Recommendations needed for winter sun holiday with 1.5 year old

[Browncoffee]

My husband and I have decided to treat ourselves (and our 18 month old daughter) to a lovely holiday in April. We're thinking of places along the lines of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, the Caribbean, Maldives etc, but have no experience of visiting said/similar locations with a toddler.

Ideally, we would like to stay in a hotel/resort that offers babysitting/creche, so we can have some baby-free times as well.

Any ideas/recommendations will be greatly appreciated!

[prickle]

We went to the gulf coast of Florida (near Tampa) when our eldest was around that age. Lots of lovely beaches with lovely white sand.

[Browncoffee]

Thanks Prickle. I'll look into Florida as an option...

[amyw]

Thailand and Sri Lanka are very child friendly

[prickle]

I remember we were worried about the water quality, especially in the pool. As we didn't want to spend ??? to go to a top notch resort, we wimped out and went for Florida.

[womanofdulwich]

Not the Maldives- given the recent events

[Browncoffee]

Love the idea of Sri Lanka & Thailand but admit the thought seems slightly more scary than Florida. I'm glad I'm not getting responses from people recommending we postpone till she's older!

[dulwichgirl2]

We prefer Barbados to the other Caribbean islands. Lots of good hotels there most with creches if family orientated.

Go before you have to pay for the lo! and before she wants to run up and down the aisle of 'planes for 8 hours.

Gosh, what I woulnd't give for a sunny break - have fun!

[sydneyswan]

Don't be scared of Thailand! We went to Club Med Phuket last August when our son was 18 months old.

We booked him in for the full week of the creche - which was brilliant - although we could take him out for the afternoon or day if we wanted to do something together. It was run like a nursery with a separate area and staff for the under twos, they even had their own pool (really shallow covered by shade cloth) and daily activities. The staff were excellent.

It wouldn't have been our first choice for a holiday pre-kids, but it turned out to be perfect for us because of the facilities for our little one - happy baby, happy family!

By the way, our son did spend the entire flight running up and down the aisles! Happy to answer any other questions, too.

[candj]

I can personally recommend Thailand, Malaysia, or Indonesia (Bali) all with great child-friendly resorts. We've recently been to Langkawi Island off of Malaysia and our youngest was 13 months and it was fab, sandy beaches, swimming pools, mangrove tours, lots of kids activities and sightseeing. We had a beachside villa which was great for evening dining with the children. My son was a bit too young to be left alone in the kids club with his older sisters but there was the option of having a nanny for a few hours and certainly a babysitter if parents wanted to go out in the evenings by themselves. The weather in April starts to get warm (30+).

I too have heard very good things about Sri Lanka and families, but haven't been yet.

Good luck and have fun!

[pebbles]

I'm currently sunning myself in South Africa. Just fabulous for us and the kids and there's no jet lag which is just great. Not sure of temp in April but currently late 20's.

[Pricey75]

Lucky you! I have also been looking at holiday options and Tots Too have a great website featuring global family friendly hotels. There is also BabyFriendlyBolthols.co.uk which was in a mag recently. Thailand is great for families. SA would also be nice but heading in to their Autumn.

Have fun.

[jollybaby]

Knowing baby brown coffee I think there's going to be lots of walking up and down the aisle- charming the other passengers along the way!!

[Browncoffee]

Thank you all for your awesome recommendations! I feel spoilt for choice and know what I'll be doing this weekend - checking out all your recommendations!

@jollybaby: Not even a minute's nap after the day we've had and still stomping (not walking) around everywhere! Now, that'll be one flight to look forward to (not)!

[candj]

In our experience Thai airways, Malaysian airways, singapore and cathay are all absolutely brilliant with children. Our latest trip with Malaysian saw the air hostess cutting up tiny bites of both daughters' meals and then periodically checking on them! Pm if you want details of where we stayed at these locations.

If you do a night flight from the uk you're bound to get a few hours of sleep!

As above cape town also brilliant with children but ocean is pretty cold even in high summer. There was a load of recommendations on south Africa recently...

[Mrs Bigsy]

we also went to gulf coast of florida with 18 month old and had an amazing trip. we went to sarasota, about an hour drive from tampa - direct flights to tampa from gatwick. gorgeous beaches, great parks, gardens, zoos etc to take the little one too. most restaurants very child friendly. we got a villa through owners direct.

[Browncoffee]

Thanks again for all your fab ideas! Looks like we'll be heading to Florida. Means we can kill two birds with one stone and squeeze in a visit to my stepdaughter who also lives in the States.

Really want to treat ourselves, as I'm due with number 2 in August and have a feeling I won't be braving another long-distance flight for a while after that:-o