Family holiday - advice

[tommy]

Hi all

Just looking for a recommendation, as we're getting nowhere with booking a holiday this summer (june for a couple of weeks)

It'll be the two of us and our 18 month old - we're after a nice resort with a kids club and baby listening in the evening (as we don't want to put her in a night creche or get a babysitter every evening)

Any tips welcome. Thanks

[pommie]

we have been to pefkos in greece for a few years running before little one came along. Its a lovely resort with the option to use all facilities in two different resorts. They have a kids club during the day and evenings are usually dance acts, kareoke etc. It is a stones throw away from the restaurants etc. The resort is called Pefki Islands, have a look online. We are hopefully going this year with our daughter who wil be nearly 18 months.

[ceebeebee]

This is an (old) article from the Sunday Times on child-friendly holidays. We went to Lykia world based on this article and loved it, but I'm keen to try Pefki Islands too. Lykia world was great but a bit hectic and it would be much better for our love life if we could have an apartment rather than a room (or is that too much information)!

Type ?family friendly hotel? into Google and you?ll be offered something in the region of 176,000 results. Can there really be that many?

In my experience, there are plenty of hotels that claim to welcome children. What they mean is that they are not overly alarmed at the theoretical idea of your offspring, providing they?re all on their best behaviour and look like Boden catalogue models. It?s the burping, farting, shouting, tantrum-throwing, snot-nosed reality they?re not so keen on.

I know this because I?m a parent. I?ve watched an Armani-clad waiter serve my daughter a Diet Coke in a long-stemmed wineglass, only to get in a flap when ? surprise, surprise ? she accidentally knocked it flying. Then there was the five-star hotel in the Caribbean where my son waited three-quarters of an hour for his ?special? children?s meal ? a lump of well-done steak as big as his foot. If we hadn?t told him he could spit it into his napkin, he?d probably still be chewing it today.

But there are worthy exceptions ? hotels that will indulge your kids, tolerate their mood swings, give them things they really want and perhaps even take them off your hands for a few hours.

RELATED LINKS

? Ten child-friendly hotels in Britain

? Our first self-catering holiday as a family

? Great little hotels from the big holiday firms

Here are some of the best child-friendly hotels in the Mediterranean ? whether you?ve got tots, tweens or teenagers.

Unless stated, all prices include flights from a London airport and transfers. For regional departures, contact the tour operator

Tots (0-6 years)

THE ALMYRA, Cyprus

The Almyra looks like the kind of designer hotel you?d find in the South Beach district of Miami, not the low-key resort of Paphos. The look is minimalist, with immaculate white sofas, oversized chandeliers and black-slate swimming pools. Arriving with our daughter, who was 11 months old at the time, made me nervous.

I needn?t have been. The Almyra may be hip, with sexy modern furniture and a sushi chef from Nobu, but its owners and staff clearly enjoy the company of young children. Within seconds of our arrival, a grinning receptionist had scooped up our daughter for a cuddle while a waiter handed us fresh juice.

A lot of thought has gone into the way the hotel functions. As well as a children?s pool, a lawned play area and an air-conditioned kids? club, it offers child-sized versions of mum and dad?s towelling robes and slippers. At bedtime, children can phone reception to order (free) milk and cookies.

But the cleverest wheeze is to allow parents to preorder essential baby holiday paraphernalia, such as nappies, wipes and organic food ? at local Mothercare prices ? and to provide changing mats, sterilisers, baby gyms and bouncy chairs, all at no extra cost.

We found the staff delightful and the food excellent. Only the beach was disappointing ? it was unkempt, with murky water. Most guests, however, were happy sunbathing on the grass or beside the pool, which is ringed by plump day beds and white cotton awnings. And we didn?t get a single dirty look for having dared to procreate. The price: a week, B&B, starts at ?719pp in August, or ?699pp in September, with Airline Network (0870 234 9916, www.airlinenetwork.co.uk). One child under 12, sharing the parents? room, adds ?212/?192; for children under two, the price is ?45 each.

HOTEL L?ONDINE, Corsica

Corsica has some of the finest beaches and most photogenic coastlines in the Mediterranean, but not an abundance of family-friendly hotels.

That?s why Direct Corsica?s Iain and Janet Rankin, who have been organising holidays on the island for more than 30 years, got so excited when they came across the family-run H?tel l?Ondine, in the quiet resort of Algajola, near Calvi.

The hotel has just 53 rooms ? including some designed for families ? and a large swimming pool set in luscious grounds. And you?re only a few strides from a long, clean, sandy beach where toddlers can catch tiddlers in rock pools.

You won?t find any Turkey Twizzlers or dinosaur-shaped nuggets at the hotel restaurant, although the chef will happily tweak his gourmet menu for younger palates. And if your youngest has gone to bed before dinner time, you can always use your half-board option at lunch. The price: a week, half-board, starts at ?420pp in August, or ?303pp in September, excluding flights, with Direct Corsica (07771 953225, www.directcorsica.com). Children under two go free. Fly to Bastia with British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), from Gatwick, or Thomsonfly (www.thomsonfly.com), from Bristol, Edinburgh, Birmingham or Gatwick.

