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A year in the life of a Hideaways Club member
From Formula One on the Côte d’Azur and the closing parties of Ibiza to South African vineyards and Christmas in the French Alps, this is what 12 months of travel with one of our favourite members’ clubs could look like.
- Words by: Gentleman's Journal
There are plenty of reasons why The Hideaways Club has become one of Gentleman’s Journal’s favourite travel companies. Chief among them is a proposition that feels increasingly well suited to the way we actually want to travel.
Rather than buying a second home and inevitably feeling obliged to return to the same place year after year, members collectively own a portfolio of exceptional properties around the world. You get many of the pleasures of having your own place, space, privacy, familiarity and somewhere that actually feels like home, without being tied to a single postcode or dealing with the day-to-day responsibilities of maintaining it.
When we last wrote about The Hideaways Club, we explored exactly that proposition: an alternative to traditional second-home ownership that combines equity ownership with the freedom to move between a global collection of homes. The Club currently has 45 homes in its own portfolio, while longstanding reciprocal partnerships expand the possibilities considerably further, including Costa Rica, the Maldives and Mykonos.
But the homes are only part of it. A dedicated Concierge team helps with the details around each trip, from transfers and restaurants to more ambitious itineraries and experiences. Partnerships with other clubs and hospitality names, including Banyan Tree and Equity Estates, further extend where members can go. The Member Home programme also allows members with high-end second homes to make them available to the Club community for selected weeks in exchange for stay credits. This year, the programme includes homes in Niseko, Marbella, Quinta do Lago and Layan Hills in Phuket.
The result is less about owning a collection of houses than having the infrastructure to travel differently throughout the year. Which got us thinking: what could 12 months as a Hideaways member actually look like?
February: Fall in love with Paris
Where else for Valentine's weekend?
On the eastern end of Île Saint-Louis, The Hideaways Club's Paris apartment is the sort of place that makes a weekend in the French capital feel rather more romantic than checking into another hotel. The two-bedroom, 82-square-metre pied-à-terre occupies the ground floor of a late-19th-century building, with original parquet floors and ornate ceiling cornicing.
More importantly, you are in the 4th arrondissement. Notre-Dame is nearby, as are the Marais and Place des Vosges, while some of the city's best restaurants, galleries and bars are within walking distance. Spend the morning wandering without much of a plan, book somewhere very good for dinner and return to an apartment that feels, however briefly, like your own Parisian address.
May: Escape to Nusa Lembongan
By May, we'd be ready to go rather further afield. Villa Ombak sits high on the cliffs of Nusa Lembongan, the little island off Bali that offers much of the natural beauty of its larger neighbour without quite the same crowds.
This four-bedroom villa sleeps eight, with every bedroom looking out to sea. There is a swimming pool, outdoor dining sala, massage pavilion and cliff-top gazebo made for watching the sun disappear into the ocean. Parts of Eat, Pray, Love were even filmed on this spot.
Days here should be pleasingly uncomplicated: swim, surf, snorkel or dive; walk down to Dream Beach or Sandy Bay; arrange a massage back at the villa; then gather around the fire pit after sunset. Lembongan remains comparatively undeveloped, which is precisely the point. This is the trip for switching off properly before summer begins.
June: Formula One and the South of France
June means the Côte d’Azur, and with the Monaco Grand Prix bringing its usual spectacle of superyachts, parties and some of the most exciting racing in the world, there are few better times to visit the South of France.
The trick, of course, is enjoying the excitement without necessarily having to stay in the middle of it. La Retraite, The Hideaways Club’s beautiful Provençal villa just outside the village of Le Rouret, offers exactly that. Built from honey coloured stone, the four-bedroom property sits within 6,000 square metres of gardens, complete with olive and cherry trees, lavender-filled terraces and a swimming pool overlooking the wooded valley.
