Travel Trend: Adults-Only Luxury Resort Vacations

THE PANDEMIC BROUGHT many families closer together, but even the tightest clans can squabble over Scrabble matches after one too many game nights. A surfeit of together-time is triggering a rise in demand for kid-free vacations, said Jack Ezon, founder of travel company Embark Beyond. Sixty-one percent of the summer trips that Embark Beyond booked this year were for adults only, compared with 48% in 2019. These grown-up escapes aren’t just for couples. Some are booked by groups of friends who want to travel together after many months of Zoom-only contact or individuals seeking solo sojourns. To help you plan your own immersion in maturity we’ve selected five resorts that offer decidedly grown-up diversions, from wining and dining to flopping down on a beach with a thick page-turner and uninterrupted nap time.

Sun, Sea, Spritz

One of the Amalfi coast’s most iconic hideaways, Il San Pietro (which welcomes ages 10 and up) is perched dramatically on a cliff edge. The rooms, carved into rocky hillsides, almost blend into the landscape, while the décor marries old-world elegance with Mediterranean chic. All 56 rooms open onto balconies with sea views. An elevator whisks guests down the cliff to the only private beach associated with a hotel in Positano. With an Aperol spritz in hand, stare at the sunset from the grand terrace. Its Michelin star Zass restaurant prepares local Mediterranean dishes like scampi tartare, with ingredients from its on-site organic gardens. From about $1150 a night, ilsanpietro.com

Big Sur’s Big Little Skies

The Post Ranch Inn stands 1,200 feet above the Pacific on the cliffs of Big Sur. Like the home at Green O, the inn’s 39 guest rooms bring to mind lavish treehouses, most built for two (no guests under age 18 allowed). The spa offers massages and private yoga and meditation classes. You can also book an astrology or shaman session. Or commune with the celestial spirits yourself by taking in the night sky—far from city lights, the hotel is a sublime place to stargaze. From approx. $1934 a night, postranchinn.com

Greek Squad

Canaves Oia Suites sit on top of a cliff on the Greek island of Santorini. A kid-free enclave (only ages 13 and up allowed) of Canaves Oia Resorts, the suites are housed in a whitewashed building facing the Santorini Caldera and the Aegean Sea. Verandas come with private pools and if you feel like mingling with the wider world, book a sailing tour or wander around the mazelike village of Oia admiring the Cycladic architecture. From about $1126 a night, canaves.com/canaves-oia-suites

A Glass Home on the Range

Dude ranches typically attract fidgety families but Montana’s Green O, a secluded part of the sprawling Paws Up Ranch, is a more grown-up approach to the great outdoors. Guests (ages 21 and up) stay in 12 sleekly modern, glass-walled homes. One of them, the Tree Haus, elevated at least 23 feet above ground, makes a sophisticated perch to spy on wildlife. Guests can indulge in spa treatments or more active pursuits, including fly-fishing and biking. From about $3787 a night, thegreeno.com

Bottle Up in Wine Country

South of France meets California at Napa Valley’s Auberge du Soleil resort, which only accepts guests age 16 and over. Sandstone-coloured buildings are set in groves of heritage olive and oak trees in the Rutherford hills, just off the winery-lined Silverado Trail. Fifty earth-tone rooms and suites offer cozy luxury, with gas fireplaces, soaking tubs and private terraces with valley or hillside views. Linger in the resort’s sculpture garden and dive into scallops and the extensive wine menu at the hotel’s Michelin-star restaurant. From approx $1690 a night, aubergeresorts.com

Well Versed

Need to shed some pandemic pounds or reboot your fitness routine? Sensei Lanai, a Four Seasons resort and wellness retreat on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, offers a range of personalized packages with different goals and tools. Sensei, which only permits guests age 16 and older, was founded by Oracle tech mogul Larry Ellison (owner of 98% of Lanai), with Dr. David Agus, a prominent cancer researcher. At the spa, slow down for meditation, or self-compassion sessions. Get active snorkelling, hiking or biking. At its Sensei by Nobu restaurant, the menu includes dishes created by the celebrity chef in collaboration with its nutritionists, such as desserts using monk fruit instead of sugar. Many ingredients are from an on-island sustainable farm. If your budget is especially vital, revitalize your life with its 30-day sabbatical program. Standard room rates from approx. $882 a night, fourseasons.com/sensei

There are Corvette fans for whom the base US$68,300 car is plenty powerful enough. After all, it produces 495 horsepower and can reach 60 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds. But hold on, there’s also the approximately US$115,000 Z06—with 670 horsepower and able to reach 60 in 2.6 seconds. These split seconds are important for busy people—and for marketing claims. And if that’s not enough go power, there’s the even more formidable 900-horsepower ZR1 version of the Corvette, starting around US$150,000. The hybrid E-Ray, at US$104,900, is pretty potent, too.

