Private Chefs in Holiday Rentals: 2026 Data Report

By the ChefMaison team. Published 30 October 2026. Data: ChefMaison paid bookings, January 2024 to October 2026.

ChefMaison is a culinary marketplace that connects guests with private chefs in more than 25 countries. Because our chefs cook wherever guests are, our booking data shows something most market reports can't: where people actually eat when they hire a chef. Over the past three years, one setting has grown much faster than any other: the holiday rental.

This report shares that data openly, for holiday rental owners and property managers deciding what to offer their guests, and for journalists and researchers covering travel, hospitality and the private chef market.

Key findings

• 1 in 4 bookings: In 2026 (January to October), 25.5% of paid private chef bookings on ChefMaison were for guests staying in a holiday rental, Airbnb or villa, up from 20.2% in 2025 and 9.8% in 2024.
• Tripled in a year: Private chef bookings in holiday rentals grew 205% from 2024 to 2025, from 102 to 311 bookings.
• Four times faster: That growth was more than four times faster than ChefMaison's bookings overall, which grew 47% over the same period.
• 2026 already ahead: With two months still to go, 2026 has recorded 397 holiday-rental bookings, 28% more than in the whole of 2025.
• France leads: France accounts for 44% of all holiday-rental private chef bookings since January 2024, more than Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Spain combined.
• The French Riviera is the hotspot: Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Saint-Tropez and Cap-Ferrat together account for at least 50 holiday-rental bookings, more than twice as many as Paris (22).
• A conservative floor: These figures only count guests who told us they were staying in a holiday rental, so the real share is higher.

How we measured this

• Source: ChefMaison's booking system (CRM), paid bookings only. Enquiries and unpaid quotes are excluded.
• Period: 1 January 2024 to the end of October 2026. Figures for 2026 cover January to October only.
• Definition: a booking counts as a holiday-rental booking when the guest told us they were staying in a holiday rental, Airbnb or villa.
• Why the numbers are a minimum: many guests never mention their accommodation, so they are counted outside the holiday-rental group even when they are staying in one. The true share is therefore higher than reported here.
• What we don't measure: ChefMaison does not record a guest's nationality or place of residence, so this report does not classify guests as tourists or locals. The holiday-rental share is the closest proxy for travelling guests in our data.
• Countries: country counts cover all 810 holiday-rental bookings from January 2024 to October 2026, spread across around 15 countries. This report shows the top five, which together account for 87%.
• Destinations: destination counts come from the roughly 4 in 5 holiday-rental bookings (about 80%) where a specific town or city was recorded. The rest name only a country or region, such as "the Riviera" or "the Algarve", so town and regional figures are minimums too. The destinations shown are the top ones, not a full breakdown.
• Rounding: percentages are rounded to one decimal place.

1. Holiday rentals now account for 1 in 4 private chef bookings

The share of private chef bookings in holiday rentals doubled from 2024 to 2025 and kept rising in 2026, to just over a quarter of all paid bookings.

Year Paid private chef bookings Bookings in a holiday rentalShare20241,%20251,%2026 (January to October)1,%

In other words, in 2024 roughly one booking in ten was for guests staying in a rental home. In 2026, it is one in four.

2. Holiday-rental bookings are growing four times faster than the rest

Holiday rentals are not just a bigger slice of a growing platform. They are the fastest-growing part of it.

Paid bookings20242025Change In a holiday rental102311+205% All other bookings9431,225+30%All paid bookings1,045 1,536+47%

The momentum has continued into 2026. By the end of October, ChefMaison had recorded 397 holiday-rental bookings, already 28% more than in the whole of 2025, with November and December still to come.

For context, the market for holiday stays themselves is growing far more slowly. Guests spent 951.6 million nights in short-stay accommodation booked through Airbnb, Booking and Expedia in the EU in 2025, an 11.4% increase on 2024, according to Eurostat. The two figures measure different things and are not a like-for-like comparison, but the gap suggests that guests in rental homes are adding experiences such as a private chef faster than the number of stays is growing.

3. Where it happens: France first, the French Riviera above all

France accounts for 44.3% of all holiday-rental private chef bookings on ChefMaison since January 2024. Bookings come from around 15 countries in total, and the top five together account for 87%, with the remaining 13% spread across the others.

CountryHoliday-rental bookings (Jan 2024 to Oct 2026)Share of holiday-rental bookingsFrance35944.3%Italy10713.2%Portugal8510.5%Belgium789.6%Spain739.0%

Among bookings where a specific town was recorded (about 80% of the total), Paris is the single busiest city, but the French Riviera is the clear leader as a region, with more than twice as many holiday-rental bookings as Paris. The table shows the top destinations.

Destination
RegionHoliday-rental bookingsParisParis22CannesFrench Riviera15AlbufeiraAlgarve, Portugal15AntibesFrench Riviera14BordeauxNouvelle-Aquitaine12NiceFrench Riviera10DurbuyBelgian Ardennes9Saint-TropezFrench Riviera6Cap-FerratFrench Riviera5FunchalMadeira, Portugal5MenaggioLake Como, Italy5

Grouped by region, these top destinations add up to 50 bookings on the French Riviera, followed by Paris (22), the Algarve and Madeira (20), Bordeaux (12), the Belgian Ardennes (9) and Lake Como (5). These are minimums: bookings that mention only a region, such as "the Riviera" or "the Algarve", without naming a town are not included, so the true regional totals are higher.

This matches where Europe's holiday rental demand is concentrated. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, home to the Riviera, was the EU's third most popular region for short-term rental stays booked online in the third quarter of 2025, with 16.9 million nights, and six of the EU's 20 most popular regions for these stays are in France, according to Eurostat.

