If you, like us, are finding that every conversation lately leads back to Celebrity Traitors gossip – "We must protect Richard E. Grant at all costs", "How funny was Ross Kemp's paranoia?", "Did Jerry Hall even give the coffin a chance?!"
Well, if you're keen to scratch the itch, honour The Traitors format and play your own game this winter in one of these gargantuan pads, you've come to the right place. If you'd like a simpler version of the game, write out a weapon, a person and a room or area of the house (after you've acquainted yourself with it) and split them into three bowls, then get everyone attending to pick one piece of paper from each bowl to play your very own adult human Cluedo.
Everyone in the group has to murder the person on their piece of paper using the weapon they've picked out (examples include bottle openers, toothbrushes or other misc. objects you find in the house) in the place they've been asked to do it, simply by handing them that object and the victim accepting it willingly. Despite everyone knowing they're playing the game, this is easier than you'd think to do – people get distracted when they're having fun. Once you murder someone, they join your team and you all have to try and murder their victim.
As well as playing The Traitors, many of the houses we've tested for you have plenty going on in the local area to keep you busy. From surfing lessons to long country walks, horse riding to lessons with a local 'water sommelier' (yes, really!) – but we’ve also checked out the quality of the local pubs, too. Just in case.
Whether you’re after a group digital detox in a Dorset outpost, or a fun close-to-London party place with a pool, each of these houses has something to offer for groups of different sizes looking to simply enjoy each other’s company, all in one place. Hotels? So 2025. We’re ushering in the age of the big group staycation.
Craig Y Don, Anglesey, Wales
I’ve stayed in villas in the Tuscan hills and booked out houses on Australian coastlines, but the view from the tower turret of Craig Y Don in Anglesey, Wales, might just be the most breathtaking vista I’ve ever woken up to. This property is endlessly entertaining for visitors of all generations – I went for my grandma’s 80th birthday and watched as overjoyed attendees from the ages of 9 to 89 years old settled into their favoured space. There’s a games room for kids and teenagers, an in-house sauna and gym for the fitness conscious, two neighbouring hot tubs and plenty of indoor and outdoor socialising spaces, including a pretty special garden sofa overlooking the water. Each room is completely different and ornately decorated, with various nods to the royal roots of the house – the master bedroom has an emperor bed in, which is the size of four singles, and is allegedly the room King Edward VII brought his mistress, Lillie Langtry, to enjoy during their dalliance in the late 1800s.
You’re in luck if you’re an ‘activities on holiday’ kind of family. Because the house overlooks the Menai Strait – a famous waterway in Anglesey – there are plenty of water sports for those wanting to make a splash. We spent an afternoon on the water with stand up paddle boarding company, Supskifit, both paddling and transforming our boards into kayaks so we could reach further along the water. On our final morning we went out with Ribride to get a local history tour with a dose of adrenaline delivered from our driver doing doughnuts in the water, which was particularly exhilarating for the small tots in the group. Much like with the sugar-y kind, it took a while for everyone to calm down from all the excitement.
From £2,300 for two nights (that’s £115 each based on 20 sharing) through Daisy Joy Escapes.
ARC Peaks, Wildboarclough
This old post office is an absolute delight of a big Georgian pile. It sleeps 30 people in a combination of charming, evenly sized bedrooms (each with its own ensuite, one with a free-standing silver bath tub) and a delightful dorm in the attic that might just be the chicest shared room I’ve ever seen. It sleeps eight and each generously sized bed (not quite a double but bigger than a standard single) has a weighty curtain you can pull across for privacy. It’s perfect for children to have a sleepover, or for adults to have a sleepover and feel like children again. One of the best bits about ARC properties is the concierge service, through which we booked a gorgeous catered dinner one night with local providers Feast and Flow, and made the most of the local water quality with a water tasting from one of the world’s only water sommeliers (who lives around the corner).
If you’re after more traditional activities, there are plenty of hiking routes or – better still – there’s a huge heated indoor pool for morning swims and a generous hot tub for warming ache-y limbs after a day of getting active in the countryside. Yoga mats are provided and the heated pool house means you can emulate a hot yoga session.
From £4,298 for two nights (that's £143 each based on 30 people sharing) through ARC.club.
Godminster Cottage, Bruton
This perfectly positioned cottage – covered in Wisteria in spring and on a working farm – is the ideal place to hunker down with family or friends for the weekend. The owner, Belu, goes above and beyond to make you feel welcome, with a selection of locally produced treats (a seriously special cheese and some fresh sourdough to eat it with) stocked in the house upon arrival, and a lit fire to welcome us. As one of AirBnB’s Guest Favourite properties (voted by those who have stayed in the house), you’re guaranteed a good time.
