Destination Guides
Where to stay for a group trip — by who's actually going.
Most “where to stay” guides assume one traveler. These assume eight. Each guide breaks a city down by neighborhood and tells you which one fits your group's budget, nightlife tolerance, and need for separate space — then helps you compare places to stay once you've picked.
50 guides
United States
24 guidesWhere to Stay in Orlando for a Group Theme-Park Trip
Orlando is the trip where the hotel decision determines whether the group survives four theme-park days. Stay wrong and you'll spend the trip on shuttle buses and paying resort prices for a pace half the group can't sustain. Here's how to pick.
Where to Stay in San Diego for a Group Trip
San Diego is the easy-choice city, and that's its trap — every neighborhood looks fine, and the group that doesn't pick picks the wrong one. Here's how to match the base to whether your group wants the beach, the bars, or the quiet.
Where to Stay in Scottsdale for a Group Trip
Scottsdale is the golf-and-resort city, and the group that books 'Scottsdale' without picking which Scottsdale ends up at the wrong pace. Here's how to match the base to whether your group wants the bars, the golf, or the quiet.
Where to Stay for a Great Smoky Mountains Group Trip
The Smokies is the most-visited national park in the country, and the towns around it are two different trips. Stay in Pigeon Forge and you get the strip; stay in a quiet cabin and you get the mountains. Here's how to pick for the trip your group actually wants.
Where to Stay in Lake Tahoe for a Group Trip
Lake Tahoe is one lake and two trips — the South Shore with the casinos and the nightlife, and the North Shore with the quiet and the cabin. The group that books 'Tahoe' without picking a shore is the group that ends up on the wrong lake. Here's how to choose.
Where to Stay in Charleston for a Group Trip
Charleston is the most romantic city in the South and one of the easiest to book for the wrong pace. The historic core is walkable and exhausting in August; the beach is a drive. Here's how to match the base to the trip your group can sustain.
Where to Stay in Savannah for a Group Trip
Savannah is the slowest big city in the South, and that's the whole point. The group that books the right base gets the squares and the porch-sitting; the group that books for the beach gets a different trip. Here's how to choose.
Where to Stay in Palm Springs for a Group Trip
Palm Springs is the pool-and-palm city, and the group that books 'the desert' without picking which desert ends up at the wrong pace. Here's how to match the base to whether your group wants the pool parties or the quiet spa.
Where to Stay in Key West for a Group Trip
Key West is the most walkable party town in Florida, and the group that books Duval Street for a quiet trip is the group that doesn't sleep. Here's how to match the base to the trip your group can actually sustain.
Where to Stay in Denver for a Group Trip
Denver is the city groups use as a base for the Rockies and discover as a trip in itself. The beer is great, the altitude is real, and the group that picks the wrong neighborhood spends the trip in rides. Here's how to choose.
Where to Stay in Park City for a Group Trip
Park City is the ski town groups book for the slopes and discover as a walkable main street. The base near the lift is a different trip than the base in town. Here's how to match the base to the trip your group booked.
Where to Stay in Chicago for a Group Trip
Chicago is the most underrated food city in the country and one of the easiest to book for a group. The lakefront and the L make it walkable and connected — if the group picks the right neighborhood. Here's how to choose.
Where to Stay in Boston for a Group Trip
Boston is the most walkable big city in the country and one of the most expensive. The history is the draw; the price is the catch. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can walk from and afford.
Where to Stay in Washington, D.C. for a Group Trip
D.C. is the city where the free museums and the walkable mall make the base decision smaller — and the budget makes it bigger. The group that bases near the mall gets the museums; the group that bases in Shaw gets the food. Here's how to balance both.
Where to Stay in Los Angeles for a Group Trip
Los Angeles is the city where 'where to stay' matters most because there's no walkable center, and the group that books wrong spends the trip in traffic. Here's how to match the base to the version of LA your group actually wants.
Where to Stay in San Francisco for a Group Trip
San Francisco is the most expensive city on this list and one of the most beautiful, and the hills and the fog are as real as the cost. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can walk, afford, and see through.
