Hol with young kids when on strict plant based anti inflammatory diet

[CarolHath]

Looking at holidays already for next summer. Kids will be 7 and 3. Haven't been abroad since youngest was a toddler and that time we stayed in villa with friends.

So I'm on a strict plant based diet. It's a vegan diet I suppose. And I don't eat gluten, refined sugar, any UPFs. Don't drink alcohol.

We would like Majorca/somewhere with a short flight (from (NI), kids club/lots of activities/pools for kids, central location beside supermarket/cafes/restaurants.

Would love the ease of an all inclusive as we wouldn't plan to leave the resort much.l and think it would be great for kids for ice cream and snacks. However I'm thinking this would be a waste with my diet?

Anyone in a similar situation? Don't know whether to book somewhere cheapish all inclusive and with facilities for me to prep some of my own meals. Or is there any aparthotels with good entertainment for kids? I hate the thought of trying to sort food for the kids all week too though 😬 they like pasta, potato type meals, don't really eat chips, pizza, sausages.

Not sure what we want tbh. Don't want to spend a fortune but don't want lukewarm buffet food either

Somewhere with lots of fruit and salad would be ideal for me

We went to club med in Sicily and the food there was excellent, very healthy and lots of salads. Plus all the usual stuff for kids

Hmm all the AI buffets I’ve seen you would struggle. Even the salads are often outside your diet eg they have cheese in or sugar in the dressing.

I think you’d need to speak to the hotel and ask what they could do for you. Many hotels will bend over backwards and prepare you something great, some won’t! You can probably tell which is which by the reaction you get when you speak to them. Either way advance notice will definitely help.

@Bigpaintinglittlepainting looks amazing. However their website says over 8s only.

@minipie yes def worried about this!

AI is good for kids,

I have a tricky diet - vegan plus some intolerances and AI mostly doesn't work for me. Breakfast usually ok - fruit, juices, etc. lunch and dinner much less so.

Most AI though you can eat out if you want to or buy stuff in local shops to have in your room. You'd probably need an actual supermarket though.

Some AI have a lot of separate raw salad ingredients which might partially work?

You can definitely do catered if you like

You need to book the higher end to get better food.

We went last year half board to a falkenstiener kinder hotel ( they do one in Sardinia I think also you might like). It was ideal for my then 3 year old. They had lots of fresh cooked to order options like pizza bar, fresh omelette at breakfast, whatever various hot options each day, plus all the basics ie they had lots of mixed salads, but also salad bars with everything separate like lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes etc.
Whole fruits and juicer machines you could juice any combination you prefer. They also had all the dairy free options for milk, yogurts etc and a gluten free section

Can you email a hotel directly to ask about their buffets? That would surely put your mind at rest.

I think AI is worth it with kids even if as an adult I wouldn't eat a thing. Not having to meal plan or worry about ordering something they don't like is more than worth it.

Providing choice rather than need (as in small cross contamination from tongs etc) then I think you would be fine, all the ones I've been to have a massive salad bar and vegetables. Getting your protein maybe a pit more difficult but emailing the resort would give you options

If you can't have cross contamination I'd recommend getting in contact in advance and seeing what can be done. My niece has meals plated for her from the kitchen as she can't have any contamination.

Is your diet medically essential, or just your choice? It makes a huge difference.

There are some aparthotels which are AI if you search we went to one in Majorca last year with Tui. The buffet would of had something you could eat as did lots of salads (dressings not added) so could have something at each meal but might get repetitive. I did notice a few people with allergies got individual bits direct from staff so they are set up more now.

@Octavia64 yeah would be happy enough to prep some of my own meals. My diet is quite simple really. Happy enough to eat out for some evening meals too away from the resort. So this is why I think we need to be close to supermarkets and cafes/restaurants.
I think it's either this option or go for a really expensive AI. Which I'm not sure will be the worth it for us

@Caspianberg that sounds amazing. I like the sound of the juicer as I juice every day at home

@BIWI not celiac, no problem with cross contamination. On this diet for severe Crohn's disease, I wouldn't say through choice, would love to be eating all the pasta and bread 😩

@Dartmoorcheffy yeah I will have to check in advance

We're just back from AI in Turkey and there were huge salad bars plus vegan and gluten free sections. I think if you go higher end and probably a larger resort you should be absolutely fine.

We went AI for about five or six years as it sorted out the kids very easily. I'd get extra snacks from the supermarket to have in the room - usually fruit, drinks, olives, etc.

Haven't been for a while so it's possible they are more clued up about this kind of thing.

Honestly it was worth it just to stop the endless whinging from the kids though.

Diamond Premium Hotel & Spa in Side, Turkey had a huge range of lovely salads in its AI offer and nice grain dishes. Lots for the rest of the family too. Fruit offer was not particularly inspiring but adequate.

@northsouthmaybe brilliant!! What hotel?

Most AI have lovely salad bars, and often fresh grilled plain fish and meat.
We went to an AI in Lanzarote that was slightly basic food wise (but great salads and fish), but the rooms were actually apartments with full kitchens so you could prep extra food if the AI didn't suit. It was Vitalclass.

Voyage Sorgun. Hope you can find something similar in Majorca 🤞

Thanks all. Will get researching. Though I've just seen another post about holidays with kids being so stressful and I'm having second thoughts as my toddler is hard work 🤣

https://www.falkensteiner.com/en/family-resort-lido

Not beach but mountains.

It was 20 years ago but we went to a Thompson SuperFamily hotel in Minorca. It was a 2 bedroom apartment with a kitchen but with hotel facilities as well. In a town so plenty of eating out options. Near a beach. And kids activities that you could dip in and out of. If they still do something like that it might suit you.