Getting two or three families away together sounds simple, until you’re trying to book it.
Split across separate cottages, everyone ends up scattered, and half the point of going away together — the shared breakfasts, the kids running between rooms, the evenings when the adults finally get a proper catch-up once the little ones are down — gets lost.
A big group house, everyone under one roof, solves that. But not every “sleeps 20” listing is actually built for families, so it’s worth knowing what to check before you book.
Bedroom configuration matters more than the total headcount.
A house that sleeps 20 across five bunk rooms works brilliantly for a hen party and terribly for three families with toddlers.
Look for a mix of doubles, twins and family rooms, ideally with a few en suites so you’re not queuing for the bathroom at 7am with four under-fives.
Check what happens when the weather turns.
With this many people, you cannot rely on the garden. A big kitchen-diner that seats everyone at once, a games room, a snug away from the main space for older kids to escape to — these aren’t luxuries with a multi-family group, they’re what keeps the peace on a wet Tuesday.
Kitchens need to cope with real cooking, not just reheating.
Self-catering for 15-20 people means proper hob space, more than one oven if you can get it, and enough fridge room that nobody’s food goes missing.
It sounds trivial until you’re standing in a galley kitchen trying to cook three different meals for fussy kids at once.
Grounds and safety go together.
Gated gardens, safe distance from water or roads, somewhere the kids can genuinely run off steam without four adults on permanent watch — these change the whole holiday for the grown-ups too.
And decide upfront how costs get split.
The best big-house holidays we’ve seen are the ones where one family books and everyone else pays their share clearly upfront, rather than it being assumed or awkward later.
Group Escape Houses lists large houses across the UK built for exactly this kind of trip — multi-family and reunion-friendly properties with the bedroom mix, communal space and kitchens that make a group holiday actually relaxing rather than a logistical exercise. Worth a browse before you start hunting through single-family cottage listings that were never built for a dozen people at once.