Serene holidays without the kids
Enjoy the peace and quiet at these child-free resorts.
These resorts in Italy, Spain, France, Greece and Portugal have minimum ages of as high as 18.
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Italy
Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa, Amalfi Coast
Once a 17th-century monastery on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, this is now a spectacular hotel with 20 sea-view rooms and suites. Slotted into the side of wooded cliffs, its headline acts are a heated infinity pool and the Michelin-starred restaurant Il Refettorio. Inside, labyrinthine monastic spaces form the spa but, while rituals and pedicures long ago replaced rosaries and prayers, the building does remain a tranquil place of child-free contemplation. Talking of which, try to allot time for a romantic aperitif in the tiered garden as sunset turns the Gulf of Salerno pink.
Details: From $650 a night; minimum age 16;
monasterosantarosa.com.
Masseria San Domenico, Puglia
Dating from the 15th century, when it was used by the military-minded Order of Malta, this peaceful Puglian farmhouse complex is surrounded by 24ha of olive groves. The starkly white masseria features caves that once housed monks fleeing Moorish attackers, and later newly pressed olive oil, which is still produced and used liberally in the restaurant. Outside are an 18-hole golf course rated among Italy’s best, floodlit tennis courts and a vast seawater pool. The glinting Adriatic is visible across the countryside from various sedate piazzas.
Details: From $540 a night; minimum age 15;
masseriasandomenico.com.
Hotel La Lupaia, Montepulciano, Tuscany
Tuscany’s cypress tree avenues and hillside vineyards positively scream leisure, and not the kind enhanced by infants. Amen, then, to La Lupaia, a renovated farmhouse only open to those of drinking age. Not only does each of its 11 rooms have an outside space, but breakfasts, light lunches and dinners — classic Tuscan fare mining an on-site allotment — are served al fresco whenever possible. Those famous local wines from Montepulciano and Montalcino are virtually on tap too. Wide lawns surround the pool and, if you can rouse yourself for a day trip, Siena and Florence are within range.
Details : From $500 a night; minimum age 18; lupaia.com/en.
La Villa del Re, Castiadas, Sardinia
Forged from the remains of a Roman garrison, this mini resort fringes dunes and a fine white-sand beach along southern Sardinia’s Costa Rei. There are crystal waters in one direction and mountains to the other, but children nowhere at all. If you don’t fancy bathing in a seaside infinity pool or lolling on a lounger all day, the hotel organises a range of activities, such as kayaking, yachting, snorkelling, quad biking, trekking and wine tasting. Each of the 48 rooms has a classical feel, and the restaurant serves Italian classics.
Details: From $590 a night; minimum age 18; lavilladelre.com
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Spain
Royal Hideaway Corales Beach, La Caleta, Tenerife
Within the Spanish hotelier Barcelo’s sprawling Royal Hideaway resort on Tenerife’s sun-soaked southwestern coast are two distinct properties: the family-friendly Corales Suites, which we don’t care about, and the Corales Beach, through whose sleek, minimal doors only guests aged 17 or over may tread. The single accommodation option is a whitewashed junior suite with ocean-view terrace, while the rooftop Maresia, one of four guest-only, child-free restaurants, showcases the Michelin-starred Padron brothers’ vibrant Canarian cuisine. There are also pools and an Ayurvedic spa.
Details: From $400 a night; minimum age 17; barcelo.com.
Pure House Ibiza
This fabulous finca a few minutes’ drive from Ibiza town and not far from the coast has a very grown-up air. It’s the perfect place to sip sangria in a hammock, enjoy tapas on the patio or practise downward dog in the garden. That garden is quite something; 12ha to explore, stuffed with exotic plants, mango trees and olive groves. The best bit? There are no children splashing in the 23m saltwater pool. Inside it’s equally cool, with four boho-chic bedrooms.
Details: From $670 a night; minimum age 15; mrandmrssmith.com.
Amare Beach Hotel, Sant Josep de sa Talaia, Ibiza
Opened in June on San Antonio Bay, 4km from lively San Antoni de Portmany, this 366-room beachfront resort showcases both sides of Ibiza. As well as the glam element — with DJs playing a rooftop infinity-pool cocktail bar during sunset and occasional fashion shows — a second outdoor pool and twice-weekly yoga classes are perfect for relaxation. Other perks include wi-fi that works on the beach, a spa and gym, plus a Latin American restaurant led by the Michelin-starred Argentine chef Mauricio Giovanini.
Details: From $230 a night; minimum age 16; amarehotels.com.
Premium Residence, Menorca Binibeca, Menorca
Over on slower-paced Menorca, Pierre & Vacances opened this hotel in the northern spring. In the fishing village of Binibeca Vell, 1km from the nearest sandy beach, it consists of 149 rooms and apartments, some with private roof terraces and hot tubs, plus three daybed-flanked pools and a free spa. If you’re not tempted by nearby tennis courts and a golf course, consider diving at the Catedral, a huge cavern of stalagmites and stalactites, or hiking in the interior’s rolling hills and whitewashed villages.
Details: From $260 a night; minimum age 18;
pierreetvacances.com.
