Somewhere in every group chat that ends in a villa booking, someone asks the quiet question: who is cooking for sixteen of us all week? It matters more than the swimming pool. Here is how our guests actually handle it, from a full shop on arrival to a private chef for the big night.
Self-catering is the default, and it works
Every one of our villas has a full kitchen: hob, oven, a fridge freezer sized for a big shop, and enough worktop and storage for several people to cook at once without falling over each other. For most weeks, most groups do a big supermarket shop on the way from the airport or the following morning, cook breakfast and a few evenings at the villa, and eat out the rest. Split across twelve to seventeen people, a week's groceries and a few take-away nights cost a fraction of eating every meal in a restaurant, which is part of why a villa works out cheaper than a hotel for a group this size.
The practical trick is deciding who shops and who cooks before you land, not on day one. One person with the group's food budget and a supermarket run sorted in the first hour saves an argument later. Large supermarkets are a short drive from all four villas; taxis can manage a big shop too if nobody wants to drive.
When a private chef makes sense
A private chef is something we arrange for you rather than something you have to find: tell us when you enquire or once you have booked and we will organise it. The groups who use one tend to book it for one night rather than the whole week: a birthday, the last night, or Christmas Eve, when restaurants in Costa Adeje and La Caleta tend to be booked out weeks ahead. It turns one evening into the kind of dinner nobody could organise for sixteen people in a restaurant: one sitting, one table, no bill to split at the end.
It is also the answer for a group that genuinely does not want to cook on holiday. If that is you, say so when you enquire and we can talk through how many nights make sense for your group and budget, rather than guessing.
The middle ground: a stocked kitchen and a good market
Between the two, most groups land on a version of both. A big first-day shop covers breakfasts, snacks and a couple of easy dinners (pasta, a barbecue, a big salad), and the rest of the week alternates between restaurants and one chef-cooked night for the occasion that deserves it. Our guide to what to check before booking covers the table itself: ask whether there is one that seats the whole group outside, because eating together is most of the point of renting a house instead of separate rooms.
The barbecue and the terrace table
All four villas are built for eating outside. The Surf Villa seats sixteen under the pergola beside the pool, with a barbecue and an outdoor kitchen area for the person who would rather grill than plate up indoors. The Surf Villa 3 has its own outdoor dining and barbecue beside the pool. The Surf Villa 2 and Villa Black are built on the same idea at a smaller scale, which suits their smaller groups.
Dietary needs and allergies
Cooking for yourselves is the easiest way to manage a mixed group: someone vegetarian, someone gluten-free, a child who eats nothing green. A full kitchen means one person can cook to a need without the whole table compromising. If you ask for a private chef, tell us the full list of requirements when you arrange it, not on the night; a good chef plans around allergies, they do not improvise around them at the stove.
Breakfast is where self-catering earns its keep
Whatever a group decides about dinners, breakfast is almost always at the villa: coffee on the terrace, fruit and pastries from the morning shop, everyone drifting down at their own pace before a pool day or a trip out. It is the one meal where a restaurant table for sixteen is more hassle than it is worth, and where a well-stocked kitchen matters more than a chef.
What to ask before you book
If catering matters to your group, ask three things when you enquire: whether the kitchen and fridge are sized for your numbers, whether a private chef is available on the dates you want, and whether there is one table that seats everyone. We would rather answer honestly before you pay than have sixteen people find out on arrival that the fridge is built for four.
Check dates on the calendar or tell us your group size and what matters to you and we will tell you which villa, and which approach to feeding everyone, actually fits.