Couples looking for a luxury escape often want more than just another weekend built around hiking trails or outdoor adrenaline. Increasingly, the appeal lies in experiences that feel social, immersive, and just active enough — the kind where you can spend a weekend dressed for dinner, cocktail in hand, moving from one engaging moment to the next without breaking a sweat. Enter the rise of interactive murder mystery weekends, a growing trend that blends entertainment, travel, and a little theatrical escapism into one highly addictive getaway.
One of the hottest genres in the literary world is mystery novels, and diehard fans — along with viewers hooked on shows like The White Lotus — are seeking out these partners-in-crime escapes as a fresh alternative to the typical luxury retreat. A murder takes place, and the mystery of whodunit unfolds throughout the weekend with clues, red herrings, and plot twists layered into the experience. The action plays out during cocktail parties, elegant dinners, and curated social moments, with prizes often awarded to guests who crack the case. A professional cast follows a script, but the actors remain incognito, keeping guests delightfully unaware — and often making them part of the mystery itself.
Here are clues to some luxury getaways where mystery lovers can channel their inner Jessica Fletcher, Agatha Christie, or Sherlock Holmes while enjoying a little sleuthing alongside serious comfort and style.
Wilburton Inn, Manchester Village, Vermont
Originally built as a private home, this 15-bedroom mansion in the Green Mountains has played many roles, most recently as a popular event and wedding space, and popular bed and breakfast for murder mystery weekends. This year’s Mother’s Day weekend (May 8 to 10) mystery event is titled the Dangerous Divorcee, a travel back in time plot to 1938, a romantic era, when RKO Pictures (famous for King Kong, Citizen Kane, screwball comedies and the Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movie musicals) owned the Wilburton (true story) and Wilburton was a discreet hideaway for entertainment world execs and movie stars.
It’s no mystery that this 1902 mansion stages professionally scripted murder mystery weekends–the inn’s legacy also includes a Tony-award-winning playwright. Innkeeper Georgette Wasserstein Levis debuted the mystery weekends here in the late ‘90s. Her sister is Wendy Wasserstein who wrote the Broadway play The Sisters Rosensweig, and the character known as Gorgeous was inspired by Georgette. Today, second-generation family innkeeper and New York City playwright, Tajlei Levis, continues the tradition. Expect lots of audience and guest participation in these immersive mysteries.
This year’s plot: New owners of RKO Studios are at The Wilburton to choose the team for one last movie and a secretive board meeting is held. Dressed in their favorite RKO movie character or Hollywood glam star, inn guests are encouraged to take a screen test, dance and compare clues to solve the mystery. Like a game of Clue, the mystery unfolds in the grand salon, the library and the billiard room of the Wilburton mansion and a three-course dinner party will feature themed specialty cocktails. A professional photographer will capture portraits as a weekend souvenir.
At the Friday welcome party, guests will meet the cast of characters and also real-life stories of when RKO Pictures owned The Wilburton. On Saturday, after a country breakfast, a guided tour is offered of lovely Manchester Village and on Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, mom-osa mimosa cocktails will be served at breakfast.
Kennebunkport Inn, Kennebunkport, Maine
While Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove is a fictional town in Maine, many travel to the state to explore darling coastal spots that mimic the beloved detective’s New England fishing village. Kennebunkport, in southern Maine, has all the feels of Cabot Cove. And Kennebunkport Inn sits pretty in the middle of town at Dock Square and has for more than two centuries. In the springtime, the inn is sought out by guests looking for a little playful murder mystery mischief–and pampering.
The Inn works with Murder Mystery Co. who oversees the actors, script, costuming and props. And the actors have fun going off-script for a guest’s birthday or anniversary. The first weekend was held in 2024 and has become a perennial favorite. The next event, Death Do Us Part, will be held March 13 and 14 followed by another, Midnight at The Masquerade on April 10 and 11.
The two-night package includes accommodations, a welcome reception on Friday and the murder mystery dinner on Saturday.
