Places to Stay

The Most Luxurious Palaces You Can Rent Around the World

From the Indian Himalayas to the Scottish Highlands, here are the most extravagant villas, palaces, palazzos, and castles you can rent all to yourself on your next vacation.
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    Photo by Roberta Valerio

    Palazzo Odescalchi, Rome

    This four-bedroom fiefdom has just been converted into the finest rental in the city, stuffed with 16th-century Flemish tapestries, ancient Greek black-figure vases, and a painting of Saint Joseph by one of the stars of the Italian Baroque, Bernardo Strozzi. No cost was spared, with the installation of almost 1,100 square feet of marble from ancient quarries, some 660 feet of Rubelli and San Leucio silk damasks hung as window drapes, as well as central air conditioning.

    How to Rent Palazzo Odescalchi
    This palace is available on request by emailing info@uniquepropertiesandevents.com. It’s staffed by a butler and maid, and further concierge services (at extra cost) can incorporate tours of the city and surroundings led by personal contacts of the owner, Princess Maria Pace Odescalchi. They include academics in art and architecture, fashion designers, and experts on Italian cuisine, wine, and gardens. The advantage of staying here is access to an elite black book, and even tables at the family’s favorite restaurants.

  • Courtesy Lismore Castle

    Lismore Castle, Lismore, Ireland

    This castle on Ireland’s Blackwater River has been a refuge for high-profile royals, rock stars, and malcontents since 1185. When the Duke of Devonshire’s family is not in residence, all 15 bedrooms can be rented. Denis Nevin, Lismore’s butler for 35 years, is a walking history book with an Irishman’s wit. There’s an Antony Gormley in the garden, and a smattering of Van Dycks and Ai Weiweis in the house. I adored the scruffy copies of Vogue from the 1930s lying in piles beside the tubs and notes inscribed inside books—including one from Evelyn Waugh to the late Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire. lismorecastle.com

  • Courtesy Palácio Belmonte

    Palácio Belmonte, Lisbon

    This 15th-century palace was renovated by a man in espadrilles: French-born landscape collector Frederic Coustols. His meticulous good taste has put life and sunlight back into the palace’s antique tiled walls, creating 11 suites that take in the city’s sweep of hills. I’ve been twice, but would return in an instant to sleep in one of the three towers. Belmonte might be missing cinema rooms and the like, but no price can be put on the spirit of this place, a magical renovation borne of true custodianship. palaciobelmonte.com

  • Courtesy Ackergill Tower

    Ackergill Tower, Scottish Highlands

    Here you’ll find one of the most remote castles in northern Scotland—a 21-minute drive from John O’Groats, and a 90-minute boat ride from the Orkney Islands. Interiors skew classic, some with four-posters festooned in country fabrics, wallpapers, and antiques. All of which give high-luxe warmth to the otherwise austere 15th-century tower, which broods near the edge of a seven-mile stretch of sand. Under a sea fret in autumn, this is about as moody as the Scottish Highlands get. They rent out the tower by room, but this castle is best taken in its entirety for the mother of all house parties. ackergilltower.com

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  • Courtesy Stok Palace Heritage Hotel

    Stok Palace Heritage Hotel, Leh, India

    It sells itself as a hotel, but I think Stok Palace is better used as a private house by a single family. It’s a pinprick of aristocratic history in the high-altitude Indian Himalayan region of Ladakh, near the city of Leh with its Buddhist stupas and red-robed monks. There are six suites, furnished with brightly painted frescoes and woodwork and Tibetan and Ladakhi rugs. The family of His Excellency King Jigmed Wangchuk Namgyal—an affable host and knowledgeable expert on the region—still live here, often in residence at the same time as guests. stokpalaceheritage.com

  • Courtesy Villa Cetinale

    Villa Cetinale, Tuscany

    An extravagance since its inception, Cetinale was built by papal bankers and was recently home to a British politician disgraced for smoking marijuana in bed with two prostitutes. It’s now in the hands of Edward Lambton, the Earl of Durham, a country and bluegrass musician who knows how to throw a party. He’s done up the 13 bedrooms with soft, raw-edged linen drapes and put in place a staff who whip up fresh peach cakes for breakfast. A very, very precious house with a high-repeat clientele and one of the best gardens in Europe. villacetinale.com

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  • Courtesy Casa Real Alcázar/Unique Properties and Events

    Real Alcázar, Seville

    You could easily walk past this private palace never knowing the exquisite life it hides within its 13th-century walls or would you guess at the views from the top floor, overlooking one of the King of Spain’s gardens. The family photos, of long-legged daughters and polo-playing sons, speak of the blue blood running through the veins of this house—a family tree leading back to the House of Bourbon. The interior details—butterfly collections pinned beneath glass tables, embroidered linen, balconies decked with jasmine—are exquisite. uniquepropertiesandevents.com

  • Courtesy Singita

    Villa 7 at Singita Pamushana, Malilangwe, Zimbabwe

    The African home of Paul Tudor-Jones II, the philanthropist, conservationist, and hedge fund billionaire (he is among the donors behind the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve, on which the villa stands). It sleeps 10, with exquisite furniture, African-print fabrics, a terrace with a private pool, and vast floor-to-ceiling windows taking in soul-stirring views of elephant, rhino, and endless wilderness. singita.com