All of this before I’ve even touched on the location, and what a location it is. Walking distance from both Bruton town centre (although town centre makes it sound like a metropolis compared to its adorable village feel) and – the area’s piece de resistance – the Hauser & Wirth gallery and farm. Complete with a farm shop I could spend an entire day in (lots of scrummy samples), a notably special Italian restaurant, Da Costa, the ingeniously designed Roth Bar for a post-meal negroni and – of course – the famed Hauser & Wirth gallery, you could easily spend a weekend flitting between all the fun on the farm. But if you’re in the area for its foodie fame, At The Chapel, Matt’s Kitchen, Michelin-starred Osip and any of the restaurants at the nearby Newt hotel are all a mere stroll from the toasty fire in the living room of this Air BnB.
It must be said that a trip here will, and should, involve lots of good food. And enjoying good food is good for you, but to keep you from any post-meal slumps, the gorgeous walk into town is the perfect length. Plus, there are lots of local running trails and it’d be a great property to bring your bike to.
From £1,267 for three nights (that's £158 each based on 8 sharing) through AirBnB.
Atlanta, Trevone Bay
People flock from far and wide to visit Padstow, but just an hour’s walk along the craggy cliffs of the Cornish coastal path is a lesser known – and arguably more lovely – stretch of sand, Trevone Bay. There’s a cafe that serves hearty jacket potatoes, a family-friendly atmosphere and – perhaps best of all – a swoon-worthy set of self-catering properties called Atlanta Trevone Bay overlooking it all. Each of the six properties offers a stylish, cosy base that serves as a blueprint for charming coastal interiors. The Net Loft is the sublime handywork of HAM Interiors, but each of the properties has its own unique charm. If you hire all five, you can host up to 24 people. Be warned, though – you’ll be plotting a whole home renovation when you reluctantly peel yourself away.
On this Blue Flag beach (a status awarded to those that comply with sustainability initiatives), there’s the promise of a balmy sauna just off the sand to toast yourself in after a dip. On warmer days, 'Tinker Bunny’s tidal pool' is tucked around the corner near the beach, famed locally for providing a year-round slice of stillness to submerge in (so long as you time it right with the tides) since the sea wall was reinforced in the 1920s.
From £1,200 for four nights (that’s £300 per person based on 8 sharing) through Air BnB.
Bixley Manor, Norfolk
Bixley's such a posh pad it has the Royal seal of approval – King Charles, Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II all enjoyed stays at the pink-hued mansion house when visiting Sir Timothy and Lady Mary Coleman, the Queen's first cousin. The entrance, off a dual carriageway close to Norwich, is surprisingly discreet for what was once a Royal hideaway, but sweep up the drive and you instantly understand the allure, for this ten-bedroom getaway, ringed by idyllic landscaped grounds including a towering cedar tree, is one of the prettiest houses you'll ever lay eyes on.
Inside, it's a magical mix of old and new, think high ceilings, sash windows, parquet floors and original fireplaces alongside smart TVs, games room, modern kitchen with a colourful yellow island and Broadband faster than Usain Bolt. Walls are painted in classic shades, including a handsome blue dining room, and there's a lived-in vibe which makes it feel homely despite the grandeur. The overall effect is utterly charming, from the bright attic bedrooms accessed via creaky stairs to the two enormous living rooms furnished with comfy sofas plus a cosy library.
We visited with seven adults and seven kids, but Bixley's so spacious it didn't feel remotely full, even when we gathered around the enormous square dining table or had a kitchen disco (no doubt the Queen did the same). Games of hide and seek went on for hours and the pool table, just like Bixley, was a smash hit with all ages. There's a heated outdoor pool which we plunged into even in October (it's off-limits between Nov-April), a large hot tub and grounds filled with Lady Mary's multitude of beautiful plants and trees to discover.
Two-night, mid-week stay from £2,325 (that's £116.25pp based on 20 sharing) through Kate and Tom's.
Shun Lee, Cornwall
Step into Shun Lee, a devotedly restored Victorian jewel perched high above Porthminster Beach in St. Ives, Cornwall. Sleeping 14 across seven bedrooms and four floors, this former mariner’s home is all bay windows, sea views and coastal, tasteful grandeur – think 180-degree vistas from almost every room, plus a telescope in the lounge for dolphin spotting with a glass of rosé in hand. The lazier days of our trip were spent browsing trinket shops (I picked up a vintage silver bracelet and some kitsch old matchboxes) and poring over a cloth-bound book about the home’s seafaring past owners by the fire.