Spend the day soaking up the atmosphere in Monaco before returning to a rather different pace of life. Think long lunches beneath the pergola, an afternoon beside the pool and a glass of rosé as the sun sets over the Provençal countryside. With Cannes, Mougins and the surrounding hilltop villages also within reach, there is plenty to explore beyond the Grand Prix.
It is the perfect combination of two very different sides of the French Riviera: the glamour and excitement of Monaco, followed by the peace and privacy of your own Provençal retreat.
September: See the other side of Ibiza
There is a certain kind of Ibiza trip that September does better than almost anywhere else. The crowds begin to thin, the temperature remains glorious and the island's famous closing-party season provides one final excuse to gather a group of friends and head to the Balearics. But we'd base ourselves away from the noise.
Villa La Solana sits high in the hills of Es Cubells, safely removed from Ibiza's more frenetic side. The whitewashed four-bedroom finca sleeps eight and looks across the countryside towards the Mediterranean, with a large terrace, swimming pool and a tower bedroom opening onto its own roof terrace.
You can still head out for the restaurants, beach clubs and closing parties for which Ibiza is famous. But the pleasure comes the following morning: return to the quieter south of the island, swim, walk down towards Cala des Cubells and remember that Ibiza is every bit as good at doing nothing as it is at staying out until sunrise.
October: Wine, whales and the wild in South Africa
October calls for South Africa. Villa Steenberg sits within the Steenberg Golf and Wine Estate in the Constantia Valley, giving you one of Cape Town's great wine regions quite literally on your doorstep.
The three-bedroom Cape farmhouse-style property sleeps six and has its own heated pool, while the wider estate offers an award-winning winery, spa, hotel and 18-hole championship golf course. Cape Town itself is within easy reach, as are Table Mountain, the coast and the broader wine country.
Spend a few days exploring vineyards, eating exceptionally well and heading towards the coast, October also falls within the Cape's broader whale-watching season, before turning the holiday into something altogether bigger.
The Hideaways Club works with specialist travel company Far & Wild, which can create bespoke extensions to a Club stay. South Africa is one of its particular areas of expertise, making a safari the obvious second chapter: leave the comforts of Steenberg behind and head into the bush for a few days of game drives before flying home.
It's a good example of how Hideaways has evolved beyond simply providing the house. The property becomes the anchor around which a much larger trip can be built.
December: A winter wonderland in Morzine
There is something rather special about Christmas in the mountains. Snow covered rooftops, roaring fires, long lunches and the prospect of waking up to fresh powder. And where better to spend it than in the French Alps?
Chalet Lumière, The Hideaways Club's beautiful five-bedroom property in Morzine, offers the perfect setting for a festive escape with family or friends. Sleeping up to ten guests, the chalet combines traditional Alpine charm with all the comforts of a luxury mountain retreat. Think wood-panelled interiors, cosy bedrooms, a magnificent stone fireplace and an outdoor hot tub overlooking the surrounding mountains.
Just ten minutes from the ski lifts, the chalet provides easy access to the vast Portes du Soleil ski area, making it an excellent base for skiers of all abilities. Spend the mornings on the slopes, stop for a long mountain lunch and return in the afternoon for a well-earned glass of something beside the fire.
With space for the whole family, the option of in-house catering and some of Europe's finest skiing on the doorstep, Chalet Lumière makes a compelling case for swapping Christmas at home for Christmas in the mountains.
And then, come January, start all over again.
That is perhaps the best way to understand The Hideaways Club. The attraction isn't simply access to a beautiful villa in Ibiza or a pied-à-terre in Paris. It's the ability to make your travel fit the season, the occasion and the people you're travelling with.
A Valentine's weekend for two can become a May escape to Indonesia; the Monaco Grand Prix can lead into an Ibiza weekend with friends; South African wine country can turn into a safari; and Christmas can be spent with the entire family in the French Alps.
Owning one holiday home gives you somewhere to return to. The Hideaways Club gives you a reason to keep going somewhere new.
