Most hotels measure success in occupancy rates and revenue per available room. Roy Peires measures it differently — in the number of families who, in the middle of the hardest chapters of their lives, got to rest.
Kind Holidays, the charitable program Peires launched through the IDILIQ Group, has provided free accommodation to more than 2,300 people across more than a dozen partner charities. The program places families facing terminal illness, childhood cancer, military trauma, and bereavement into IDILIQ Hotels & Resorts at no cost. It is not a marketing initiative. It is a structural commitment built into the way IDILIQ operates — and Peires has spent years making the case that it should be built into the way the entire industry operates.
From a Seed of Hope to a Scalable Model
Kind Holidays was formally established as a program within IDILIQ in 2012, when it became one of the first donors to Give Us Time — the charity founded by former U.K. Defence Secretary Sir Liam Fox that organizes free accommodation for military personnel and their families, many of whom are managing PTSD or physical injuries sustained in service.
By 2016, Peires had expanded the program’s scope to include charities supporting seriously and terminally ill children, bereavement organizations, children’s hospices, and the Carers Trust, which was founded by Princess Anne. Within 18 months, the program had brought a dozen new charity partners on board. What emerged was not just a donations program, but a replicable framework.
The results were measurable beyond the number of holidays donated. IDILIQ’s own team members reported meaningful changes in how they experienced their work — a byproduct Peires had not fully anticipated but quickly recognized as significant.
A Template Any Hotelier Can Use
What distinguishes Kind Holidays from a standard corporate social responsibility initiative is its explicit design as a model for the broader industry. Peires has made the framework publicly available at www.kindholidays.com, where hoteliers can access a step-by-step guide for establishing their own programs, along with direct contact information for charity partners seeking accommodation across the U.K. and internationally.
The program is deliberately accessible. A hotel does not need a foundation, a large CSR budget, or a dedicated team to participate. A single room or suite, donated during a period of lower occupancy, can give a family what no other resource can provide: time together in a place that feels like rest rather than treatment.
Peires has also made the case that the model extends beyond hotels. Airlines, cruise operators, restaurants, and taxi companies all operate within the hospitality ecosystem and all have the capacity to contribute something — a seat, a meal, a transfer — that can be part of a family’s donated experience.
The Standard That Hotels Can Set
IDILIQ Hotels & Resorts serves primarily families and couples. That positioning makes the Kind Holidays program a natural extension of the brand’s existing guest focus. But for business-oriented hotels located near major children’s hospitals — where families may need accommodation for days or weeks while a child receives treatment — the program offers an even more direct opportunity to serve a population with urgent, unmet needs.
Peires’ argument is not that philanthropy is good for business, though the evidence from his own team suggests it is. His argument is simpler: the hospitality industry holds something rare — access to rest, to beauty, to the feeling of being cared for — and that resource is worth sharing.
More than 2,300 people have experienced that firsthand through IDILIQ. Peires is focused on multiplying that number across an industry that has more capacity than it realizes.
About Roy Peires
Roy Peires is the founder of the IDILIQ Group, a hospitality and real estate organization operating hotels and resorts on the Costa del Sol and in Tenerife. He established the IDILIQ Foundation to formalize the group’s long-standing commitment to charitable giving across the region and internationally. Kind Holidays, one of the foundation’s flagship initiatives, has provided free accommodation to more than 2,300 individuals through partnerships with more than a dozen charities. The program’s framework is available to hospitality operators at www.kindholidays.com.
