You arrive on Hvar, greeted by the soft whispers of the Hvar's fragrant wind as it carries the salty scent of the sea and the earthy notes of the island’s wild herbs. Stepping into your seaside retreat, every inch of the villa feels like it was made just for you. The design flows naturally with the landscape, blending luxury with the island’s rugged beauty. The crisp lines of the furniture, the warm light filtering through the windows — it all invites you to sink into the moment.
You breathe in the air, noticing how everything is already perfect. The pool sparkles invitingly, the table is set with fresh local delicacies, and the view from the terrace stretches into infinity. There’s no need to lift a finger. With Hvar Away, every detail has already been taken care of. All you need to do is let go, relax, and let the island’s magic take over. The luxury of Hvar is waiting for you — all you have to do is live it.
Matt and I first travelled together to Hvar in 2019 and we chose, rather than to stay in Hvar Town, to find a secluded place on the southern coast of the island. We felt an immediate connection with Hvar – the island’s spirit, people, and its untamed natural beauty.
And of course, just around the corner in 2020, the Covid pandemic rocked the world. In all the circumstances, it was a straightforward (albeit spontaneous) choice to “upsticks” and relocate to this idyllic haven! Looking back now, Hvar Away was born out of a sequence of fortunate events. I’m sure for many people, when they look back, it can be amazing how things seem to just occur, or fall into place, which ultimately changes the trajectory of their lives. In fact, I guess these fortunate events started even earlier than our move to Hvar in 2020. My early years were shaped by academics, eventually taking me to Oxford University to study medicine. But deep down, I had a restless spirit and a craving for freedom and adventure. After just a year at Oxford, I knew that path wasn’t mine to follow. So, on my 21st birthday, I booked a one-way ticket from London to the rainforests of Southeast Asia. During that chapter of my life, I explored much of Asia – cycling thousands of kilometres through Thailand, Myanmar, and beyond – then ventured through Australia, Hawaii, and other states in the US. When I returned to England some three years later, a different kind of adventure began – one that led me towards entrepreneurship.
It was around then that I crossed paths with Matt, my personal trainer at the time. Let’s just say things got a little more personal than expected! I had no idea I’d just met not only my future husband but also my future business partner. So yes, when Covid struck, Matt’s other business in construction simply stopped overnight. Instead, all his energy went into converting his work van into a campervan. In three weeks, we drove our new home on wheels to Hvar – this time permanently.
Then began the fortunate events on Hvar. During our first trip to the island the previous year, we had befriended a local man who owned land in a bay near where we had stayed. He generously agreed to let us park our campervan on his property and live there that summer. Inevitably, when you’re in a secluded bay with just a couple of neighbours, you create strong bonds quickly. One of the houses in the bay belonged to a French gentleman named Pierre. Just two weeks after meeting us, Pierre was heading back to Paris when – to our astonishment – he handed us the keys to his almost-finished house and asked if we wouldn’t mind living in it over winter and keeping an eye on things.
To further our fortune, Pierre added, “If you could manage the renting of the house next summer, that would be great.” And that’s how Hvar Away was born! La Villa Bleue, or “Pierre’s house”, became the first Hvar Away villa. We’ve come a long way, now with a portfolio of more than 30 villas and continuing to grow.
Having had this incredible fortune in the beginning, we were inspired to set about building Hvar Away to be something different, something special, something that would hopefully rise above the kind of experience that was available elsewhere.
Since the very start, we wanted to ensure our guests knew that we’re not just another travel agency. We don’t just list accommodation, hand guests the keys, and leave them to discover the island alone. Curating our collection of special properties we personally visit and approve is only the first step. We believe the best way of discovering special places is from those who call it home. Our guests can’t discover the true magic of Hvar during their holiday if they don’t know what to do or where to go, so we offer a range of unique Experiences – inspiring enrichments to weave into their stay that transform a good villa holiday into a superb one – in tandem with our villa stays.
Even though Hvar is a small island geographically, it has so much to offer that some visitors can feel almost paralysed with having so many options to choose from. There’s a balance to be struck between making the most of your stay and not over-itinerising and trying to cram in too much. We’ve found that our guests really value the local insight and knowledge we provide as “foreigners turned locals” who live on the island year-round. We’re here to support and serve our guests as if they were in a 5-star hotel – even though they have the privacy and independence of an entire villa for themselves.
