Hotels target guys for 'Mancations'

The Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston offers an "Entourage Package" tapping the popularity of the HBO series chronicling the enviable lives of a Hollywood actor and his circle of buddies starting at $3,000 for four people for two nights. At the Fairmont Chicago, the "Mancation Package" includes seminars on style and entertaining, cigar sampling, whiskey tasting and a steak dinner starting at $399 a person. And the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa has a "Speed Meets Spa" package pairing three-day race driving instruction with man-friendly spa treatments starting at $4,795.

Aaron Bernthal can relate. The 28-year-old financial adviser in New York says many of his high school and college friends have scattered across the country, so their annual trip is especially important.

"It's always fun to get away with the guys for a couple of days," he said. "It's even more important to try and schedule trips to get away, otherwise you never see each other."

Bernthal and a group of five or six other guys have traveled to Portugal, Spain and Brazil. And he and his father recently went to Chicago for the Fairmont's mancation package.

Mancations may be the tourism industry's hottest new venture, but the idea is ancient.

At the Hotel Fauchere in Milford, Pa., groups of men began coming for hunting and canoeing trips when it opened in 1852. Today, the hotel still attracts a similar clientele, though its mancationers now enjoy modern amenities including wireless Internet, iPod docking stations and flat-panel televisions.

"It's the same as it's always been," said Sean Strub, the hotel's co-owner. "It's just a very old tradition."

If You Go...

FAIRMONT HOTELS: 800-257-7544.

HARBOR BEACH RESORT & SPA: 3030 Holiday Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; 800-222-6543.

HOTEL FAUCHERE: 401 Broad St., Milford, Pa.; or 570-409-1212.

MARQUIS LOS CABOS RESORT: Los Cabos, Mexico; 877-238-9399.

REGENT SOUTH BEACH: 1458 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Fla.; 866-376-5345.

WILD DUNES RESORT: 5757 Palm Blvd., Isle of Palms, S.C.; 888-778-1876.

MORE FROM TRAVEL

Travel Section Front

Now boarding: Flight 1225 to North Pole 10 years of twisted travel Escaped otters delay Ohio-bound flight Winter in London: Chilly weather, warm memories Kids lead the way looking back on 2009   Tallying the costs of traveling with little ones Top 10 ski resorts for nonskiers Holiday scenes in New York City Bride marries arriving groom at Texas airport I canceled my room — where’s my refund?   Travel Section Front   Add Travel headlines to your news reader: