Children Not Welcome Here

A few years ago, the old Golf hotel in Puerto Alcúdia ceased to celebrate its long life. It, or rather its operator, Viva Hotels, dispensed with the Viva. Long live the hotel? Yes, but in an altogether vainer way. The adoption of the Vanity brand name still strikes me as curious. Guests may well be vain, but do they want the world to know this? However they perceive themselves or the brand name, it has been successful. The Vanity Golf is not the only Vanity hotel, and the reason for the success lies in its guests and in those guests who are not permitted - children.

The theming of hotels that is a current theme of the tourism scene is not confined to music-concert or pirates hotels. It also involves social groups and gender preferences. Mallorca's first gay hotel opened in 2010, and what it has in common with the Vanity brand and other hotels is that it is (obviously) adults-only. Being adults-only has nothing to do with any sleaze, but everything to do with keeping kids as far away from adults as possible.

The recent growth in adults-only hotels means that Spanish hotel chains now operate 25 such establishments. The big two tour operators in the UK, TUI and Thomas Cook, both offer specific adults-only holidays, as they do in Germany, where another operator, Rewe, has now added its own programme. And as with hotels, so also with cruise operators, which may not expressly market cruises as adults-only, but provide facilities, including pools and restaurants, from which children are barred.

The trend towards the adults-only offer (the age barrier is usually 16) can be attributed to a number of factors, but key to it is a decline in educational and parental standards of discipline, combined with an obsession with child protection that has given rise to this disciplinary decline.

Albert Llorca, professor of entertainment sociology and tourism psychology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, is convinced that it is the failure in child education that is at the heart of the rise of the adults-only hotel. As reported in an investigation by "Hosteltur" into the phenomenon, he has identified a process, over the past 25 years, that has led to children being excused for everything they do and to everything they do being justified.

Navel-gazing of this sort is not restricted by any means to the Spanish, but it is in some respects more acute, given a typically indulgent attitude towards children in any event and the remarkably powerful lungs with which all Spanish children appear to be blessed (if this is the right word).

Family associations in Spain have not responded with total agreement to the charges of the likes of Professor Llorca or to the creation of adults-only hotels. They raise their own charges, those of discrimination, but the movement towards keeping children out of hotels is going to expand, coincidental with ever further declining standards of discipline.

There are also those who argue, with justification, that children should not be singled out for their noise or behaviour; there are plenty of adults who are as if not more guilty of rowdiness and indiscipline. This, however, causes a double-whammy of racket and irresponsibility. For many a tourist making his holiday choice (be he part of a couple, single or part of a family that would take rightful umbrage at being lumped in with the indiscipline tag), the selling of a hotel or even a resort as "family" would probably now appear to be akin to carrying a health warning.

The marketing of the adults-only holiday is quite careful not to appear to be discriminatory. First Choice, for example, which offers another childless hotel in Alcúdia, the Platja d'Or, makes no mention of children. It's all about accentuating the benefits ("chilling out together", "relaxing" or "action-packed") without resorting to the obvious. The Vanity website, a lavish production of the aspirational, is similarly discreet, though the Vanity Hotel Suite & Spa in Cala Mesquida does dare to state "without children".

The rise of the concept or theme hotel will become more evident. Differentiation of the hotel product in Mallorca is clearly felt to offer potential competitive advantage, and the adults-only product is likely to be made more available. As it does, it will start to change the character of resorts. It is not totally unrealistic to perhaps conceive of small resorts becoming all but child-free, but then maybe there might be the counter to all this - the child-only hotel. Could you imagine? Here's the new hotel theme idea: the "Lord Of The Flies" hotel.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.