The foundation of Hvar Away is our villas. Firstly, villa stays are inherently more authentic and sustainable than hotel stays. In a hotel, no matter how good it is, you’re one of many. In a villa, you’re the only guest, which means total privacy and the freedom to experience Hvar entirely on your own terms. And with a full-service travel agency like Hvar Away, you don’t just get the luxury villa, but personalised support is available at every step – from finding your perfect place, to assisting with travel logistics, to curating the best Experiences for your group.
One of the key differences between us and traditional travel agencies is that we’re foreigners who have travelled extensively but now live permanently on Hvar. This means we are grounded in a clear understanding of our guests’ needs and expectations because we have been in their shoes. At the same time, we have deep knowledge of Hvar on a local level that would be impossible to attain for someone who doesn’t live here.
Another difference that sets us apart from traditional travel agencies is that we only include villas in our portfolio that Matt or I have personally visited and approved. Sadly, numerous agencies list properties on their websites without ever setting foot in them. At Hvar Away, we know each villa in our collection intimately – the story, the details, and the owners – and that allows us to showcase villas as they are instead of trying to represent something we have never experienced.
For us, and for many of our eco-conscious guests, a unique and luxurious visit to Hvar is not without the consideration of environmental responsibility. We understand that Hvar was here before us, and it’s part of our mission to help preserve the island’s incredible and magical uniqueness that makes it so special. After all, it’s that specialness that continues to draw people back, year after year.
Whilst we understand that there is a lot of work to be done within the luxury travel sector to become more responsible and eco-conscious, we’re proud to be contributors to a more sustainable approach to tourism on Hvar, working towards a better future. Our villa portfolio is curated with sustainability in mind, with reducing emissions and waste at the forefront of these aims. It's a good start that our villa collection includes several properties in remote, off-grid areas of the island – so they have little choice other than to be fully self-sustainable!
Additionally, we stock our fully-managed villas with Faith in Nature cosmetics in the bathrooms, which are all organic, hypoallergenic, and eco-friendly. Aligning with local regulations and implementing improvements as soon as they are available is vital as well. When Jelkom, a local municipal service company, introduced their new recycling collection scheme for this upcoming season, we informed all of our villa owners in the municipality of the change. Of course, there are still some places on the island where recycling is complicated for guests on holiday, but we’ve updated the Hvar Away guidebooks for each villa to let guests know how it’s organised and that recycling bags are provided for them – meaning they can separate their recycling the same as they might do at home, and we arrange that it gets collected.
We hope this contributes to our guests enjoying their stay, reassured that they are minimising their footprint whilst holidaying on Hvar. Another way we strive to keep Hvar magical for future visitors and generations is by encouraging our guests to adopt a “slow travel” approach. Take the time to savour in and soak up your surroundings, instead of chasing all the best Instagram spots in a two-week whirlwind trip across Croatia. With a slower travel approach, you get a deeper sense of the place and the people, which can make such a difference to the memories you take home.
Finally, an often-overlooked aspect of sustainable tourism that we strive for is to ensure that we support the local island community. From the local homemade products we provide to our guests as part of the welcome gift package in our fully-managed villas, to the range of Experiences we offer in cooperation with the most trustworthy local businesses, everything has been thoughtfully designed to give back to the community and celebrate the richness of local culture.
We view Hvar through the lens of our travels across the globe. We have a deep understanding of what truly distinguishes this island and, since we’ve been living here for five years now, we know where to find the hidden gems that most travellers wouldn’t discover alone.
My favourite spot would still, to this day, be the southern side of Hvar’s remote eastern half – the original place that cast its spell on us during our first visit to the island. That whole part of the island is unapologetically nature’s playground. The wild agave plants, the gorgeous scent of dense pine forest, the pristine waters of the Adriatic. Add in the hidden beaches only accessible by boat and the seaside konobas (taverns) run by locals serving fish they caught that day. It’s really enough to make you want to stay there forever… which is what happened to us!
