Staying in a villa is a fantastic option for families. Choosing a professionally managed villa over a hotel or a private holiday rental means having access to a full kitchen; plenty of space for the kids to run around in and professionally trained staff to take care of you. Staying in a villa also means everyone gets to stay together under the same roof, with your own living areas for everyone to hang out in. But not all villas are created equal and some villas are definitely a better fit for families than others. Here are our villa specialists’ expert tips for choosing the perfect child friendly villa – plus more than a few examples of great family friendly villas.
First, Consider the Layout
Arguably the most important thing when choosing a child friendly villa is finding a property with a family friendly layout.
If you’re travelling with young kids, a villa with multiple pavilions spread far apart might not be the best choice. A lot of families prefer villas where bedrooms are all located under the same roof, like Coastal Escape Natai and Amarin Seminyak.
Coastal Escape Natai, Phang Nga
Amarin Seminyak, Bali
That being said, you shouldn’t rule out separate pavilions all together. Villas like Intan and Baan Taley Rom have bedrooms housed in separate pavilions but some of the bedrooms interconnect or have an adjoining kids’ room, so you can still have the kids close by.
Villa Intan, Bali
Baan Taley Rom, Phang Nga
Besides the placing of the rooms, it’s worth noting that some villas are built over multiple levels. While this is not an issue when travelling with a group of grownups, a sleek rail-less staircase is a real safety hazard if you’re bringing the kids.
Many tropical villas have decorative fish ponds and other water features in the gardens – sometimes they’re even built into the living areas – which is definitely something to consider if you’re travelling with kids who love to run around and explore.
Our team regularly inspects all of our villas and during our inspections, we pay close attention to these family friendly (or not) details. Seeing what’s really there from online photos alone can be tricky, so if staying in a child friendly villa is essential, contact our villa specialists and let us do the hard work for you.
Check the Bedrooms
Choosing a villa with the correct bedroom setup is one of the most important things when choosing a villa for your family. For starters, plenty of villas have bedrooms housed in separate pavilions spread out across the gardens which is not ideal if parents want to check up on the kids.
Another important thing to consider is the actual bedding configuration. Kids will definitely feel more comfortable sleeping in single beds than huge king-sized numbers, so it’s good to check if the villa you’re considering to book has single beds or if the king-sized beds can be split up into singles. Some villas even have designated children’s bedrooms with cute bunk beds and toys. Villa Hermosa has one of the prettiest bunk rooms we have ever seen, while Villa Malouna comes with an epic eight-bed fun zone complete with full-length chalkboard walls.
Villa Hermosa, Bali
Villa Malouna, Koh Samui
If you want to stay as close to the kids as possible but still want everyone to have their own rooms, you can look into booking a villa with interconnecting bedrooms. Villa Breeze’s bedrooms are great for families on several accounts: this is one of the few villas where each and every bedroom (there are five in total) can be set up as a king or two single beds as needed and three of the bedrooms interconnect. Another great interconnecting villa is Villa Samakee.
Villa Breeze, Bali
Villa Samakee, Phuket
So how do you scout out all these details? Ministry of Villas’ website is set up in a way which allows you to check the bedding configuration of each villa:
Look for Enclosed Living Areas
This is something you might not consider when sitting back home planning your holiday, but a lot of villas in tropical destinations actually have living rooms with no walls at all. This open-sided layout is very typical to the tropics – but might not be ideal if you’re travelling with little ones keen to explore their new surroundings.
Choosing a villa with enclosed living areas (we love Chimera Villas and Amilla Villa Residences) allows parents to have more control over their children’s safety.
Chimera Villas, Bali
Amilla Villa Residences, Maldives
Having the option of closing off the living areas is particularly important since private villas in Bali, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and beyond tend to come with a swimming pool. Being able to close the door between the living room and the garden means having your kids safely indoors and not sneaking off to the pool. If you want to be extra safe, you can also choose a villa where the bedrooms connect to an enclosed living room instead of giving out directly to the garden – Villa Santai Nusa Lembongan and Villa Manggala are great examples.
Villa Santai, Nusa Lembongan
Villa Manggala, Bali
Choosing a Child Friendly Pool
If your villa doesn’t have a pool, did you really even stay in a villa? Having a private swimming pool is great, but there are some things to consider if you have young kids in tow.
Your kids are bound to love the pool at least as much as you do, but it’s important to make sure everyone can enjoy the pool safely. This is why it’s good to pick a villa where the pool is not located directly by the living areas and especially not close to the bedrooms. Villas like Vanna Sedi and Sepalika have large gardens, with the pool located a good distance from the villa itself.
Villa Vanna Sedi, Bali
Villa Sepalika, Sri Lanka
Another important safety feature is of course the pool fence. As a rule, none of the villas in Bali, Thailand, Maldives and similar destinations come with a permanent pool fence, so it’s a good idea to arrange for the fence before you check in. Some villas have a pool fence included in the in-house equipment, but for most villas you will need to hire a pool fence from a third-party supplier. If this sounds daunting, don’t worry – our concierge team can take care of all the details for you.
When planning for the pool fence, it’s good to remember that some pools while stunning, don’t allow for a pool fence to be installed due to their shape, so it’s always best to check these details before booking. Some villas also have a statement swimming pool built directly into the living areas which again while beautiful, doesn’t exactly scream child friendly.
If you want the kids to be able to enjoy the pool to the fullest, you can book a stay at somewhere like Villa Kavya which comes with a shallow kiddie pool or go for a pool with a shallow section incorporated into the main pool. Villa Seascape in Nusa Lembongan has a shallow section running the full 16-metre length of the pool.
Villa Seascape, Nusa Lembongan
Sourcing Children’s Equipment
Everyone who’s ever travelled with a baby or a toddler knows just how much equipment is involved. Luckily, there’s no need to lug all that equipment with you to as items like baby cots, high chairs, strollers, pool fencing and car seats can easily be sourced locally.
Some of the most family friendly villas have children’s equipment included in the daily rates. Most common items to be included are baby cots and high chairs, but some high achieving family villas also include a pool fence. The beautiful Chandra Villas are one of our all-time favourites, with baby cots, high chairs and pool fences all included in the rates. Villas like Villa Tievoli have a whole arsenal of kiddy equipment available, ranging from a fun bedroom slide to a kid-sized bathroom and from a kids’ library to baby cots.
Chandra Villas, Bali
Villa Tievoli, Phang Nga
If the villa you choose doesn’t have the necessary children’s equipment included, our concierge team can help organise hiring it and to have it waiting for you at the villa as soon as you check in. Read more about hiring children’s equipment, a guide created specifically for our villas in Bali.
As you can see, there are a lot of variables when it comes to choosing a child friendly villa. Finding a villa that ticks all the boxes on your own can easily result in unnecessary head scratching and all out stress. Let us do the hard work for you and find that perfect child friendly villa for your family. Our complimentary concierge service means sourcing children’s equipment and any other extras you might need will also be a breeze. Contact our team to get started.
