Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi, I'm looking for holiday ideas...

Have you been anywhere with your toddler that is warm (in Sept/Oct), by the beach/sea, relaxed, child friendly, with excellent service/food either on site or walking distance so us parents can enjoy a much needed break too?

(Is this too much to ask?) Thanks.

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/22860-holiday-with-16-month-old/
Share on other sites

We had a fantastic week at Martinhal in Portugal two weeks ago with our 10month old son. The resort is built for families with a great creche, kids' club, lots of thoughtfully designed play areas, good restaurants, a gym, tennis courts and a lovely spa. One of the on-site restaurants even has a sandpit and trampoline next to the restaurant so that parents can enjoy a slightly more leisurely lunch. However, the best thing about it being a family resort is that no one looks on disapprovingly if LO decides to have a bit of a sense of humour failure.


Martinhal is on the South-westerly tip of the Algarve. It's a really easy 1hr20min drive from Faro airport (we found it and I am a terrible map reader - we missed the first turning) and on an unspoilt coastline - often compared to Cornwall due to its popularity with windsurfers. The hotel and self-catering houses are beautifully finished - high quality furniture and you can rent anything that your son might need - travel cot, high chair, pushchair etc. We got a fabulous low-season deal where we got a 2-bed, 2-bath Ocean view house on half-board occupancy for about ?940 - for all three of us! BA fly from/to City, which is such a low hassle airport and the flight is around 2.5hrs.


My husband and I had a great time at Martinhal because our son was so happy and relaxed. It was very easy to stick to routine because there's no time difference and the childcare was great when we needed it - we used the creche for about 5hrs in total and had babysitting for 4 nights The babysitters (10 euros an hour) also work in the creche and kids club so your son can get to know them during the day. O Terraco is the resort's 'fine dining' restaurant - the food is very good (not quite as good as Eyre Brothers near Old Street but a similar menu) and the wine list is outstanding.


What really makes this place (and I honestly have no affiliation - we just had an amazing holiday) is that the staff are genuinely lovely and adore children. If you have any questions, just PM me!

I second the recommendation for Martinhal - we went when my son was 10 months and all of us enjoyed it. We've also been to Domes of Elounda in Crete last year when my son was about 20 months, which we found similarly relaxing and family friendly - I think I've recommended both places before on the forum if you do a search.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Lordship Lane has two dry cleaners, three pizza places and an Italian selling pizza, two burger places, three bakeries, two hardware (ish, I'm thinking AJ Farmer here), God knows how many coffee and charity shops, two Italians, three nail salons, five wine shops... Where was the abject outrage when Dynamic Vines opened up literally next door to Cave de Bruno? But I don't see his customers decamped next door - no, those stalwarts are still out in force every night.  In Roman times all businesses were clustered by product. It's what kept prices down. Same in any market you go to abroad, they're all selling the same things next to each other.  Why is everyone being so hard on this new place? It's called healthy competition - you can't curtail the expansion of your business on the basis you that might hurt someone else's. 
    • I have a new fixation so any available, please let me know.  Thanks.
    • In restaurant terms I would say a chain manifests when the motivation is no longer “we are a couple/small group who have an idea and love food” who open a restaurant, them another and then a few more BUT THEN PIVOT to “we need capital to rollout out new restaurants so we have leveraged the help of the following investors”  that is the moment it stops being about the chef/food on the plate and becomes about the spreadsheet  so it is POSSIBLE  for a restaurant to have 50 branches and not be a chain - but I can’t think of any  I don’t know chango - by based on the number of outlets they appear to have just crossed/or are about to cross that line 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...