Once someone books a stay with us, our job is far from done. We provide personalised support from the moment they reach out to long after they depart, tailoring their experience to make sure they have the Hvar holiday of a lifetime. We’ve found that guests who choose a modern villa with an infinity pool in Hvar Town may interpret the meaning of luxury differently than guests who book a stay in a traditional Dalmatian stone house with an olive garden in one of the island’s secluded villages. At Hvar Away, we understand these differences in needs and desires, and listen to each group of guests individually. This way, we can combine our international experience together with our local knowledge to make them feel like Hvar is ready and waiting, just for them.
Our guests seem to really appreciate our personal approach and how much we value the precious holiday time they entrust us with, which has led to many memorable moments. We forge such strong connections with some guests that they sometimes invite us to dinner with them during their stay! We’re still in touch with many of them. I also now have a collection of handwritten notes left by guests. They really are the sweet cherry on top of the incredible TrustPilot reviews they write after their stay.
Challenges when running any business are inevitable, so I try to look at each one as an opportunity to learn – and as a first-time entrepreneur, of course there’s a lot of learning along the way! The biggest challenge might be the competitiveness and saturation of the travel industry. Trying to communicate just how different we are in a way that instantly resonates with potential guests is something we’re always striving towards. Looking at the trajectory of our growth and the feedback from our guests, I’d say we’re doing well.
The most rewarding part is witnessing our guests being blown away. It usually happens three times: the moment they arrive at their villa, during their stay after an Experience when they tell us that they’ve created unforgettable family memories, and at the end of their stay after they have experienced the fullness of Hvar’s magic.
For the moment, we seem to have found the sweet spot where we are serving our guests in a way that is perfectly aligned with what they want. We’re so glad to have created Hvar Away as a vehicle for sharing this island with others, while at the same time giving back to the local community that welcomed us so graciously five years ago.
In Croatia, there is a saying that roughly translates to “You don’t change a horse that keeps winning”, so we will keep doing more of what already works. Of course, we are continually adding to our portfolio of villas and Experiences on Hvar. As for the future, we plan to expand Hvar Away to other islands and parts of Croatia, but only when we can be sure we can achieve the same high standards we’ve established here on Hvar in those new locations.
Hvar Island is not just Hvar Town. Hvar Town is a picturesque, Venetian outpost on the island’s southwestern coast. Hvar Island is a landmass in the southern Dalmatian archipelago that is three times the size of Manhattan, with so much history, culture, and natural beauty to discover.
Hvar Island is home to five cultural and natural heritage elements inscribed on the UNESCO list: the Mediterranean diet, klape (traditional a cappella singing), the Following the Cross procession – a powerful tradition that has endured wars and pandemics for over 500 years – the Stari Grad Plain, the best-preserved example of ancient Greek land division in the Mediterranean, and agave lace – delicately handcrafted by nuns using fibres from the native agave plant.
And those are just the headline acts. Once you’re here, it quickly becomes clear that Hvar’s essence runs even deeper. Every walk can lead you to an undiscovered landscape where you realise that nature isn’t just part of Hvar, it is Hvar. Though the island has welcomed visitors for over 150 years, it has never lost sight of the traditions and rhythms that have sustained its beauty and calming energy for millennia.
We want our guests to feel that energy. We encourage them to engage in those authentic experiences. Take the private boat to a hidden cove, eat dinner caught by the local fisherman, drink wine with the local winemaker himself. There’s so much to do on the island if you don’t insist on staying in Hvar Town. That’s why most of our villa portfolio is dispersed across the island, so our guests can have lived experience in the most authentic locations and choose a place aligned with their desires. When you know what to look for, you can come to Hvar as someone who has never set foot on a Mediterranean island, and leave feeling like a true local, like you belong on Hvar. That’s what happened to Matt and I at least – only six months after our first authentic Hvar experience, we were back… permanently!
The best way to explore our collection of villas on Hvar is through our website, where each villa has a detailed description, a comprehensive local area guide, and a simple way to book online. We also take pride in our travel journals, which can serve as an alternative online tourist board where everyone who wants to learn about Hvar and Croatia can find useful and freshly-updated information to help them plan their stay.
Of course, we are on social media too, so for those who want a daily glimpse of Hvar to always be in the palm of their hand, follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
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