4. Why guests in holiday rentals book a private chef

Our booking data tells us where and how often, not why. But the setting itself explains much of the pattern:

• The kitchen is already there. Unlike a hotel room, a holiday rental comes with a kitchen and a dining table, so a chef can cook and serve on site.
• Groups travel together. Villas and large rentals are booked by families, friends and multi-generational groups, the kind of gathering a shared, cooked-for-you dinner suits best.
• Nobody wants to cook on holiday. A private chef takes care of the shopping, the cooking, the service and the clean-up, so the host of the group gets a holiday too.
• Local food, at the table. Guests want to taste the region they are visiting, and a local chef brings regional produce and dishes to them.
• Special occasions travel too. Birthdays, anniversaries and celebrations are often planned around a trip, and a holiday home makes a private, personal setting for them.

The major platforms have noticed the same demand. Airbnb now lets guests book professional chefs for "fully customizable in-home meals" at the home they are staying in, as part of Airbnb Services.

5. What this means for holiday rental owners and property managers

For owners and property managers, the data points to an opportunity that most properties are not yet using.

• The demand is already there. One in four ChefMaison private chef bookings now comes from guests staying in a holiday rental, and that is a minimum.
• Few properties offer it. An audit of 4,394 short-term rental operators by guest-experience software company Enso Connect found that only 17.6% offer any upsells to their guests at all.
• It costs the owner nothing to run. The chef brings the ingredients, cooks in the property's own kitchen (a standard kitchen is all that's needed), serves at the table and cleans up before leaving. Many guests say the kitchen is left cleaner than they found it.
• It works for any group and any property. From a dinner for two in a city apartment to a large group in a villa, and if a property's kitchen isn't suitable, guests can book one of ChefMaison's private dining locations nearby instead.

What guests pay depends on the chef, the group size and the menu, so there is no fixed price. As a guide, private chef dinners on ChefMaison usually cost around €80 to €150 per person, averaging about €100. Read more about how much a private chef costs.

Offer private chefs through the tools you already use

ChefMaison now integrates with the short-term rental property management systems Hospitable and Guesty. Once connected, guests can discover and add private chefs and culinary experiences within the booking flow of your own platform, without being sent elsewhere. Connecting is free, with no setup fee or subscription.

See all integrations or talk to our partnerships team about offering private chefs at your properties.

How to cite this report

You're welcome to quote, share and republish the figures in this report, with attribution to ChefMaison and a link to this page:

ChefMaison (2026). Private Chefs in Holiday Rentals: 2026 Data Report. https://chefmaison.com/posts/private-chef-holiday-rental-report-2026/

For media enquiries or additional data, contact

Frequently asked questions

What share of private chef bookings are in holiday rentals?

According to ChefMaison booking data, 25.5% of paid private chef bookings from January to October 2026 were for guests staying in a holiday rental, Airbnb or villa, about 1 in 4. That is up from 20.2% in 2025 and 9.8% in 2024, and it is a minimum, because not every guest mentions their accommodation.

Is demand for private chefs in holiday rentals growing?

Yes. On ChefMaison, private chef bookings in holiday rentals grew 205% from 2024 to 2025, from 102 to 311, more than four times faster than bookings overall. By October 2026, there were already 397 such bookings, 28% more than in the whole of 2025.

Where do holiday rental guests book private chefs most?

France accounts for 44% of ChefMaison's holiday-rental private chef bookings since 2024, followed by Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Spain, out of around 15 countries in total. The French Riviera is the leading region, with Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Saint-Tropez and Cap-Ferrat together recording more than twice as many bookings as Paris.

Why do holiday rental guests hire a private chef?

Holiday rentals come with a kitchen and dining space, and they are often booked by families and groups travelling together. A private chef handles the shopping, cooking, service and clean-up, so nobody has to cook on holiday, and guests get to taste local food and celebrate special occasions in private.

Can a private chef cook in an Airbnb or holiday rental kitchen?

Yes. A standard home or apartment kitchen is all a private chef needs. The chef brings the ingredients and professional tools, cooks on site, serves each course and cleans up before leaving. If a rental's kitchen isn't suitable, guests can book one of ChefMaison's private dining locations nearby instead.

How much does a private chef cost in a holiday rental or villa?

There is no fixed price, as it depends on the chef, the group size and the menu. As a guide, private chef dinners on ChefMaison usually cost around €80 to €150 per person, averaging about €100. The price typically covers menu planning, ingredients, cooking, table service and clean-up.

How can holiday rental owners offer private chefs to their guests?

Owners and property managers can offer private chefs through ChefMaison, which integrates with property management systems such as Hospitable and Guesty. Once connected, guests can discover and add private chef experiences within the property's own booking flow. Connecting is free, with no setup fee or subscription.

Does ChefMaison integrate with Hospitable and Guesty?

Yes. ChefMaison integrates with both Hospitable and Guesty, so properties managed in either system can be connected to private chefs and culinary experiences. Guests can then add these experiences within the booking flow of the owner's platform. The integrations are free to connect.

How was the ChefMaison holiday rental data collected?

The data comes from ChefMaison's booking system and covers paid bookings from January 2024 to October 2026. A booking counts as a holiday-rental booking when the guest told us they were staying in a holiday rental, Airbnb or villa. ChefMaison does not record guests' nationality or residence.

Can I quote or use this data?

Yes. Journalists, researchers and writers are welcome to quote and share the figures in this report, with attribution to ChefMaison and a link to this page. For media enquiries or additional data, contact

Sources: ChefMaison booking data (January 2024 to October 2026); Eurostat, "Tourism nights booked via platforms hit nearly 1 billion", 1 April 2026; Airbnb, "Introducing Airbnb Services"; Enso Connect, "Vacation Rental Upsells Data and Trends 2025".