8 Splendid Vacation Homes for When Your Crew Wants a Fly-and-Flop Vacation

Embarking on a "fly-and-flop" vacation with your crew can often be the best kind of vacation. You fly (or drive) there, arrive at a dreamy home, and set up shop for fun and relaxation for however many days. No need to worry about mapping out a detailed itinerary of things to do and places to see; instead, you swap hustle and bustle for sweatpants and coffee mugs (preferably on the deck at sunrise). Plus, when booking a group vacation rental, Zelle® makes splitting the nightly cost simple through its fast and secure payment platform. Ahead, seven distinctive vacation rentals that merit doing nothing but sitting around and staying for a while.

Nearest airports: Eagle County Regional Airport is about a 35-minute drive away; Denver International Airport is about an hour-and-40-minute drive away.

Swap the heat for the Rocky Mountains for your next BFF getaway or bachelor/ette party. Situated among hundreds of sylvan acres of National Forest lands, this home is worth the splurge. At Chateau Grande, you’ll find an ice cream parlor, Silver Dollar Saloon (decorated with Wild West accouterments), a hibachi room for a unique culinary experience at home, movie theater, private pond and dock, sauna and spa, indoor lap pool, and outdoor hot tub. In addition to the 30,000-square-foot, nine-bedroom main house, there’s also a four-bedroom lodge with homey stone-and-wood decor.

Sleeps up to 28; from $12,500/night; Onefinestay.com

Nearest airport: Palm Springs International Airport is about a 15-minute drive away.

A Vrbo “2023 Vacation Home of the Year,” good luck prying yourself away from this desert sanctuary. The sprawling outdoor grounds boasts an oversized pool, hot tub, a 45-foot putting green, and a spa (complete with a dry sauna, steam room, and three showers as well as a skylight) for epic sunset-savoring. Cool bonus: A vintage trailer parked on-site with a telescope and fire pit right outside the reimagined Silver Streak digs if you want to glamp one night. In the main house, you can open a giant panel in the living room for indoor-outdoor living at its finest.

Sleeps up to 14; from $2,795/night; Vrbo.com

Nearest airport: Charlotte Douglas International Airport is about a 50-minute drive away.

Another “2023 Vacation Home of the Year” on Vrbo, this manse is perched on a private peninsula on Lake Norman. Along with more than 600 feet of lakefront vistas, the house has a giant deck for dining and lazing, a theater room, a pool, hot tub, and putting green. There’s also a spacious game room with garage doors opening directly to the pool that has a ping pong table, foosball, knock hockey, and exercise bike. The toughest quandary of this vacation will be which room to head to for your nightly entertainment. Knock hockey, we’re starting with you.

Sleeps up to 16; from $879/night; Vrbo.com

Nearest airports: Sullivan County Airport is about a half-hour drive away; New York Stewart International Airport is about an hour-and-20-minute drive away.

The Catskills are calling! Nestled by the rocky headwaters of the Neversink River the aptly named River Cottage will lull you into zen mode with the sounds of nature all around. Enjoy winter nights by a crackling fire pit sipping on hot chocolate (or come in the summer when the porch sunbathing game is primo) and rejoice in board games, movie marathons, and the luxury of doing nothing but bonding with your nearest and dearest. FYI: If your party is larger than four, see if you can also book the equally enticing Blue Quill Cabin (sleeps up to four; from $255/night), within walking distance and split a group of up to eight people between two properties. Blue Quill Cabin, also in Claryville, has a stone-lined fireplace grounding the living room, as well as an outdoor fire pit.

Sleeps up to four; from $185/night; Airbnb.com

Nearest airport: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is about a 25-minute drive away.

Attention snowbirds: this gorgeous home is sure to snap you out of your winter doldrums. Spend your days on the full-sized combination tennis and basketball court, teeing up on the putting green, cooking up a storm at the deluxe barbecue station, or taking many a dip in the saltwater pool (did we mention it has a grotto waterfall and waterslide?). When the temperatures drop come nightfall, keep conversation going on the covered patios, all outfitted with outdoor fireplaces or head indoors to play a friendly game of billiards.

Sleeps up to 20; from $2,627/night; Vrbo.com

Nearest airport: Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is about an hour-long drive away.

Snow bunnies, here’s another stellar option for you. Part of the eviivo Collective, an assortment of upscale independent properties from Airbnbs to hotels, is a ski-in, ski-out dream. Tucked beside the bottom of the Challenger ski slope, this 4,000-square-foot home with four bedrooms has amenities like a wood-burning fireplace, slope-side private hot tub, an outdoor grill and patio. Should you want to fly, flop, and ski, it’s worth noting that there’s perhaps no better end-of-day run in Big Sky Country than zooming from the top of Challenger straight to your property’s hot tub. Year-round, you’ll enjoy epic vistas of the Spanish Peaks from the covered deck, and you can swap skiing for hiking and biking in Big Sky and nearby Yellowstone National Park during warmer months. When apportioning the bill for ski lift tickets and/or park excursions among several persons, Zelle® to the rescue, once again.

Sleeps up to 10; from $2,500/night; hapm.us

Nearest airport: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is about a 90-minute drive away.

High Hill is a luxury vacation home community in the Piney Woods of East Texas that you can easily spend a week at without getting bored thanks to amenities like onsite vineyards, farm-to-table dining, a white sand beach with beach bar, and outdoor activities galore. In this collection of homes, Wildfeather House, the four-bedroom, five-bathroom, 3,400-square-foot accommodation is also a place you can call HQ for countless pleasurable hours. The stunning property has an infinity pool, cabanas, an outdoor shower, and easy access to the spring water beach a few yards from the abode. On the horizon, there are also an outdoor amphitheater for concerts, pickleball courts, and a high-tech driving range, Topgolf, for more fly-and-flop diversions on the High Hill grounds.

Sleeps up to 10; from $1,275/night; Vrbo.com

Nearest airport: Palm Springs International Airport is about a 50-minute drive away.

Desert bliss awaits on this 50-acre property, ideal for a wellness-loving posse. During your Joshua Tree jaunt, enjoy the home's cold plunge pool, hot tub, a separate yoga/dining/sauna pavilion, bocce ball court, private disc golf course, and outdoor shower. Then, relax on sun deck when you're all done breaking a sweat for the day or hang by the smokeless fire pit or in one of the five hammocks. Even if you're just hanging out inside, you'll love how the high ceilings let that magical desert light pour into your digs. Also, you've got no nearby neighbors if you feel like counterbalancing all the day's healthy activities with partying into the late-night hours.

Sleeps up to eight; from $639/night; Airbnb.com