Where to Stay in Seattle for a Group Trip
Seattle is the coffee-and-rain city, and the group that books for the summer and hits the drizzle is the group that's surprised. The base is the lever for both the walkability and the budget. Here's how to choose.
Where to Stay in Napa Valley for a Group Trip
Napa is the wine trip that's actually a DD-and-budget decision. The group that books the wineries and forgets the driver is the group that pays for rides every day. Here's how to match the base to the trip your group can sustain.
Where to Stay in Nashville for a Group Trip
Nashville works particularly well for groups because everyone can pursue slightly different versions of the same trip without three rental cars and a group vote every four hours. Here's which neighborhood fits which group.
Where to Stay in New Orleans for a Group Trip
New Orleans is a city built for groups — until 2am, when the group that booked the French Quarter discovers that not everyone wanted 2am. Here's how to match the neighborhood to the trip you're actually taking.
Where to Stay in Las Vegas for a Group Trip
Vegas is the easiest city to book badly. The Strip is the obvious answer, and for some groups it's right — but the group that disagrees about gambling or 3am is the group that fights by day two. Here's how to pick.
Where to Stay in New York City for a Group Trip
New York is the most expensive city to book badly. Stay in the wrong neighborhood and you'll spend the trip in cabs and paying Manhattan prices for a trip half your group can't keep up with. Here's how to match the neighborhood to the trip your group can actually sustain.
Where to Stay in Austin for a Group Trip
Austin is a small city that books like a big one. The mistake is staying on 6th Street because it's 'where Austin is' — then finding out half your group wanted breakfast tacos and a quiet morning, not a bar crawl. Here's how to match the neighborhood to the trip.
Where to Stay in Miami for a Group Trip
Miami is the city where the beach and the nightlife are the same decision, and getting it wrong means a group that's half pool-and-sleep and half club-until-4am. Here's how to match the neighborhood to the trip your group can actually sustain.
Hawaii
2 guidesWhere to Stay in Maui for a Group Trip
Maui is the island groups book for the beach and discover as a region. The south, the west, the north shore — they're different trips, and the group that doesn't pick is the group that spends the trip in a car. Here's how to read the island.
Where to Stay in Honolulu / Oahu for a Group Trip
Oahu is the island where Waikiki is the postcard and the North Shore is the trip, and they're different vacations. The group that books Waikiki for the quiet is the group that's surprised. Here's how to match the base to the version of Oahu your group wants.
Mexico & Caribbean
6 guidesWhere to Stay in Punta Cana for a Group Trip
Punta Cana is almost entirely resorts, which makes the choice simpler — and the mistake more common. Pick the wrong stretch of beach and you'll be on a party resort when you wanted quiet, or the reverse. Here's how to read the coast.
Where to Stay in Tulum for a Group Trip
Tulum is the most photographed beach in Mexico and one of the easiest to book for the wrong energy. The beach zone is the party; the pueblo is the value. Here's how to match the base to the trip your group actually wants.
Where to Stay in Puerto Rico for a Group Trip
Puerto Rico is the island groups book as 'a beach trip' and discover as a region. San Juan, the west coast, Vieques — they're different trips, and the group that doesn't pick splits. Here's how to read the island.
Where to Stay in Cancún (and the Riviera Maya) for a Group Trip
Cancún looks like one decision — beach or resort — and it's actually two: all-inclusive or self-catered, and party-beach or quiet-beach. Get either wrong and half your group is on a different trip. Here's how to read the options.
Where to Stay in Mexico City for a Group Trip
Mexico City is one of the best-value, best-food cities in the world, and one that catches groups off guard with its altitude and its scale. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can walk, eat, and breathe through.
Where to Stay in Cabo San Lucas for a Group Trip
Cabo is two towns and a corridor between them, and the group that books 'Cabo' without picking which one is the group that ends up on the wrong beach. Here's how to match the area to the trip your group actually wants.
Europe
12 guidesWhere to Stay in Paris for a Group Trip
Paris is the city people book on reputation and discover in the wrong neighborhood. The center is beautiful and exhausting; the outer arrondissements are cheaper and more livable. Here's how to match the base to the trip your group can actually enjoy.