The French Manor Inn and Spa, Newfoundland, Pennsylvania
For the past 30 years, this 19-room Select Registry inn has been the picturesque setting for murder mystery weekends. The inn dates to the Great Depression in the ‘30s when mining magnate Joseph Hirshorn commissioned German and Italian craftsmen and artisans to build a European-inspired elegant manor house in the Poconos.
The typically sold-out interactive mystery events are held three times a year–the third weekend in March, first weekend in May and the weekend before Thanksgiving. The scripts are written by JR Productions and the themes for this year’s March and May mysteries is Murder on the Oregon Trail which takes place in 1840 on the trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, a 2,174 mile stretch of treacherous road. As wagon trains make the journey, a stopover at the wild west town of Ford City becomes necessary to replenish supplies and sleep–in a bed. And that’s when the murder mystery weekend magic begins….
Guests receive customized mystery details including character names one month before arrival so they can brainstorm costume ideas. The three-day experience includes accommodations, wine-and-cheese party, daily gourmet breakfast and a murder mystery cocktail and dinner party. Guests can also enjoy the inn’s amenities including the saltwater pool, dry sauna, yoga, self-guided hikes, a tranquility garden with fireplaces, a book library, and spa.
Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan
One clue that the long snowy winter in this neck of the woods in Northern Michigan has melted away is the annual Spring Murder Mystery Weekend at the island’s historic Grand Hotel. This year’s murder mystery, A Declaration of Murder, celebrates the USA’s 250th and guests are encouraged to dust off their powdered wigs and petticoats and dress in their favorite American Revolution era costumes.
The newly renovated Victorian beauty, known as “America’s Summer Place,” celebrates its 140th birthday this year on Mackinac Island, a timeless gem where the only way to get around is by foot, horse and carriage, or bike; cars are not allowed. The hotel is also on the map as being where Somewhere in Time was filmed. There are 388 guest rooms and suites, each one different and designed in collaboration with Dorothy Draper & Co. Also, The Jewel Golf Course is the only course in the country with a horse-drawn carriage ride between nines, and there is the Esther Williams Swimming Pool (the actress/competitive swimmer starred in the 1947 This Time for Keeps, which was also filmed at the Grand Hotel).
The scripts are written and developed by The Murder Mystery Company and the weekend includes accommodations, daily breakfast and dinner, resort amenities, a Friday welcome party and after-dinner gathering, Saturday morning and afternoon immersive investigation sessions and a Sunday morning “Who Done It” reveal.
There is also a Fall Murder Mystery Event each year; this year it is October 23 to 25. The spring event is typically smaller, between 100 and 120 guests while the fall event hosts between 350 and 425 guests.
Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York
This sprawling 1869 Victorian castle in the Hudson Valley is widely credited as the birthplace of the murder mystery weekend concept — the resort set the stage more than 50 years ago by hosting one of the first murder mystery events in the country.
The early weekends at Mohonk were brainstormed by the owners of Murder Ink, a Manhattan bookstore, and quickly became a success, evolving over the decades to attract celebrity authors and devoted mystery fans alike, including Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark and, one year, my dad Donald Bain, who wrote 46 of the Murder, She Wrote tie-in novels. Today, the resort continues to host themed murder mystery experiences as part of its programming, often celebrating literary culture and classic whodunit storytelling through immersive, multi-act productions.
The setting couldn’t be more fitting — in fact, the castle feels like a character in itself, with turrets, wood-burning fireplaces, claw-foot tubs, and a maze of hallways leading to handsome nooks and hidden corners. Recent storylines have brought together fictional mystery writers and literary patrons, only for guests to find themselves in the middle of an unfolding crime where the line between fiction and reality fades as the plot thickens.
Guests are encouraged to dress in period costumes, and many are more than willing to lean into the drama. Beyond the main mystery, weekends often include puzzle hunts, tabletop escape rooms, and live music. Mohonk’s all-inclusive experience adds to the appeal, with three gourmet meals daily, afternoon tea and cookies, and access to 85 miles of mountain trails right outside the door, including guided hikes and biking. For a slower pace, the award-winning spa offers nature-inspired seasonal treatments like the Winter Warmth Herbal Wrap.
Feature image courtesy of Mohonk Mountain House. Travel Curator may earn a commission from booking links on this page.
