Stay Awhile Villas keeps a handpicked portfolio of private homes across Malibu, Beverly Hills, and the Hollywood Hills, and of every week in the year, Thanksgiving is the one our concierge team plans furthest ahead.
Late November is the quiet stretch of the Los Angeles calendar. The locals leave, the light turns gold by four, and the weather still lets a table sit outside. It is the one holiday here that rewards staying in rather than going out, and the house you choose decides almost all of it.
Where to stay in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving is a question of the house before it is a question of the neighborhood, so what follows is not the whole collection. It is the three homes we would put a family in ourselves, one for each corner of the city, for the four days from Thursday, November 26 through Sunday, November 29.
Malibu Goes Quiet in November
The coast empties out after October, and Broad Beach is the quietest part of it, the stretch people move to once they already know Malibu. By Thanksgiving week the sand in front of the houses belongs to whoever is staying in them. Our Malibu collection runs deepest here, and one house holds the whole holiday.
The Surf Lodge
Thanksgiving morning starts with coffee carried from the kitchen straight down onto the sand, and the long gap between the meal and the pie takes care of itself: the fire pit going, the tide coming in, somebody always out on the deck. Fourteen guests, six bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a detached guest suite, which is what keeps the grandparents and the bunk room full of cousins out of the same hallway.
The kitchen is the reason to book it. A Wolf gas range inside, a full outdoor kitchen and grill for anyone who would rather smoke the turkey than roast it, and a terrace already set for alfresco service. Floor to ceiling windows keep the Pacific in the room from breakfast until dark, and the open air hot tub is why nobody goes to bed early.
It suits a group of fourteen who want the holiday barefoot, with the sand at the bottom of the steps and nowhere in particular to be until Friday.
Beverly Hills Keeps the Formal Room
Some families want the holiday dressed properly, and Beverly Hills is the part of the city that still knows how. Residential streets north of Sunset, magnolias, the shops on Rodeo already lit for December, and the shortest drive to every table worth booking. Our Beverly Hills collection leans to estates, and one of them has the room the holiday actually asks for.
Beverly Hills Maison
A French country chateau at the end of a cul de sac in Beverly Hills Post Office, on nearly two acres of mature landscaping with canyon views on every side. It has the thing almost nothing else in the city has, which is a genuine formal dining room, a long wooden table under a real ceiling. Thanksgiving asks for exactly that and almost never gets it.
Twelve guests across five bedrooms and five bathrooms, with a fireplace in the primary suite. The kitchen runs on Wolf and Sub Zero with a light filled breakfast area beside it, so the cooking, the coffee, and the people who came to watch both happen in one room. When the meal ends the house keeps going, into the theater room for the afternoon film, out to the zero edge pool, or onto the covered barbecue patio for whoever needs air.
It suits the family that sets a table properly, and the milestone year that happens to land on the holiday.
The Hills Eat Outside
Not every Thanksgiving wants a ceremony. In the Hollywood Hills the holiday tends to happen in the backyard, which in late November is still entirely reasonable, with the city lit up underneath and the food coming off a grill rather than out of an oven. Our Hollywood Hills collection is where the smaller groups go.
Casa Cortona
A gated four bedroom with city and mountain views and a glimpse of the coastline from parts of the house. Eight guests, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a primary suite built around a soaking tub and dual vanities, though the backyard is where the day actually goes: a pool and hot tub with loungers, a custom outdoor kitchen with both a smoker and a grill, a fire pit strung with lights, and a covered pergola lounge with a television and bar seating, which is where the game ends up playing while the turkey comes off the smoker.
Inside, the kitchen runs on Viking with an espresso system that earns its keep on the morning after. Nobody dresses up here, everybody eats outside, and the city stays lit below the whole time.
It suits a Friendsgiving, or a smaller family that would rather spend the afternoon around a fire pit than at a formal table.
Tell Us Your Table
Half of what makes the holiday work happens before you land. A private chef who plans the menu with you, shops, cooks in your kitchen and leaves it clean is the request we recommend most often for Thanksgiving week, and around it our team arranges wine pairings, florals and tabletop styling, in villa spa treatments for the Friday, and a driver for whoever flies in on the Wednesday. Ask when you book rather than after. Chefs free on the day itself go early.
Thanksgiving week is also the first thing to sell out in our calendar, and the larger your group, the smaller the number of houses that can hold it.
Browse our Los Angeles homes, or tell our concierge team the size of your group and the week you want. Choose the house, and the rest is ours to arrange.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Thanksgiving 2026? Thursday, November 26, 2026, with the holiday weekend running through Sunday, November 29. Most guests book Wednesday to Sunday, and a number extend into the following week while the city is still quiet.
How far in advance should I book a Thanksgiving villa in Los Angeles? Eight to twelve weeks, and earlier for oceanfront homes or any group over ten. Houses with formal dining rooms and serious kitchens are usually committed by early October.
Which home is best for a large Thanksgiving group? The Surf Lodge on Broad Beach, at fourteen guests across six bedrooms. Beverly Hills Maison sleeps twelve and is the better answer when the table matters more than the beach.
Can Stay Awhile Villas arrange a private Thanksgiving dinner at the villa? Yes. Private chefs, wine pairings, florals, and holiday tabletop styling are all arranged through our concierge team. Tell us what you have in mind when you book so the chef has time to plan the menu.
Are the kitchens equipped to cook the meal ourselves? Yes. These three run on Wolf, Sub Zero, and Viking, and two of them add an outdoor kitchen with a grill or a smoker. Say so when you enquire and we will point you to the strongest kitchens in the collection.
Malibu, Beverly Hills, or the Hollywood Hills? Malibu for a barefoot, oceanfront holiday. Beverly Hills for a formal celebration with shopping and fine dining a few minutes away. The Hollywood Hills for a smaller group that would rather spend the day outside, by a pool, above the city.