For families navigating terminal illness, military trauma, or the loss of a child, the concept of a holiday can feel impossibly distant. Kind Holidays — an initiative developed through the IDILIQ Foundation by Roy Peires — was built around a straightforward idea: that hospitality, at its most purposeful, can offer something far more than accommodation.
Since its launch in 2012, Kind Holidays has provided complimentary stays at IDILIQ Hotels & Resorts to more than 2,300 individuals, working in partnership with more than a dozen charitable organizations across the United Kingdom and Spain.
A Program Built Around Purpose
Kind Holidays began with a single partnership. In 2012, the initiative became one of the first donors to Give Us Time, a charity founded by former UK Defence Secretary Sir Liam Fox that arranges free hotel stays for military personnel and their families — many of whom are managing post-traumatic stress disorder or physical injuries sustained during service.
Four years later, Roy Peires expanded the program’s scope. In 2016, Kind Holidays began donating accommodation to charities supporting critically ill and terminally ill children, children’s hospices, bereavement organizations, and the Carers Trust, which was founded by Princess Anne.
Within 18 months of adding more than a dozen new charity partners, the impact of the program was visible not only among the families receiving holidays, but across the IDILIQ team itself.
Who Kind Holidays Serves
The program supports several categories of need:
Families of seriously and terminally ill children — Parents and siblings caring for a child with a life-limiting condition are offered the opportunity to spend time together outside of hospital environments.
Bereaved families — Families who have lost a child are connected with accommodation through partnerships with bereavement charities, providing space for rest and recovery.
Military families — Through Give Us Time and similar organizations, Kind Holidays provides holidays for armed forces personnel and their families managing the effects of physical injury or psychological trauma sustained during service.
Families of children receiving hospital treatment — For families living far from the hospital where a child is undergoing extended treatment, the program offers an alternative to lengthy daily commutes or prolonged separation.
Kind Holidays also maintains a relationship with Cudeca, a palliative care charity on the Costa del Sol. Patients and their families have been gifted free accommodation at IDILIQ resorts, allowing many of them a final opportunity to create shared memories together.
A Model for the Hospitality Sector
Beyond its direct impact, Kind Holidays was designed to function as a template. Roy Peires has publicly encouraged other hospitality businesses — hotels, airlines, cruise operators, restaurants, and travel providers — to consider how unused capacity within their operations could support families facing extraordinary circumstances.
Following the pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kind Holidays resumed its operations in 2022 with a renewed focus on encouraging wider industry participation. The initiative’s website, www.kindholidays.com, provides a practical guide for other hospitality businesses interested in establishing their own programs, along with contact details for charity partners seeking accommodation donations in the UK and abroad.
The program does not require large-scale infrastructure or significant financial outlay. As Roy Peires has noted, a single room or suite, donated during a period of low occupancy, can provide a family with an experience that carries meaning far beyond its material cost.
The Effect on Teams
One aspect of Kind Holidays that has drawn consistent attention is its effect on hotel staff. IDILIQ team members who interact with families participating in the program have described the experience as one of the most meaningful aspects of their professional roles. The program has, over time, become part of the culture of IDILIQ Hotels & Resorts — not just a charitable add-on, but a defining expression of how the organization understands hospitality.
About Roy Peires
Roy Peires founded what became the IDILIQ Group in the 1980s and has maintained a long-standing commitment to charitable engagement across southern Spain and internationally. Through the IDILIQ Foundation, he has supported organizations working in palliative care, disability services, mental health, cancer support, and community welfare. Kind Holidays, launched in 2012, represents one of the most visible expressions of that commitment — and an ongoing invitation to the hospitality industry to follow a similar path.