Evenings are best spent sharing seafood platters at the aptly named Beach Restaurant, knocking back beer-battered fish and chips on the beach, or tucking into takeaway pizza from Onzo back at the house, as games of pool get more competitive (for the adults) and the private cinema room downstairs gets put to good use (by any little ones). Stylish, socially minded and steeped in salty charm, Shun Lee is the ultimate slow-living, sandy escape.
Between wild swims and wave-chasing at St Ives Surf School, you can fill your days with hacks along windswept coastal trails and trekking through long grass with the local horse riding school, all organised through the private concierge service through Perfect Stays.
From £3,250 for seven nights (that’s £232pp based on 14 sharing) through Perfect Stays.
Tall Trees, Worcestershire
Tall Trees is giving us all the country Georgian manor house feels. Boasting 10 bedrooms and sleeping up to 30 people, you could have a seriously decadent time here beneath its crystal chandeliers, taking a dip in the indoor pool, jumping in the hot tub, dining in the high-ceilinged reception rooms and exploring the landscaped grounds. There’s high tech gym and heated pool in the sun-filled orangery.
From £6160 for three nights (that’s £205pp based on 30 sharing) through Big House Experience.
ARC Painswick, Cotswolds
This breath-taking, sprawling, spiral-stair-cased building is artfully designed for socialising. The doughnut-like structure cuddles round a gorgeous courtyard in the centre, ideal for spilling your deepest darkest secrets over the witchy fire pit. The place comfortably sleeps 24 (no pull-out sofa beds in sight), with a long dining table for regaling your best anecdotes over a glass of pre-made negroni, thoughtfully provided (by the bottle) at the in-house bar – does it get any more chic?
Period beams, classic Cotswold stone and comfortable corners and crevices to conspire in make this house one of the cosiest spaces you can imagine, despite its huge capacity. Painswick as an area – dubbed ‘The Queen of The Cotswolds’ – is cutesy and quintessentially British, with a garden of dew-drop trees to walk through near the church and a spoiling selection of local pubs, with friendly staff and full menus of just-what-the-doctor-ordered pub grub. We booked for 21 of us at The Falcon Inn, where they have a spacious private room perfect for those staying at the house to book out.
There’s a pool in the garden and yoga mats in one of the many lounges. You can even book classes through the ultra-smart ARC personalisation portal. Long walks around the hilly village are also a must, and there's enough thought-provoking art peppered throughout the house to keep Saltburn's Oliver occupied for hours.
From £3,960 for a weekend break in low season (that's £165pp based on 24 people sharing) through ARC.club.
Hilltop Hall, North Wales
This country pile is giving major Saltburn vibes: 150 acres of grounds including Italian-style gardens and orchards, a medieval dining room and enough bedrooms to sleep up to 20 (14 in the main house and 6 in an apartment). Perfect for parties, but also for reconnecting with friends, there's loads of ways to fill a weekend from attempting to play the baby grand piano, to curling up with a book in the snug and getting a dream night's sleep in a four-poster.
From £2850 for a mid-week break in April (that’s £142pp based on 20 people sharing) with Kate & Toms.
Roserai, East Sussex
This pool – which evokes visions of the dreamiest European summers – looks as though it has been plucked directly from the Call Me By Your Name set. There’s a gorgeous boating lake, ideal fodder for the eyes when taking a turn in the garden, and you can even row your way across for a little added excitement and a great upper body workout. If you’ve ever seen The Notebook, it really helps to romanticise the whole experience.
The property is an old oast house – it was used as a kiln to dry out hops for the beer industry back in the day – and it still boasts the charming turret with a pointed roof typical of the time. The whole house is luxurious and inviting, with open fires and period quirks, but the two round rooms in the tower – both with their own standalone bathtubs – really turn up the enchanting, fairy-tale vibes.
The Slim-Aarons-esque pool is long enough to get some real mileage (or at least metre-age) under your belt, and you can call in at-home spa treatments to have in the pool house. Speaking of which, the outer building comes with an impressive sauna and sizeable steam room, with a classy wooden hot tub outside near the pizza oven – the recipe for an unforgettable summer’s night.
From £2,992 for a weekend break (£374pp based on eight people sharing) with Unique Homestays.
