What to Know About Nocturne Luxury Villas’ New Experiences in Residence

As luxury travelers seek more personalized ways to experience a destination, Nocturne Luxury Villas is formalizing an approach it says has long been part of its business.

In May, the company introduced Experiences in Residence, a collection of curated programs available across its portfolio of luxury villa brands in destinations including Los Cabos, Mexico; Santa Barbara, California; St. Barts; Grand Cayman; Telluride, Colorado; and Florida’s Emerald Coast. The initiative spans everything from private culinary events and wellness retreats to customized family celebrations — designed to create a deeper connection to a destination and a more customized experience for guests. Under the program, Nocturne’s villa specialists and concierge teams design, pre-arrange and execute the experiences, eliminating the need to piece together itinerary elements through a variety of suppliers or booking platforms.

To learn more about how experiential villa travel is evolving, we spoke with Scott Wiseman, CEO of Nocturne Luxury Villas, about how travel advisors can use the program to create more personalized client experiences, and why privacy and local connections have become so valuable in luxury travel today.

Experiences in Residence formalizes services that Nocturne brands have offered for years. What prompted the decision to launch it as a unified program now?

We’ve been doing it for years, and many of our brands have been around for decades. Those local teams have spent so much time already helping guests and travel advisors arrange everything from private chefs to wellness services — even scuba lessons. We realized pretty quickly that many travelers and travel advisors didn’t fully understand the breadth of what was available to them. Having it under a dedicated program, we’re making it easier for travel advisors to discover, plan and personalize the experience even before their guests arrive. We’ve noticed that the more [options] we’ve created, the more travelers are actually turning away from outside activities in the destination and utilizing the home more.

We’re making it easier for travel advisors to discover, plan and personalize the experience even before their guests arrive.

What types of clients are you seeing most strongly drawn to Experiences in Residence: multigenerational families, celebration groups or other guests?

It’s almost everyone. We do see a large amount of big milestone celebrations with heavily themed events, music and performances. Then we have smaller groups, whether it’s a girls’ getaway or a golf trip, and they’ll ask to have a bartender available during the day while they’re hanging out at the pool at the house. The appeal is wide. We’re seeing it used a lot, whether it’s small groups or large groups, even just for something like putting together box lunches to take to the beach if you’re in one of our beach locations.

How are luxury travelers defining value today, and what qualities are they prioritizing most when choosing a villa experience?

I think having [trips] personalized is a big part of it, and the luxury traveler really relies on the advisor to know that. It boils down to privacy: having a lot of space and a lot of freedom to do what they want, when they want. They appreciate a home that’s been well arranged and [a company] that is able to provide services they wouldn’t normally be able to get in a resort or hotel. They’re looking to maximize the home and the overall vacation experience.

Why do you think villa travel has become such a natural home for these elevated, customized experiences?

I think the first thing is that villa rentals are now a mainstream way for people to travel. No one looks at it as an alternative accommodation; it is a big part of the experience. We’ve had everything from a sweet 16 celebration where our team created an entire Barbie-themed experience, to guests who wanted specialized fitness or wellness programs with private yoga instructors. We’ve done private scuba lessons in a villa pool and arranged for a Latin Grammy-nominated guitarist to perform for a couple celebrating their anniversary with friends.

We’ve done private scuba lessons in a villa pool and arranged for a Latin Grammy-nominated guitarist to perform for a couple celebrating their anniversary with friends.

Many of these experiences go well beyond traditional concierge services. How do you and your local teams develop opportunities that feel genuinely connected to a destination?

We don’t want to lose sight of the fact that the locations of the homes are part of the experience, as well. We collaborate a lot with homeowners and local partners because they want their homes to be a great place for people to stay and put something special together. Those deep-rooted connections allow us to do things like charitable opportunities, whether it’s puppy rescue or helping with a beach cleanup.

The biggest thing is having access to different local experiences. Sometimes it can be a shaman ceremony, sometimes a spiritual journey or helping guests experience local food in a way that accommodates dietary needs. We’ve got experts … who have lived in the community for generations, and we introduce them to clients to help give them an experience, whether it’s food, travel or just knowledge and learning.

How do you ensure each experience still feels authentic to the place where it’s offered?

We don’t believe that everything should be the same. The experiences in St. Barts are very different from those along the Florida Panhandle. In the Panhandle, it’s a lot of families who want experiences such as beach bonfires and a family photographer. In St. Barts, the focus may be more on clubbing and having beach access. We try to make sure there’s still individuality among the different brands, so the experience feels appropriate to the destination.

What role do travel advisors play in shaping these experiences before a client arrives, and how can advisors use the program to create more personalized villa stays?

They know their clients better than anyone, so we rely on that. By pairing these experiences with travel advisors’ [knowledge] about their clients, they can create a trip that feels much more personal rather than just transactional. We like to present it as their travel advisor helped plan the experience — not that we randomly picked certain things for them. Advisors can also deliver something that a guest may not even know is possible.

As luxury travel continues to evolve, where do you see experiential villa travel heading over the next five years, and how do you expect travel advisors to fit into that evolution?

I see travel advisors being able to extend the luxury experience to clients who may have thought they couldn’t afford it before. If a large family is going to a resort and everyone needs their own room, it can be much more expensive than staying in a villa, where everyone can have their own bedroom and bathroom while still sharing the experience. Price does matter in luxury travel — it’s really value that drives it.

I also think homeowners are increasingly designing and renovating their homes with renters in mind. They’re adding features and experiences that guests will value and removing barriers that can sometimes exist in traditional vacation rentals. Those two things are helping morph this industry and making it easier for travel advisors to reach a larger market.