North Beach Lodge

The trick with sixteen people under one roof is giving everyone somewhere to go. North Beach Lodge spreads across three floors with five separate living spaces, and it actually works. The sitting room on the ground floor seats eight around the gas fire and a 50-inch TV. Upstairs, the snug has its own sofa and cloakroom, tucked away from everything else. Higher still, the den on the second floor is where the teenagers disappear and don't come back down. A garden room has another 50-inch TV and sliding doors out to the hot tub patio, and the first-floor games room has table football and board games. The result is something you rarely get in a big group booking: quiet when you want it.

The kitchen is genuinely good for cooking at scale. Electric double ovens, a five-zone induction hob, a dishwasher, and an American-style fridge-freezer mean you can do a proper meal for sixteen without queueing for oven space. The utility room has the washing machine, tumble dryer, and a microwave. When dinner is ready, the dining table seats everyone together, and those evenings when the full group actually sits down tend to be the ones people talk about afterwards.

Eight bedrooms are spread between the main house and a two-bedroom extension. Six have en-suite shower rooms with walk-in showers, and all eight have TVs. The main house bedrooms run across the first and second floors, a mix of doubles and twins. The two extension bedrooms share a family bathroom with a bath and shower over. Hair dryers in every room, highchairs and a travel cot if you need them.

Out the back, the enclosed patio has the hot tub. On a summer evening after the kids are in bed, it is the best seat in the house. Upstairs, the first-floor terrace catches the sea breeze and has furniture for morning coffee or alfresco meals. At the front, there is off-road parking for four cars with an electric vehicle charging point, plus a ground anchor at the side for securing bikes.

The location is what makes the whole thing easy. North Bay Beach is a ten-minute walk. Peasholm Park, the Open Air Theatre, and Scarborough Cricket Club are all within the same radius. There is a corner shop a minute away and a chip shop nearby. Walk fourteen minutes the other way, and you are in the town centre with restaurants, bars, and the harbour. Giannis Italian is worth booking a table.

Robin Hood's Bay is thirty minutes up the coast road, with Whitby another ten beyond that. The water park at Wykeham has zip lines and paddleboarding if you need a group day out. Scarborough Castle is worth a morning if nobody has been before.

Two well-behaved dogs are welcome. WiFi is included. Fuel and power are covered in the rent. On a big group holiday where everyone has different ideas about what to do next, having the space to do all of it at once is what makes the week work.