But if they’re still too slow, fans of American-engineered muscle can consider the exclusive Texas-built Hennessey Venom F5, a limited-edition carbon-fibre hypercar. Ten years ago, the Hennessey became the world’s fastest production car, defeating the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, with a top speed of 270.49 miles per hour.

That world title is much sought after, and is currently held by the Sweden-built 1,600-horsepower Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, with a two-way average top speed of 277.8 mph. But Hennessey is still very much a contender. The company is hoping the 1,817-horsepower F5 (with 1,192 pound-feet of torque) can exceed 300 mph on the track this year.

The Hennessey Venom F5 coupe is sold out, despite a more than $2 million price tag.
Hennessey photo

Hennessey’s previous Venom GT model (introduced in 2010) was based on the Lotus Exige, with a GM LS-based engine, and was built by partner Delta Motorsport. Spokesman Jon Visscher tells Penta , “The new Venom F5, revealed in 2020, is a 100%bespoke creation—unique to Hennessey and featuring a Hennessey-designed 6.6-litre twin-turbo V8 engine boasting 1,817 horsepower, making it the world’s most powerful combustion-engine production car.” Leaps in performance like this tend to be pricey.

This is a very exclusive automobile, priced around US$2.5 million for the coupe, and US$3 million for the F5 Roadster announced in 2023. Only 30 Roadsters will be built, with a removable carbon-fiber roof. The 24 F5 coupes were spoken for in 2021, but if you really want one you could find a used example—or go topless. In a statement to Penta , company founder and CEO John Hennessey said that while the coupe “is now sold out, a handful of build slots remain for our Roadster and [track-focused] Revolution models.”

Only 24 Revolutions will be built in coupe form, priced at US$2.7 million. There’s also a rarefied roadster version of the Revolution, with just 12 to be built.

The Venom F5 Roadster has a removable carbon-fibre roof.
Hennessey photo

The Venom F5 coupe weighs only 3,000 pounds, and it’s not surprising that insane speeds are possible when combined with a hand-built motor (nicknamed “Fury”) created with power uppermost. The V8 in the F5, installed in a rear mid-engine configuration, has a custom engine block and lightweight forged aluminium pistons, billet-steel crankshaft, and forged-steel connecting rods. Twin turbochargers are featured. The F5 can reach 62 mph in less than three seconds, but top speed seems to be its claim to fame.

The driver shifts the rear-wheel-drive car via a seven-speed, single-clutch transmission with paddle shifters. The interior is not as spartan or as tight as in many other supercars, and is able to handle very tall people. The butterfly doors lift up for access.

“With 22 customer Venom F5 hypercars already delivered to customers around the world, and a newly expanded engineering team, we’re focusing the Venom F5 on delivering on its potential,” Hennessey says. “Breaking 300 mph in two directions is the goal we aim to achieve toward the end of this year to claim the ‘world’s fastest production car’ title.”

Hennessey says the car and team are ready. “Now the search is on for a runway or public road with a sufficiently long straight to allow our 1,817-horsepower, twin-turbo V8 monster to accelerate beyond 300 mph and return to zero safely.” The very competitive Hennessey said the track-focused Revolution version of the F5 set a fastest production car lap around Texas’ 3.41-mile Circuit of the Americas track in March, going almost seven seconds faster than a McLaren P1.

The Revolution features a roof-mounted central air scoop (to deliver cool air to the engine bay), a full-width rear carbon wing, larger front splitter and rear diffuser, tweaked suspension, and engine cooling. It’s got the same powertrain as the standard cars, but is enhanced to stay planted at otherworldly speeds.