Palacio Can Marques, Mallorca
This palacio in the old-town district of La Lonja opened to guests early this year for the first time in its 250-year history. Restored by interior designer Aline Matsika, it has 13 high-ceilinged suites that pair Moorish tiles and Binissalem stone with antique furniture, modern-art prints and custom-made Murano glass lighting to imitate a chic private home. Accompanying them are an arched French-Mediterranean restaurant and a fitness room, while the large interior garden, shaded by palm trees, is exactly the sort of sleepy spot that squawking children would spoil.
Details: From $620 a night, including private airport
transfers; minimum age 18; palaciocanmarques.com.
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France
Domaine les Roullets Oppede, Provence
With so many high-quality, organic Cote du Luberon reds and roses produced on its estate, it’s probably a good thing this domaine doesn’t accept anyone younger than 16. At the heart of truffle-filled forest and olive groves, and below Mont Ventoux, awaits a chambre d’hote of five subtly stylish rooms, plus a heated garden pool lined with loungers and rose bushes. Although breakfasts are served outside at various locations, the orangerie’s honesty bar, with an espresso machine accompanying the plonk, is always reliably in the same place.
Details: From $405 a night; minimum age 16; lesroullets.com.
Hotel Tiara Yaktsa, Provence
A clifftop haunt along the Corniche d’Or, 10km from Cannes — boat shuttles run in summer — the opulent Tiara Yaktsa, a Relais & Chateaux property, has a Moroccan riad feel thanks to its many rugs and jewel-coloured lamps. That continues in bedrooms that are mostly suite-sized. Outside, fragrant Mediterranean gardens ring an infinity pool, with views of the sea and inland volcanic crags from Balinese beds, while cocktails and posh Provencal food are served at the L’Or Bleu restaurant. A buggy serves the sister Miramar hotel down the hill, which has a small private beach and spa.
Details: From $580; minimum age 16; yaktsa.tiara-hotels.com.
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Greece
Domes Noruz Chania, Crete
Modelled on the domed Venetian shipyards in nearby Chania, this beachside boutique, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, is geared towards relaxation. There’s a strip of sandy beach, a large main pool, a swim-up bar, chilled-out DJ beats, scatter cushions and beanbags. Add to that a spa, and a second, quiet-zone pool, as well as a wine-happy Cretan restaurant. The contemporary-style rooms and suites have high ceilings, hammocks on terraces, and in every case a plunge or private pool.
Details: From $440 a night; minimum age 16; marriott.com/hotels
MarBella Nido Suite Hotel & Villas, Corfu
New last year, this 69-suite establishment balances traditional Corfiot heritage and sleek style. Book a private-pool suite to look out over the Mediterranean, but every beach resort box is ably ticked elsewhere: main pool, a choice of restaurants (Greek a la carte, Mediterranean) and gardens, a spa and various watersports off the sandy beach just over the road.
Details: From $250 a night; minimum age 16; marbellanido.gr.
The Infinity 180 Luxury Suites, Alonnisos
There is a safari aesthetic to this three-suite hotel — the owners’ tribal artefacts are on the walls — but boat trips can be organised for guests to spy monk seals and dolphins in a nearby marine park. In the north of Alonnisos, one of Greece’s lushest and most pine-scented islands, the Infinity 180 also has a broad infinity pool facing the Aegean and a spa in the garden. Instead of a restaurant, dinners can be ordered to your patio. The sandy Chrisi Milia beach is a 10-minute drive via bumpy dirt roads.
Details: From $520 a night ; minimum age 16; theinfinity180.com.
Carpe Diem, Santorini
With eye-watering prices, a one-to-one staff-to-guest ratio, and each of 10 giant suites including a plunge pool, Carpe Diem lays justifiable claim to being one of Santorini’s most exclusive hotels. Adults can enjoy a champagne bar, spa, butler service, mezze bar, fine-dining restaurant and infinity pool in perfect peace. The location, in the hilltop town Pyrgos Kallistis, affords wondrous, 270-degree vistas, yet the nearest sandy beach is just over 10 minutes’ drive. Booking directly yields complimentary massages and wine.
Details: From $660 a night; minimum age 18;
carpediemsantorini.com.
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Portugal
Vila Gale Collection Praia, Praia da Gale, Algarve
Four kilometres west of the busy resort of Albufeira, Praia da Gale’s golden sands and beach bars are far quieter. The 40-room boutique hotel Vila Gale Collection Praia guarantees a quiet time to guests. There are two restaurants — one Mediterrean-style, the other pizza-focused — two tennis courts, a giant hot tub, pool and Satsanga spa. The beach is 200m away, with the bright coloured bee-eaters of Salgados Lagoon Nature Reserve also in walking distance.
Details: From $290 a night; minimum age 16; vilagale.com.
Memmo Alfama, Lisbon
A former shoe-polish factory, Memmo’s laid-back Alfama haunt has a serene first-floor pool overlooking the Tagus River, flanked by cream leather sofas and red bucket seats. Next to it is a terrace wine bar, where Portuguese plonk washes down snack plates of ham croquettes or octopus salad. The 42 rooms have lime-washed floorboards and bathrooms with polished concrete floors and capacious rain showers. It all makes for a calming base after days spent trotting about Alfama, a buzzy neighbourhood of narrow stone lanes and romantic miradouros (viewpoints).
Details: From $245 a night; minimum age 16; memmohotels.com/alfama.
The Times