These 10 Hotels Around The World Are Designed For Solo Travelers Who Want Company On Their Own Terms
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- Ten hotels from Bali to London rethink solo travel, using thoughtful layouts and scale to make solitude comfortable without leaving guests feeling isolated.
- Their approaches range from guided rice-field walks and communal meals to wellness schedules and lively public spaces that make low-pressure encounters easier.
- Across settings from desert villas to a Tokyo skyscraper, guests can choose when to join others and when to retreat.
Taking a trip by yourself when the point is to be alone usually forces a tough choice: complete isolation or the performance of forced socializing. Yet the middle ground is surprisingly hard to find. After all, most hotels seem designed for pairs or groups. But when’s the last time you came across a property where the layout and design make being alone feel completely normal?
The 10 hotels handpicked on our list get the design for solo travelers just right. They use shared routines and smart layouts to make your choice to be alone on your own terms as effortless as possible. This might be executed in different ways across these hotels. In San Diego, it means a 317-room hotel with a lobby no bigger than two sofas and a fireplace, while a COMO collection property in Bali offers open-air morning walks that turn strangers into familiar faces at lunch a few hours later.
COMO Uma Ubud
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Every morning, a guide leaves COMO Uma Ubud for a walk through the rice fields and villages around the Tjampuhan Valley. For solo travelers, it is an easy way to start the day in company and to get a sense of the land around the hotel before deciding where to go next. Daily yoga classes are held in an open-air pavilion overlooking the valley and the Oos River at its base.
The property is located on the edge of Ubud. It has 46 rooms that open onto garden terraces, and most of them come with open-air showers and a yoga mat. Because of the small footprint, people you see on the morning walk usually end up sitting near you at the pool or the bar later on. Dinner at Uma Cucina is another great way to meet other guests, as it is served at shared tables outdoors.
Pendry San Diego
San Diego, California, USA
Pendry San Diego takes up an entire block of J Street in the Gaslamp Quarter, and most of its ground floor faces outward. Each restaurant and bar has its own door to the sidewalk, as well as an entrance from inside the hotel, so guests heading out alone for dinner or a drink can step straight into the neighborhood without crossing the lobby.
The lobby is a lot smaller than you might expect for a 317-room hotel — just two comfy leather sofas in front of a fireplace. Most of the hotel’s social life gathers at Provisional, a room with tall columns and high ceilings where you can have breakfast at communal tables and have coffee. Another entertainment option is Nason’s Beer Hall, where you can enjoy local San Diego craft beer on tap, watch sports on the TVs, or play board games with strangers.
Ananda in the Himalayas
Rishikesh, India
Upon arrival at Ananda in the Himalayas, your stay begins with an Ayurvedic consultation. The doctor sets your daily schedule, customizing your meals, treatments, classes, and other activities for the day. Shortly after initial consultations, you receive the final schedule for your entire stay.
Most mornings begin with hatha yoga, followed by lectures on Vedanta philosophy, all taking place on a 100-acre estate in the sal forest above Rishikesh. At its center is a 1911 palace built by the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal for a viceroy who never came to see it. For those looking to leave the property, the longest outing, offered twice a week, is a three-hour hike to Kunjapuri Temple.
Kimpton De Witt
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Just a five-minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal, Kimpton De Witt is built around a cluster of preserved historic structures, some dating back to the 17th century. The hotel’s cocktail bar is housed inside one of these historic timber buildings.
You can get bikes from the reception for free. Not that you’ll always need them, since Dam Square and the Royal Palace are just a stone’s throw away. Guests looking for a homey touch can request a live potted plant for their room, and they will even plant a tree in your name if you request this “Plant Pals” initiative. Back downstairs, the lobby hosts free wine and a few light bites every evening for a social happy hour.
Habitas AlUla
AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Just a short hop outside AlUla town there is a jaw-dropping landscape of sandstone cliffs and stately palm groves called The Ashar Valley. And right in the middle of it all is Habitas AlUla — a collection of 96 villas that boast canvas walls and a private little perch to take in the views. Its nearest famous neighbor is probably Hegra, where ancient Nabataeans carved their tombs into the rock over two thousand years ago.
Back at the resort, you can expect yoga, meditation, and cultural gatherings to be a regular thing. Dinner is served at Tamas, where all the ingredients come from nearby farms. Early risers might enjoy one of the daily desert strolls at first light, guided by local staff who’ll match you with a group to wander with.
Step inside the ancient sandstone canyons of the Ashar Valley, where 7,000 years of history perfectly intersect with ultra-bespoke wellness retreats, mirrored architecture, and Michelin-starred desert dining.
Hoshinoya Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
Each floor of Hoshinoya Tokyo has its own tiny break-out lounge called the Ochanoma, open day and night and generally stocked with all the things you need — tea, drinks and snacks. Set within a 17-story tower in the Otemachi financial district, this modern interpretation of a traditional Japanese ryokan requires guests to remove their shoes at the entrance — a rule that applies throughout the property.
The fifth floor is where you’ll find the baths. It’s the perfect place to unwind in some hot spring water coming from deep under the city.
BodyHoliday
Castries, St. Lucia
Out of the 155 rooms at BodyHoliday, 29 are singles, all with big comfy beds and garden views — perfect for solo travelers. And that’s definitely what the resort is all about. Located on top of Cap Estate on the northern tip of St. Lucia, its hosts arrange the dinner tables to facilitate meetups and keep things lively.
Your all-inclusive rate will cover every sport and class on offer, from the thrill of archery and water-skiing to meditative yoga. And on each full day, every guest gets a 50-minute spa treatment to chill out with.
Eremito
Umbria, Italy
At Eremito, dinner is served in silence at a single shared table lit by candles, with Gregorian chant playing in the background. The food’s all vegetarian. Conversation, if it happens, waits till afterwards by the fire.
The building went up in 2013 on the foundations of a 14th-century hermitage, in a beautiful protected woodland in the Umbrian hills. Most rooms are tiny cells of roughly 100 square feet, with just a single bed and no phone, TV or Wi-Fi. The mobile signal also doesn’t reach indoors, so you have to find a spot outside to make your calls.
Habitas Tulum
Tulum, Mexico
At the heart of Habitas Tulum stands a three-story glass-and-steel clubhouse that anchors the resort’s social life. Evening meals are served at Moro, which specializes in Spanish and Moorish-inspired cuisine, accompanied by live acoustic performances and DJ sets. Complimentary daily yoga and meditation sessions are integrated into every stay.
The 35 rooms are located on raised wooden platforms between the jungle and the beach, with canvas walls and palm thatched roofs. Some of the outdoor bathrooms share their space with the preserved trees left from the jungle.
The Ned
London, United Kingdom
Housed within a former 1920s banking hall in the heart of London, The Ned has preserved its original walnut teller counters and verdite columns. Today, those counters divide the grand ground floor into distinct open-plan restaurants and bars, mostly open to the public.
Deep below ground, the bank’s old strongroom has been transformed into the Vault Bar, open only to hotel guests and members and accessible through a massive, roughly 6.5-foot-wide round vault door. Inside, the walls are lined with 3,800 vintage steel deposit boxes that once held London’s private fortunes.
