When it comes to travel, I have to admit, I don’t like to slum it. I like affordable luxury, but I’ll still try to bag a bargain where I can. Even when travelling with the kids, mostly we go for high end hotels as I find the food, service and overall vibe is something we enjoy and worth the extra money for us. We usually book flights and hotels separately as opposed to package holidays as we find it’s more cost effective that way. I find flights are cheapest directly with airlines (use skyscanner to find flight times and then go directly to your chosen airlines website) and for hotels I find booking.com or stayforlong.com the cheapest usually.
Here are my top 5 child-friendly luxury hotels with pros, cons and cost for each.
Without a doubt the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at. It was perfect. From the moment of stepping out of the taxi into this hotel, to the very second we left, I don’t have a single bad word to say about it.
The good:
- They have thought about EVERYTHING here – child friendliness goes above and beyond – to the point where they provided toiletry packs and steps in the room, bibs at meals, a lower food counter for kid access with healthy child friendly choices
- Incredible entertainment (stuff that I’d actually pay to see!)
- Gorgeous sandy beach with lots of sunbeds and umbrellas
- It’s very own fairground – all free!
- An indoor play centre with a bowling alley – FREE!
- Chocolatier counter (separate to dining)
- A pastry and dessert counter (separate to dining)
- Spa with fresh juice counter
- Close to Belek markets and town for shopping
The bad:
- My only negative is the price – it’s recently massively increased. But I can see why. It is steps above luxury.
This hotel surprised me. I thought it was going to be a business type hotel and really formal, but it was beautiful, creative and a lot of fun. We stayed here close to Christmas time and it did not disappoint with decor – they did a fab job.
The good:
- Access to neighbouring water park and hotel facilities
- Located on a main strip of shops and market stalls
- Close to the airport (10-15 minutes)
- Great beach with comfortable loungers – section dividers for privacy
The bad:
- Small kids club with not much else to do for kids
- A la carte restaurant not very child-friendly
- Although a lot of buffet choice, dining was a bit samesy with similar foods daily
- Pretty standard entertainment and daytime facilities
Stunning, stunning, stunning! We didn’t stay for long as we tagged it on to a longer holiday but I wish we had a lot longer here. We loved it, the kids loved it, it was beautiful. The people, the food, the architecture and the weather!
The good:
- Such friendly staff – they can’t do enough for you
- Fun welcome dance ritual they do everyday at dinner – kids can learn and join in too
- Stunning beach with cabana lounging areas
- Onsite dive centre as hotel is near to some great snorkelling/dive sites – I wouldn’t miss out on this, the underworld of Fiji was sensational
- Great a la carte restaurants
- Standard rooms are huge and furnished perfectly
The bad:
- Fiji is a 24 hour flight away from UK
- They didn’t have many sun beds or shaded areas on the beach – but for us wasn’t a huge downer to be honest
Ugh, what does this resort not have? Especially for kids, they have anything and everything you need. Down to baby monitors, they have it all. “Resort” is a down play on this place, it’s more like a village or small town.
The good:
- You literally don’t need to pack half the things you think – they have strollers to hire, baby monitors, baby baths, baby food, swim nappies, everything EVERYTHING.
- The resort spans across 5 hotels including a stunning port, so walking around this place is incredible. You can take buggies around but walking is so much nicer.
- 26 a la carte restaurants most of which are included in the full board dining and SO GOOD – all child friendly with delicious food
- Stunning beach and clear waters
- Lots of baby and kid friendly activities and areas – including a shaded splash park
- They pride themselves on customer service and it lives up to what they aim for
The bad:
- They don’t have an all inclusive option
- It’s on the pricier side of luxury
There are two hotels to this resort – one massive and beautiful and one a little smaller, more catered to children but not as interiorly nice. You have access to both with everything and it takes a bit of getting used to navigation wise. Overall though this hotel has so much to offer and felt very organised.
The good:
- Dining experience – exquisite – not only the food but the staff too. All such a fantastic experience
- Incredible water park – I’d pay good money to go there, it has splash park and smaller slide for youngers, lazy river, larger slides for big kids and adults 🙂 – it’s free
- Pier leading to snorkelling site – Amazing coral and sealife – worth taking the plunge
- Fantastic kids club and facilities
- Lots of shaded areas around the pool
- Spa with juice bar
- Jam packed activities and events schedule for kids and adults
The bad:
- The beach is not great – very stoney
- The welcome/arrival was a bit chaotic and felt a bit unorganised
- Customer service doesn’t seem a priority – that’s not to say the staff are not friendly, they are
Overall, my view is that if you luxury there aren’t going to be many bad things to say. My top 5 are all super child friendly and have amazing food which are two very important factors for me. When I holiday with the kids, I want to think about as less as possible and just concentrate on spending time with them. These hotels all made that very easy to do.
I hope this helps to navigate your way to booking the holiday you and your family deserve! Go on… just book it! 🙂
~X~
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