Exploring the world’s most peaceful adults-only hotels with our Holiday Hero 

Every week, our Holiday Hero Neil Simpson takes an in-depth look at a brilliant holiday topic, doing all the legwork so you don’t have to. This week he checks out some of the world’s most peaceful adults-only hotels and resorts.

If a swimming pool full of shrieking children is your idea of holiday hell, don’t despair – ‘grown-up getaways’ are one of the big travel trends of 2019. 

To meet demand, hotels and resorts around the world are closing their doors to anyone under 18 so that they can offer a calmer holiday experience. Here are six of the best…

Classic: The Greek island of Santorini is a glorious location for a child-free break. Get an ice-white suite at the 18-room Sun Rocks hotel, which is carved into a mountainside at Firostefani. Enjoy grown-up champagne breakfasts every day and sip local wine (in designer plastic glasses) in your private hot tub at night. Rooms for two in July cost from £430 a night. mrandmrssmith.com

Unexpected: The Canary Islands are normally seen as firm family favourites, but there are pockets of calm, child-free indulgence, such as the acclaimed H10 White Suites hotel on Lanzarote. It has about 200 rooms, but manages to maintain a boutique feel thanks to a gym, spa and tented chill-out zone where you can sip mint tea and relax on oversized floor cushions. A week in July, including flights, costs from £527pp. expedia.co.uk

Rural idyll: Leave Palma behind and head through the vineyards of Majorca for farmhouse chic. In the midst of olive groves, you’ll find a 17th Century country estate transformed into the child-free Finca Gomera hotel.

The gardens offer secret corners for relaxation under fruit trees, and the owners are on hand to recommend everything from restaurants to yoga teachers. Rooms for two in July cost from £240 a night. theothermallorca.com

Celebrity: Rafael Nadal has a tennis school on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and you can get exclusive training there if you check in to the adjoining adults-only TRS Coral Hotel. It’s where the owners promise ‘your inner child is the only kid you’ll hear’. The hotel has an ultra-modern design, a spa and all-inclusive options, and offers tours to nearby Mayan ruins. An all-inclusive week costs from £1,659pp. palladiumhotelgroup.com

Private: If you think nothing is going to spoil a private beach break like the noise of other people’s children, then travel firm Kuoni has tracked down a range of adults-only island retreats.

Lap of luxury: The villas at the Komandoo Island resort (above)

In the Maldives, it suggests watersports fans head for Komandoo Island Resort, where staff can take you to 15 different dive sites within 15 minutes. You can stay in a fabulous over-the-water villa with private terrace, and the resort gets high ratings from repeat guests. A week-long stay in July costs from £2,352pp, including flights. kuoni.com

Gourmet: Fly to The House on the west coast of Barbados, where your trip starts with a free unpacking service and ‘jet-lag revival massage’, and takes in champagne breakfasts, complimentary afternoon teas, evening canapes and regular cooking demonstrations.

Head next door to Daphne’s for dinner, where the hotel’s chefs recreate dishes from the restaurant’s London counterpart (one of Princess Diana’s favourites) with fresh, local ingredients.

A seven-night break in July costs from £2,554pp. eleganthotels.com