Where to Stay in Rome for a Group Trip
Rome is a walking city built on ruins and hills, and the group that books the wrong neighborhood spends the trip in cabs and crowds. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can walk home from — even in August.
Where to Stay in Amsterdam for a Group Trip
Amsterdam is small, walkable, and beautiful — and its canal houses have stairs steeper than the city's reputation. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can climb to, at a budget it can sustain.
Where to Stay in Ibiza for a Group Trip
Ibiza is the club capital of Europe and an island of quiet beaches, and those are two different trips. The group that books 'Ibiza' without picking which Ibiza is the group that ends up at the wrong beach. Here's how to read the island.
Where to Stay in Mallorca for a Group Trip
Mallorca is the biggest Balearic island and the one groups book as a beach trip and discover as four. The resort strips, the old city, the quiet coves — they're different trips, and the group that doesn't pick splits. Here's how to read the island.
Where to Stay in Athens for a Group Trip
Athens is the city groups use as a layover and discover as a trip. The Acropolis is the draw; the heat and the hills are the catch. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can walk home from — even in July.
Where to Stay in Dubrovnik for a Group Trip
Dubrovnik is a walled city on a cliff, and the group that books the Old Town for a quiet trip is the group that climbs stairs in cruise-ship crowds. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can sustain.
Where to Stay in Florence / Tuscany for a Group Trip
Florence and Tuscany are two different trips that share a region, and the group that books 'Tuscany' without picking which one is the group that's confused. City or villa is the decision, and the day-trip hub is the lever. Here's how to choose.
Where to Stay in Madrid for a Group Trip
Madrid is the city where dinner starts at 10pm and the night goes till 2, and the group that doesn't sync to that is the group that eats alone. Here's how to pick a base that matches your group's clock and energy.
Where to Stay in Barcelona With Friends (or a Group)
Barcelona is a brilliant group-trip city, and a city with a lodging rule nobody warns you about: tourist-apartment licensing. Here's how to pick a neighborhood your whole group can actually agree on — and legally stay in.
Where to Stay in Lisbon for a Group Trip
Lisbon is one of the best-value cities in Europe and one of the most physically demanding. The hills decide the trip as much as the neighborhood does — here's how to pick a base your whole group can actually walk home from.
Where to Stay in London for a Group Trip
London is the most expensive city on this list, and the city where the neighborhood choice matters most for the budget. Stay in the wrong area and you'll spend the trip on the Tube and paying Westminster prices. Here's how to match the base to the trip your group can afford.
Asia & Pacific
3 guidesWhere to Stay in Bangkok for a Group Trip
Bangkok is one of the great food and energy cities on earth, and one of the hardest to book for a group. The heat is real, the traffic is real, and the group that picks the wrong hub spends the trip in cabs. Here's how to choose.
Where to Stay in Bali for a Group Trip
Bali is the island groups book as one trip and discover as four. The surf-and-party coast, the jungle interior, the resort south — they're different trips, and the group that doesn't pick is the group that splits. Here's how to read the regions.
Where to Stay in Tokyo for a Group Trip
Tokyo is the world's best food city and one of the hardest to book for a group. The rooms are small, the city is enormous, and the group that doesn't agree on pace will spend the trip on trains. Here's how to pick a hub your whole group can sustain.
Canada & Latin America
3 guidesWhere to Stay in Costa Rica for a Group Trip
Costa Rica is the country groups book as one place and discover as four. The Pacific beach towns, the Caribbean coast, the cloud-forest interior — they're different trips, and the group that doesn't pick is the group that splits. Here's how to read the regions.
Where to Stay in Montreal for a Group Trip
Montreal is the most European city in North America and the one where the season defines the trip. Summer is a festival-and-terrace city; winter is an underground-and-cozy one. Here's how to pick the base for the trip your group booked.
Where to Stay in Cartagena for a Group Trip
Cartagena is the most beautiful colonial city on the Caribbean and one of the hottest. The walled Old Town is the draw; the heat is the catch. Here's how to pick a base your whole group can walk home from — and recover in.