Escaping the holiday crowds

Necker Island, British Virgin Islands: A private island with plenty of room to share

There is a version of Necker Island where you own the entire 74 acres, all 24 rooms across the Balinese-style houses and the iconic Great House, the private lagoon, the tennis courts, evenings that end around a bonfire on the beach. Book it exclusively and the island becomes yours entirely, down to the last hammock. But Necker Island also has a more accessible side that many don't realise exists. During select dates throughout the year, individual rooms and Bali houses can be booked without hiring the island outright, meaning couples, solo travellers, and small families can experience the same white sand, the same lemurs wandering the grounds, and the same standard of all-inclusive service, while sharing the island with a handful of other guests. It's an unexpected way into one of the world's most exclusive addresses, and proof that Necker Island was always designed to be shared, even when it isn't.

The Branson Beach Estate, Moskito Island, British Virgin Island: Villas on the edge of the sea

There's a stretch of Moskito Island where the land simply runs out, a rocky outcrop at the northeastern tip, waves breaking below, the horizon stretching uninterrupted in every direction. This is where The Branson Beach Estate sits, a short boat ride from Necker Island but a world apart in temperament. Three villas make up the estate, each built for barefoot indulgence: open-air living rooms that dissolve into the outdoors, infinity pools that seem to spill into the sea itself, and a staff so attuned to the rhythm of a stay that requests are often met before they're made. If Necker Island hums with energy, Moskito Island exhales. Days can pass here without encountering another guest outside your own party, just the sound of the water and the occasional call of a seabird overhead.

Kasbah Tamadot, Morocco: A Berber kasbah in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains

The road out of Marrakech climbs steadily for an hour, the noise of the city fading into switchbacks and pine forest, until it arrives at a kasbah that seems to belong to another century entirely. Kasbah Tamadot began life as a crumbling Berber house discovered on a hiking trip decades ago, and it has since grown into one of the region's most celebrated retreats, awarded Three MICHELIN Hotel Keys in 2025. Guests might sleep in a traditionally decorated suite within the Kasbah's thick stone walls, retreat to a private three-bedroom riad, or spend the night in one of ten Berber tents scattered across the hillside, several with their own private hot tubs facing the valley below. Mornings arrive slowly here: mint tea on a terrace, the call to prayer drifting up from a village in the distance, the mountains catching the first light.

The Lodge, Verbier, Switzerland: Ski-in by winter, silent by summer

Verbier in winter is one of the busiest resort towns in the Alps, its lift lines legendary among skiers chasing the region's famous powder. The Lodge offers a way to experience the mountains differently, with ski-in access putting the slopes right at the door. The chalet can be booked as a full exclusive buyout for those wanting the whole retreat to themselves, or, during select weeks throughout the season, individual rooms can be booked separately, making this private chalet experience more accessible without losing any of its intimacy. Set apart from the resort's busier hotels, it carries the kind of warmth that only comes from being someone's actual retreat before it became anyone else's: roaring fireplaces, deep sofas built for long après-ski afternoons, floor-to-ceiling windows that turn the Alps into a living painting. Come summer, the crowds thin out and the mountain reveals a completely different side:  hiking trails winding through wildflowers, cycling routes tracing the valley, and long dinners on the terrace that stretch well past sunset as the peaks glow pink in the last light of day. It's the same spectacular setting, just with room to breathe.

Son Bunyola, Mallorca, Spain: A 16th-century finca reborn in the mountains

Most visitors to Mallorca never see this side of the island; the wild northwest coast, where the Serra de Tramuntana mountains rise straight out of the sea and the beach clubs and tourist buses simply don't reach. Son Bunyola, a 16th-century finca restored patiently over several years before its hotel doors finally opened in 2023, sits deep within this landscape, and solitude is really the heart of what it offers. There are no crowds to navigate, no schedules to keep, just terraced olive groves, ancient stone paths, and mountains that seem to absorb every sound. Guests can choose the main Hotel or one of three private villas scattered through the estate, and it's easy to spend an entire stay doing very little at all: a slow breakfast on a terrace, a wander through the groves, an afternoon spent reading with nothing but birdsong for company. It's a rare kind of peace, and it's exactly why the property has quietly become one of the most decorated in the collection, recently named among the top one percent of hotels worldwide by Tripadvisor.

