adults only hotels canary islands

Why adults only hotels are booming in the Canary Islands

The rise of the adults only hotel in the Canary Islands

Nearly half of all guests staying in Canary Islands hotels are looking for accommodation with their partner only. Just ten per cent bring their children on holiday, and, in response to this market trend, hotels across the archipelago are increasingly tailoring their offering to the ‘adults only’ concept. Specialisation in this area first began in Gran Canaria back in 2007, when the first hotel in Spain catering exclusively to adults opened its doors. Today, guests can choose from a wide range of options that prioritise intimacy, quality dining, and couple-focused experiences, leaving water parks and kids’ entertainment to the family-friendly hotels.

A sun lounger under a parasol, a quiet pool, and the sound of nothing but breaking waves in the background. For many international tourists arriving in the Canary Islands, the perfect holiday image involves switching off, resting, and enjoying a few days of sun and tranquillity in a resort designed for relaxation. However, this scene is not always guaranteed. The presence of children in communal hotel areas can disrupt this rhythm, prompting some visitors to seek out exclusively adult spaces. Hence the growing success of the ‘no children’ hotel.

An ageing Europe driving demand

This category also reflects the ageing of the European population and a diversification of the accommodation offering in a mature market like the Canary Islands. “Even though I’m a mother myself, the last thing I want is to be by a pool with 40 children,” says Carmen Bolaños, a mother of a three-year-old girl. Noise, water games, shouting, crying, and daytime children’s activities with music are, according to these tourists, among the factors that spoil the relaxing experience they expect to find in the archipelago. In a destination defined by the arrival of senior travellers, mainly from Europe, customers like Bolaños say they are simply looking for “silence and peace”.

The profile of the international visitor arriving in the Canary Islands reflects this trend towards a more adult-oriented tourism market, with a growing range of accommodation options geared to this audience. Last year, travellers aged 45 and over accounted for around 8.5 million arrivals, out of a total of 18.3 million tourists recorded. This segment represents nearly 46.5 per cent of demand – almost half of all visitors, many of them couples or groups travelling without children and seeking rest and relaxation in the islands’ sun and beach destinations. The majority come from the main European source markets. The United Kingdom, with around five million tourists in 2025, leads the way for adult visitors, followed by Germany with approximately 2.5 million, and the Nordic countries, with close to one million. These are societies with an increasingly ageing demographic structure, a reality that is also reflected in tourism consumption habits.

Data from the European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat, paints a picture of an increasingly ageing continent. The median age of the EU population rose from 39 in 2003 to 44.9 in January 2025. Italy has reached 49.1 years, while Portugal and Bulgaria are both over 47. Europe, already considered the world’s most aged continent, continues to see its average age rise at a rate of almost three months every year.

Specialisation over mass tourism

In this context, the president of the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs (FEHT) of Las Palmas, José María Mañaricua, highlights that “the offering is adapting to a growing senior demand”. And this is not the only driving factor. “Hotels have to decide what they want to be when they grow up,” stresses the president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Cehat), Jorge Marichal. In other words, he warns, “the sector is betting on specialisation”.

Differentiation brings with it a higher quality product. Marichal says there is a greater degree of satisfaction among guests who stay at this type of hotel. “The customer knows exactly what services to expect,” he explains. In this regard, the Sales Manager for the RIU hotel chain, Maurica Damen, says they have detected “sustained growth in demand for the adults only experience in recent years”. The Riu Arecas in Tenerife and the Riu Palace Maspalomas in Gran Canaria are two examples from a long list of properties where the product has been fully conceptualised to meet the expectations of a customer segment that, as the executive explains, “is looking for a differentiated, high-quality holiday offering”.

A year-round opportunity

One of the keys to the success of this tourism segment is the absence of seasonality. The director of the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort & Spa, Enrique Montes, explains that his guests “are not dependent on the school calendar, so they can travel all year round”. This circumstance reinforces the appeal of the Canary Islands, which already enjoy a stable climate and concentrate their high season in winter, precisely when much of Europe is experiencing sub-zero temperatures. Attracting travellers with greater flexibility and no reliance on school holidays therefore represents a strategic opportunity for the tourism sector.

In terms of services and facilities, this demand translates into a carefully curated and diverse gastronomic offering, a relaxed atmosphere around the pool areas, calmer evening entertainment programmes focused on food and cocktails, and communal spaces designed to guarantee maximum comfort and rest during the stay. Meanwhile, family hotels need to have outdoor space where children can run and play, slides to keep them entertained in the pools, and entertainers to give parents a break while the little ones make new friends. In an adults focused hotel, the differentiating value lies in attention to detail, personalised service, and the highest standards of customer care. To achieve this, “we have highly qualified teams and professionals capable of providing a service that is agile, discreet, and up to the standards our customers expect,” Damen concludes.

Source

Scroll to Top