from tried-and-trusted experts.
TRIED AND TESTED
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Albert LlorensMas Moli Petit
Figueres, Girona
Picture your dream Spanish villa, and it will probably look something like this. An hour north of bustling Barcelona, this masia is squirrelled away in a quiet corner of Figueres – the ancient town best known as Salvador Dalí’s birthplace. Perched on the edge of a private nature reserve, it's surrounded by the high gorges and vast fields of the Catalonian countryside, framed by the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees in the distance. The villa is a converted olive mill; in the depths of the house, the original stone wheel and tunnels where water would flow from the nearby streams are still intact, now functioning as a wine cellar and bodega where guests can arrange for an evening’s wine tasting. Upstairs, flagstone floors, wooden beams, stone archways and antique furnishing preserve the building’s history alongside more modern comforts – there’s a cinema room, a cosy living room with a giant fireplace and a pool table next to a well-stocked bar area. Perfect for large groups or family reunions, the villa sleeps up to 18 across the main house and garden house, with a small cottage available on request. Spend days lazing by the oval-shaped swimming pool; playing tennis on the outdoor court (there's table tennis, too); rustling up paella and barbecues in the al fresco kitchen or snoozing on a bench by the lake as you watch swallows swoop and turtles tootle about the lawn. Come evening, sip vermouth on the roof terrace as you watch the sun dip behind the mountains and fireflies light up the surrounding woodlands. Olivia Morelli
Sleeps: up to 18
Price: from about £1,754 per night (in high season)
Aquamarine Breeze
San Sebastian
About halfway up the third flight of stairs we ascended to find this villa on foot, we wondered if it could be worth it. Our calves ached, our brows were damp from the August heat, and there was still a hill to climb. But if the hike didn’t take our breath away, the view from the terrace at Aquamarine Breeze certainly did. From here, all of San Sebastian’s most iconic landmarks are visible: the bite-sized island of Santa Clara; the sweeping, sandy La Concha beach; Mount Urgull, and its Rio-like Redeemer statue watching over the city. It's a key selling point that caught the eyes of Plum Guide, the holiday home rental site with incredibly high standards – only 3% of homes pass their detailed test. Rally a group (it looks expensive, but works out as cheaper than most hotels and Airbnbs here) and don’t forget to call shotgun on the master bedroom next to the kitchen, whose giant bed comfortably fits two starfish sleepers. We arrived during Semana Grande, a week-long festival of music, dance and merriment, and watched world-class fireworks from the balcony, a two-for-one show with their reflection sparkling on the surface of the water below. Worth it? I’d say so.
Sleeps: up to seven
Price: from about £363 per night (in low season)
Finca Cortesin
Málaga, Andalucía
Finca Cortesin has long held the crown as the most spoiling place to stay in Spain. It’s a place of palatial proportions and painstaking attention to detail; a hotel first and foremost, but home to a clutch of hi-spec villas too. All are equally gorgeous and wildly modern – a mash-up of texture, zesty colour and contemporary style – so which one you rent is just a question of the size of your gang. But linger too long beside your private pool and you’ll miss out on what makes Finca Cortesin so special. Each villa comes with a babysitter on call, leaving grown-ups free to slink off to the spa, wallow in four enormous swimming pools, order rosé by the magnum at the glamorous beach club (the sea is a mile away) and dine in REI – just one of the five mind-blowingly delicious restaurants.
Sleeps: four- to eight-bedroom villas available
Price: from about £3,520 per night for a four-bedroom Green 10 Villa
La Quinta
Gaucin, Andalucía
Steep, wiggly backroads lead to this terracotta-pink, fairy-tale hacienda tucked away in the Andalucian hills. The owners rescued antique doors from crumbling estates, lined the walls with reclaimed Moorish tiles and added swishy curtains and floral-paisley flourishes to create the deliciously old-school, grand country-pile atmosphere. There’s more grounded grandeur outside: a lush courtyard garden filled with tumbling ivy and a tinkling fountain; emerald-green lawns and a pool, hidden from sight at the end of the garden path and flanked by a thoughtfully placed bar to keep the rosé cool. But our favourite thing about La Quinta is the mountain views: dramatic and omnipresent, framed by the villa’s string of terraces like a watercolour.
Sleeps: 10
Price: from £2,319 per weekOTHER VILLAS WE LOVE THE LOOK OF
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Casa Serena
Playa de Migjorn, Formentera
From the team behind Margot House hotel in Barcelona, here is a next-step-up beach stay in one of the best locations in Ibiza. The villa is bordered by pine forest, but just a two-minute stroll takes you straight to the sparkling white sands of Migjorn for a morning swim followed by a paella lunch at Es Codol Foradat restaurant. The house itself is barefoot and boho, with the kind of low-key sunbleached styling that is prevalent in Formentera: white walls and pops of colour provided by blousy clouds of bougainvillaea and blue-painted doors and window frames. With lots of shaded seating areas, and each room set up separately, everyone has their own space and privacy. It’s often taken over for retreats, and it’s easy to see why.
