Family holidays are great – but every now and then isn’t it great to go on a holiday which isn’t over run by your kids, or anyone else’s?
The child-free getaway is growing in popularity. There’s nothing that kills the romance more than screaming, hungry kids – and a girls’ trip just doesn’t work if your bring along the offspring.
So we’ve rounded up a few of our favourite child-free holiday places.
The Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong – yes, you can take the kids but it’s great if you don’t.
Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong
The Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong provides a level of hotel experience that would be wasted on the children.
Sure, there are kids there, because this five-star tribute to old-style Oriental oppulence makes everyone feel comfortable, pampered and welcome. But our recommendation: try it without the progeny and then you can – maybe – bring them back next time.
The service is beyond. The views are breathtaking. The location in the heart of Hong Kong Island is hard to beat. Every shopping centre, tourist destination and must-not-miss dining establishment is a MTR (that’s the underground in Hong Kong), a “Ding Ding” (that’s the tram) or a leisurely stroll away.
French champagne and this view from the Island Shangri-La’s 56th floor Horizon Club.
Talking food and beverages, you don’t even have to leave the Island Shangri-La to enjoy the best Hong Kong has to offer.
Topping the dining experiences is the Michelin one-star Summer Palace where Chef Leung Yu King presents the best of Cantonese cuisine that gives a decent nod to Higbn Kong’s Chinese heritage but will be yum cha and Chinese dining like you’ve never experienced before.
Continuing in the world class vein, the Lobster Bar and Grill is in the World’s 50 Best Bars for a reason. Whether it’s the faultless professional service or sipping your top-shelf cocktail to the serenade of the torch singer trio.
To really make this an adults-only trip to remember, book into the Horizon Club floors. The extras that come with this – French champagne for two hours each night enjoyed while gazing at the view from the 56th floor that would rival anywhere else in Hong Kong – elevate this experience to almost celestial.
Tropicola, Seminyak, Bali
Leave the kids in the villa withe babysitter and head to the brand new coolest place in the heart of the Seminyak beachfront, Tropicola.
Actually the whole of Seminyak is a great place to holiday child-free, because it seems to be home to the most happening restaurants, bars and accommodation in the Southern Hemisphere, and bringing the kids can kill the buzz.
But back to Tropicola. It opened in August and is already the place to be seen in Seminyak.
Tropicola in Seminyak, Bali – too cool for school kids.
Brought to you by the team behind Motel Mexicola also in Seminyak, Tropicola caters for long lazy days and fun, balmy nights. It’s a mansion and playground for the new jetset but evoking a nostalgia from another era, the fabulous Eighties.
It’s a pool club with clean lines, bright colours, cascading plants and an amphitheatre shaped towards the beach. And it serves up food, drinks and some very cool tunes.
Tropicola features three bars sprawling over multiple levels, surrounding two pools and a wood fire open kitchen. And, yep, kids are there and welcome – but we still think it’s a great place to NOT take them. Because it’s so cool.
Waitui Beach Club, Fiji
This exotic and plush club in Fiji doesn’t even pretend to welcome kids – Waitui Beach Club boldly states from the get-go that it’s “adults only”.
There are zero raucous rugrats splashing you in the pool or ruining your under-umbrella reading zen. If you strain really hard when the wind is blowing in the right direction maybe you can hear one or two – or maybe it’s the screaming parents – from the sister (or is it the aunty?) Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa just a bit down the beach.
But then you tune your ear back into the cool tunes being played around the delightfully warm pool, and all is peaceful with the world.
Waitui Beach Club in Fiji is boldly child-free.
Waitui is an oasis for grown-ups, with a healthy theme.
It runs complimentary yoga, stretching and boot camp classes each day, and the menu is super healthy – so you can feel guilt-free when you get stuck into the happy hour free drinks and canapes each night.
Other features available to guests of the club include a private, dedicated check-in area, a 25m lap pool, state-of-the-art gymnasium and enhanced room amenities – and did we say no kids?
