What does it cost to rent a private island for a week?

It depends entirely on which category. A full-island buyout (Cousine, Necker, Calivigny) is typically six to ten figures depending on the property and the week. A private villa within a private-island resort (Soneva, Cheval Blanc, Reethi Rah) is materially less. An uninhabited island reached by yacht is essentially the cost of the yacht. The office quotes individually.

Which private islands can you actually rent out as a whole?

A small list, but it includes: Cousine and North Island in the Seychelles, Necker in the BVI, Calivigny in Grenada, Mnemba off Zanzibar, and selected weeks at Velaa in the Maldives. Most truly private islands either belong to single owners or are part of resorts that do not offer full buyouts.

Is renting a private island the same as a private island resort villa?

No. A private island resort villa (Soneva Fushi, Cheval Blanc Randheli, Reethi Rah) is a fully private villa within a shared resort — the villa is yours, the rest of the island is not. A buyout means the entire island and its staff are yours alone. These are different products at different price points.

How far ahead do you need to book a private island?

Christmas and New Year typically twelve to eighteen months out. Maldives high season (February to March) six to nine months. Shoulder weeks three to six months. A yacht treating an uninhabited island as its base can be set up in two to four weeks if a vessel is available.

Private Island Rental — A UHNW Guide to Buying the Week, Not the Room

"Private island rental" is a phrase used loosely enough that it has stopped meaning a single thing. For one guest it means a villa with its own beach at a private-island resort. For another it means buying out an entire island and its staff for ten days. These are different products with different prices, different timelines, and different reasons to choose them. The office walks every client through the distinction before quoting.

The three categories — and which one you actually want

1. Full-island buyout

The literal version. You rent the entire island and the entire staff for the period. No other guests. Examples that we work with regularly:

Cousine Island, Seychelles — five villas, 25 staff, biological reserve. Single-party only when fully bought.
North Island, Seychelles — eleven villas, possible to buy out as a whole; otherwise the largest villa (the President's) on its own.
Necker Island, BVI — Richard Branson's island; only available as a full buyout, usually 28 guests.
Calivigny Island, Grenada — full buyout only, up to 50 guests in five lodges.
Mnemba Island, Zanzibar — small, full-buyout only at the right week.

These weeks are six to ten figures depending on geography, season, and number of guests. The office quotes individually.

2. Private villa within a private-island resort

More common, and often the better answer. Properties like Soneva Fushi, Soneva Jani, Cheval Blanc Randheli, Velaa Private Island, One&Only Reethi Rah, and North Island (in its non-buyout configuration) offer villas of up to nine bedrooms with their own chef, butler, and private dock. The resort is shared, but the villa is genuinely private — fenced, screened, with its own waterfront.

For families and small groups (up to twelve), this is usually the right answer. You get the resort infrastructure (spa, restaurants, dive centre) without the buyout cost.

3. Uninhabited island via yacht

The cheapest and often the best. A yacht with a competent crew can anchor off an uninhabited cay in the Exumas, an empty atoll in the Maldives, or a quiet sandbar in Tahiti — and treat that island as a private base for as long as the weather allows. Total exclusivity, zero infrastructure, all logistics on the boat. The office books this constantly. See yacht charter Bahamas — Exumas for an example.

What full exclusivity actually buys

Five things, in order of how much they matter:

Schedule control. Meals when you want them, not on a resort schedule. Excursions on demand. The boat at the dock at 06:00 if you want to fish.
Quiet. No other guests means no other children in the pool, no other speedboats off the dock.
Programming. The chef can do menus the resort kitchen would not normally run. The dive team can spend the whole week with one family.
Photography and privacy. No other guests with phones.
The dinner table that does not exist. A long table on the beach, set for fourteen, candles in the sand, no other diners.

The non-obvious detail — staffing ratio

When you buy out a small island, the staff is whatever the island normally runs. That is usually 3 to 5 staff per guest. For most UHNW groups this is exactly right. But for a private celebration — wedding, milestone birthday, anniversary — you may want extra staff: a private florist, an extra chef, a dedicated children's team, a sound engineer. The office brings these in separately and integrates them with the island team. The hand-off matters.

Booking timeline

Christmas / New Year — book 12 to 18 months ahead. Most full buyouts are committed by July.
February-March (Maldives high season) — 6 to 9 months ahead.
April-October (shoulder) — 3 to 6 months.
Last-minute (yacht + uninhabited) — 2 to 4 weeks, if a yacht is available.

How the office handles it

Private island bookings are not a fleet exercise — they are a relationship exercise. Aurelius works with a small list of full-buyout islands and a broader set of private-villa resorts. The conversation starts with which week, which coastline, and how many guests. A short note via WhatsApp to +41 79 285 79 79 begins it. For a honeymoon version see honeymoon; for a family week see family week.