Mahali Mzuri, Maasai Mara, Kenya: A private conservancy camp built for connection

Mahali Mzuri means ‘beautiful place’ in Swahili, and the name reveals itself the moment the plains open up below camp. This twelve-tented retreat sits inside the private Olare Motorogi Conservancy, where exclusive access means game drives happen without another vehicle anywhere in sight, whatever the season. Beyond game drives, the camp is built around ways to get closer to the land itself: a bush walk led by a Maasai warrior guide, tracking animal footprints and learning to read the landscape the way his own community has for generations, or a sunrise hot air balloon safari drifting silently over the savannah before a champagne breakfast back on solid ground. As night falls, guests can learn to read the stars the traditional Maasai way, out under a sky with no light pollution for miles. It is safari built around genuine cultural exchange, not just animal sightings.

Finch Hattons, Tsavo West National Park, Kenya: Where safari meets volcanic wilderness

Tsavo West is one of the largest and least visited parks in Kenya, a landscape of ancient lava fields, riverine forest, and open plains that stretch toward the unmistakable silhouette of Kilimanjaro on the horizon. Deep within it, a natural spring draws elephants at all hours of the day, and Finch Hattons was subtly built right alongside it, channelling the golden age of African safari travel in a part of the country still largely untouched by crowds. Tented suites look out over the water, and each day unspools at its own pace: morning and night game drives across vast, empty grassland, a hike across the Shetani lava flow's blackened volcanic rock, or a climb into the Chyulu Hills, where the reward is an uninterrupted view of Kilimanjaro rising above the plains. Bush breakfasts are set up on remote ridgelines with that same view spread out below, and evenings wind down with sundowners over the bush before dinner is served by candlelight, the kind of old-world, unhurried elegance that feels transported from another era entirely. Guests can also link a stay here with Mahali Mzuri via a dedicated internal flight, weaving together two of the country's most private wildlife experiences into a single, seamless journey across Kenya's wilderness.

Mont Rochelle, Franschhoek, South Africa: The Cape Winelands’ most peaceful vineyard retreat

Franschhoek moves at the pace of a poured glass of wine and nowhere captures that better than Mont Rochelle Hotel & Vineyard. The 26-bedroom hotel sits on 39 hectares at the foot of the Klein Dassenberg mountains, surrounded by the very vines that produce its own award-winning label, with sweeping views over the valley from almost every corner of the estate. A day here might mean a cellar tasting in the morning, a slow lunch on the terrace at MIKO with its 180-degree views over the valley, and an afternoon spent however you like: a walk through rows of vines turning gold as the light softens, a treatment at the estate's intimate spa, or simply time by the pool with the mountains as a backdrop. For those who want to move a little, hiking and mountain biking trails wind through the surrounding hills, and the nearby Franschhoek Wine Tram offers a scenic way to explore the valley beyond the estate. For families or groups wanting even more privacy, the estate's four-bedroom Manor House can be booked separately, complete with its own pool, gym, and kitchen, just a short walk from the main hotel. But the pace here is really set by the guest, not the itinerary. It's Franschhoek at its most unhurried, tucked away from the busier wine routes just down the road.

Ulusaba, Sabi Sand, South Africa: The founding safari lodge, reopening 2027

Before there was a collection at all, there was Ulusaba: one of the two founding properties that launched Virgin Limited Edition back in 2000. Set on a 13,500-hectare private concession in the Sabi Sand, with no fences separating it from Kruger National Park next door, this is Big Five country in its rawest form, tracked twice daily by expert rangers on open-vehicle game drives. Rock Lodge perches high on a rocky koppie with the Drakensberg Mountains rippling into the distance, while Safari Lodge sits low among ancient trees along a dry riverbed, putting guests eye-level with the bush itself. Both are currently closed for a complete redesign, with a reopening planned for April 2027, bringing floor-to-ceiling glass, private plunge pools, and uninterrupted views over the plains. For travellers already dreaming ahead, Ulusaba's return promises a wilder, more immersive take on one of Africa's most storied safari lodges, still built on the same twenty-five-year commitment to conservation and community that first defined it.

What ties these nine retreats together isn't simply luxury, though there's plenty of it woven through every stay. It's the sense that each one was chosen for something increasingly hard to find: real space, real privacy, and a story that lingers long after the trip ends. Whether it's an island all to yourself, a bush walk beside a Maasai warrior, or a kasbah hidden in the Moroccan hills, Virgin Limited Edition has built its entire collection around one simple idea: that the best holiday isn't the one everyone else is having too.