Sleeps: 12
Price: from about £750 per night
Castillo de Arena
Villajoyosa, Costa Blanca
Don’t let Castillo de Arena’s close-to-Benidorm location put you off. Set on a rocky outcrop jutting out over the glittering Mediterranean, this fortress-like white-stone villa sits on a significantly more authentic patch of the Costa Blanca than its boisterous neighbour. Perfect for a grown-up family looking for room to spread out, the outside space is the real star here, with a pretty pool flanked by umbrella-shaded nooks, low-slung hammocks to loll about in and direct access to the beach. Interiors have a rustic shabby-chicness to them: chunky wooden beams, cool terracotta floors and exposed brick, pepped up with patterned textiles and splashes of modern art. From here, it’s an easy potter into the colourful old town of Villajoyosa, a former fishing village best known for its glorious stretch of golden sand and cluster of laidback seafood restaurants.
Sleeps: six
Price: from £695 per night
La Finca
Mallorca
There’s nothing off the peg at this head-turning Mallorcan finca, packed with interesting finds and one-off creations from independent craftspeople around the globe. There are flourishes of northern Africa in the bedrooms, dressed in cool cottons and earthy linens with hand-carved headboards and ceilings strung with rattan lampshades; touches of Greece in the chic but unfussy whitewashed sitting room; and whiffs of the tropics around the staggeringly lovely pool, flanked by palapa parasols for snoozing under in the afternoon heat. The surroundings are astonishingly quiet, with an organic garden for guests to dip into and no neighbours in sight except for the herd of white horses who share the estate. The unexpectedly charming small town of Llubí is a couple miles away; the beaches around Alcúdia a 25-minute drive further on.
Sleeps: 10
Price: from about £615 per night
Es Bec d’Aguila
Menorca
Set on a hilltop overlooking thick Menorcan countryside with sweeping views out to the blue-green Balearic Sea, Es Bec d’Aguila is one of the most sought-after villas on the island – so book well ahead. Meticulously restored by a smart Parisian design firm, working in tandem with local craftsmen, the place is brilliantly geared up for a big, multi-generational brood. There’s a cosy bunk room, treehouse and cinema for the children, while grown-ups have the run of endless tucked-away corners, cosseting day beds angled around the pool and a stunning aquamarine bar for sneaky mid-afternoon cocktails. The farmer pops up each morning to leave fresh oranges, eggs and estate-made honey on the breakfast table, and there’s a chef on hand to rustle up farm-to-fork lunches under the pergola.
Sleeps: 28
Price: from £1,458 per night
Sa Punta de S’Aguila
Mallorca
There are three gorgeous villas on Richard Branson’s mega Mallorcan estate, and this is our favourite. Staying here feels a little like taking over your very own five-star hotel – you’ll arrive to find the poolside bar fully stocked – the concierge will have called ahead to scope out your favourite gin – and there’s a private chef ready and waiting to whip up three-course suppers each night, plus all but one of the bedrooms comes with its own suntrap terrace, with vertiginous views of the island’s rugged west coast. Outside, there’s a tennis court for afternoon knockabouts, plus plenty of quiet chill-out areas to hole up and hide away in. If you tire of the pool, pick through the olive groves fringing the estate to reach pebbly Son Bunyola beach – it’s so off the beaten track that you may well have it all to yourself.
Sleeps: 10
Price: POA
Casa Angel
Sant Pere de Ribes, Catalonia
Perfectly pitched at large groups looking to blow off some post-lockdown steam, this turbo-smart hideaway combines elegant interiors with party-ready entertaining space. There’s a laidback-but-cool vibe throughout, with sunny ikat fabrics, rattan rugs and vaulted wooden beams in the bedrooms; twinkly chandeliers and fat squashy sofas in the lofty, light-filled hangout rooms; and a sociable semi-covered pool running along the edge of the outdoor courtyard. If you’re here for a full-bells-and-whistles week of pure luxury, staff are on hand to connect guests with chefs, masseurs and yoga instructors. But the real joy of this villa is its location: it’s just a 10-minute drive from the sandy beaches and drinking dens of Sitges, and an hour further to all the excitement of Barcelona – leaving you free to dip in and out of the action as you wish.
Sleeps: 28
Price: from about £2,150 per night