The Latest Trend in High-End Travel? The Takeover.

Not for nothing did the Chinese call what is still the world’s largest palace, completed in 1420, the Forbidden City: Only members of the imperial family and invited officials could enter. From time immemorial, power and money have sought splendid isolation. Plus ça change, as the French say. Fast-forward precisely 600 years to the age of Covid-19, and the greatest luxury, in both real estate and leisure travel, those ur-signifiers of wealth and social status, is vast, preferably unpeopled (and therefore uncontaminated) space. In real estate this has meant a run on private compounds. In travel it’s “takeovers”: buying out a hotel or resort in its entirety for you and yours.

So in demand is Camp Sarika, for example, the Amangiri’s new sister property in Utah, that people will drive four hours from the airport in Las Vegas to experience its brand of social distancing. What they get are 10 tented pavilions amid 600 acres of geologically magnificent, slot canyon–riddled desert, which is laced with miles of hiking and e-bike trails. The terrain is also ideal for guided backcountry tours, horseback riding, hot air ballooning—and there are not one but two via ferratas.

“Guests used to be aghast at the prospect [of such a drive],” says the Amangiri’s general manager, Julien Surget. “But there has been such a quick reconditioning that people are doing it nonstop. Everyone wants to avoid touchpoints of infection.” Business is brisk. “We opened on a buyout, and we have several more before the end of the year. And more still next year.”

Another way to arrive in nearly touchless fashion, of course, is to fly privately. In Amangiri’s case that means landing in Page, Arizona, and from there taking a helicopter 20 minutes to the camp. It’s a fine example of that related spawn of the pandemic, “bubble” travel. “There has been a huge influx to private aviation of people who had the means before but could not justify the expense,” says Doug Gollan, of Private Jet Card Comparisons. “Now they can. And they’re looking to fly not just domestic but farther afield—to Europe, to Asia. I won’t sugar coat that—it’s expensive.”

It seems as if every hotel and resort in the world with the requisite facilities is getting into the takeover game. In Colorado the idyllically situated eight-tent Dunton River Camp, an offshoot of the meticulously restored 1800s ghost town Dunton Hot Springs, is hot. (They have partnered with the charter jet company XO to facilitate safe passage to and from major American cities.) So is Brush Creek Ranch in Wyoming. “We just booked its 12-bedroom Magee Homestead for a family of six,” says Jack Ezon of Embark Beyond. “It’s a property that sleeps 24! On 30,000 empty acres. And seven nights ended up as two weeks, when in-school attendance was canceled.”

Even multistory hotels are having a go, reconfiguring top floors as Covid pods. The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman’s 18,000-square-foot Seven South suite can sleep 18 and has forever views of the Caribbean. La Réserve Paris Apartments, on the other hand, come with Eiffel Tower views and exclusive access to parts of the Bois de Boulogne’s 2,000 nearby acres.

And if the recently opened Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi is not isolated enough for you—it is on a private island but there will be other guests on it—just book its exclusive-use islet, Ithaafushi Private Island, which sleeps up to 25. Sure, you’ll diminish your children’s or grandchildren’s inheritance by a bit, but it’s not just about the money, is it?

Below, find eleven spots perfect for a total takeover.