LYKIA WORLD VILLAGE, Turkey

When you first have children, you cease to care whether a hotel has 16 brands of mineral water and cotton sheets with a thread count of 350. You?re more interested in the length of the transfer, and whether there?s somewhere you can heat up milk in the middle of the night.

The four-star Lykia World Village, near Oludeniz, might not be the sort of place where fashionistas would go on honeymoon, but it ticks all the vital boxes for stressed parents. As well as the gorgeous sandy seafront, it has a baby pool, a baby play area, a dedicated baby beach (safe, clean and shaded) and a 24-hour kitchen for feeding, sterilising bottles and heating milk. What?s more ? and this is the really good bit ? the hotel has a supervised club where you can leave children aged between six months and three years for up to nine hours a day, six days a week, free of charge.

There is stacks for older brothers and sisters to do, including a water park with 15 slides and six pools, an arts-and-crafts zone and a children?s theatre, along with judo training, a trampoline, a climbing net and beach football.

Staff? Charming. Grounds? Beautiful. Rooms? Clean and tidy (though nothing special). The price: a week, full-board, costs ?832pp in August (?400 for the first child aged 2-16; children under 2 ?35 each), or ?556pp in September (first child free), with Cosmos (0871 622 4317, www.cosmosholidays.co.uk).

Pefki Islands Resort

An unusually built hotel in 25000 m2, the Pefki Islands Resort looks like a miniature village.

It is 104 studios and apartments are separated into little blocks doted around the central reception building.

These apartments are all named after Greek islands. The resort also includes luscious Gardens.

Two Expansive Pools with Swim-up Bars, separate Children Swimming Pools, Billiards and Game Room and Children?s Playground.

Appeals to those looking for a quiet retreat in a peaceful, friendly resort. Particular for couple and families with children.

Pefkiislandresort.gr

PINE CLIFFS, Portugal

Some resorts fall in and out of fashion, but the Algarve remains a perennial family favourite. Why? Because the journey is relatively easy ? three-hour flight, lots of regional departures and speedy transfers ? the locals are friendly, English is widely spoken and the quality of the hotels is (mostly) high.

Pine Cliffs is among the best: a Sheraton-run five-star with six restaurants, four swimming pools, all-weather tennis courts, a golf academy and one of the best-equipped children?s clubs anywhere in Europe. It?s set in immaculate grounds atop brick-red cliffs, and there is even a lift to take guests down to the beach.

The kids? club, Porto Pirata (www.luxurycollection.com/ portopirata), is like a hotel within a hotel, with its own pool, 18-hole mini-golf course, volleyball court, sandpit, climbing frames and cycle track. The staff are hugely enthusiastic, there?s a children?s buffet laid on from 5pm and ? nice touch, this ? the hotel runs a free laundry service for kids? clothes. The price: a week, B&B, costs a total of ?2,120 in August, or ?2,040 in September, for two adults and one child, with ITC Classics (01244 355527, www. itcclassics.co.uk). Porto Pirata costs ?70 a day for ages six months to three years, ?47 for 3-4s and ?41 for 5-8s, with discounts for three or more days.

[pommie]

Pefki Islands is definitely worth a visit. We love it there and have been there 5 times already. The staff are friendly and the place is very very clean. It has three pools and the beach is just at the bottom of the road. there is a little shop by the resort for your daily essentials and its about a 5-10 min walk to the restaurants and other shops. If anyone would like any more info, feel free to message me.

[nicolemodesti]

We have just come back from a week in Gran Canaria with our 17 month old. We stayed in the area of Maspalomas which was more family friendly. Hired a car for added convenience of getting around plus they don't have car seats in the taxis. Had an enjoyable time as had a bungalow which was less stress free with worry of child climbing over rails of a hotel balcony. Plus it was an added bonus of a front verandah that led onto grass so he ran around loads.

[littleEDfamily]

The latest Angels and Urchins magazine (free publication you'll find at places like Jacks) has a whole section on family holidays.....

[candj]

We've stayed at The Sani Resort in Greece for last October half term and I can highly recommend it. Lovely for both children and parents.

Also can recommend the site Tuscany Now for holidays all over Italy not just Tuscany. They rent villas of all different sizes and can cater for large families or just a family of four. We used them once and ended up staying in the same place every time we go.

Have fun!

[Belle]

we've booked a holiday through www.coastline.co.uk who do self-catering packages, and are v family friendly - you can request the stuff you need plus they offer childcare etc. They have villas in Corsica (we're going in May), Ibiza and Mallorca and have some good extras like offering online grocery shopping and bringing you a basket of breakfast goodies every day. car hire and flights included. It's more than we wanted to spend but for the lack of hassle, I hope, worth it.