The Manor House, Norfolk
With its antique character – including original butler’s bells, a crackling wood‑burner and period beams that anyone above six foot will be banging into – it feels like moving through the pages of a heritage novel. By midday, we were wandering through charming villages for a leisurely lunch at The Crown Inn in East Rudham, the kind of warmly lit local pub where everybody greets you with a smile and a nod. The fresh Cromer crab (from just down the road) is everything you need after your amble, before returning to challenge friends to a game of pool in the games room before a barbecue in the cobbled courtyard. Everything about The Manor House invites rural relaxation, its charm stitched into every sofa you sink into, a perfect backdrop for memory making, laughter and respite from your every day.
We greeted our first morning here with yoga on the dewy lawn in front of the house, went on meandering treks around the surrounding verdant fields and wildflower meadows and finally breathed out the city stress we so easily get caught in a cycle of.
From £3,300 for seven nights (that’s £206pp based on 16 sharing) through Cottages.com.
Mereview Manor, Lake District
You and up to 18 mates can take over Mereview, which sits in a 5000-acre estate on the shores of Lake Windermere (we’re giving it 10/10 for location). Pack plenty of party outfits a la Elspeth Catton (Rosamund Pike), because there’s a drawing room, library and dining room with portraits on the ruby red walls to entertain in. An indoor swimming pool on the estate, woodland walks and lots of lake activities, including sailing and kayaking, should keep active types happy.
From £7288 for three nights (that’s £404pp based on 18 sharing) though Big House Experience.
Frampton Court, Gloucestershire
Traitors enthusiasts would feel right at home in this Georgian mansion, which has been in the seat of the Clifford family for 1000 years. Surrounded by parkland on the banks of the River Severn in the Cotswolds, it has seven bedrooms and bathrooms so you’re not going to be short of space if you rock up with 14 friends. A grand dining hall, cinema room, four-poster ends and games room with pool table all add to the magical manor born experience.
From £4500 per week (that’s £321pp based on 14 people sharing) through Cool Stays.
Walnut Tree Barn, Suffolk
Never have I ever seen a hot tub so big as they have at Walnut Tree Barn in Suffolk. Although more tardis-like than something to ogle at when driving past – like some of the other options on this list – the huge outdoor kitchen and open-plan design of the house make this the ideal place to while away a weekend with friends or family.
The garden area, besides the giant hot tub, boasts a fire pit, plenty of room for running about with dogs (you're allowed two per stay) plus benches and breakout zones perfect for big groups. Plus, there's enough parking for everyone to drive separately should they so wish, although we don't advise it. Daisy-clad countryside trails and lovely long local walks add to the experience, with Thetford Forest only a short drive away. If you're holidaying with kids, or even if not, there are Go Ape high wires here too.
Two-night weekend break from £1,395 in September (roughly £140 each based on 10 people sharing) through Cottages.com.
Filigree Manor and Mews, Norfolk
Well, if you’re after something ludicrously capacious, you’ll know you’ve come to the right place when you pull up the gravel drive of this mega-pad, with different wings for various groups of guests in true Saltburn style. Although we will admit there's something a little spooky about staying somewhere quite so huge and remote, the local farmers next door came and welcomed us and made us feel like part of the community.
There were long tables to serve Wedding-esque big dinners at and a huge drawing room with a pool table, which provided hours of competitive entertainment. We took a day trip to Cromer and stuffed ourselves on the finest fish and chips, as the house was only a 15 minute drive to and from Cromer beach. Walks along the coast and chilly sea swims were first on the agenda, and what better way to relax afterwards than luxuriating in the not one, but two humungous hot tubs on the property? There's enough land out back for you to tire yourself out from wandering around, plus lots of local coastal treks for those who like to take it one step further when it comes to hitting those daily fitness goals.
Three-night long weekend break 2026 rates from £5,533 (£221pp based on 35 people sharing) through Oliver's Travels.
The Ancient Yew, Scotland
Set across 450 acres of parkland with sweeping views of the Trossachs, this grand Scottish estate has all the makings of a Traitors-style escape. Less than an hour from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth, and a 15-minute walk from Kippen, it’s perfectly placed for hikes, golf and a little fresh-air plotting. Back at the house, gather in the orangery for languid breakfasts after late-night whisky tasting in the games room, then retreat to the hot tub or the library when it’s time to regroup. Ideal for a family escape or a friends’ reunion, it’s the sort of place that makes leaving feel like a banishment. Plus, it's even got its very own round table!
For a two-night weekend break rates start from £4,656 (£333pp based on 14 people sharing) through Plum Guide.
