Aibu to want a holiday that’s a cross between self catering and hotel?

[Guiltridden12345]

Just that really. The benefits of a hotel complex - primarily kids meeting other kids - but the ability to retreat from the swarming masses. My partner and I don’t like hotels, we like privacy and peace, all inclusive hotel holiday would our worst nightmare and we’d genuinely rather stay home than do that (I wish it were different). However, our tweens/ teens are becoming less able to amuse themselves -they argue continuously wotj each other and it’s really wearing. We are on Holiday now in a villa somewhere idyllic and it’s like WW bloody 2. First world problem but I wondered if there’s a halfway house holiday that suits old and young?

we went to martinhal in sagres when they were little. Had a Villa with a small pool on the edge of a big holiday village with bigger pools, bars, restaurants, play areas and a kids club where the kids can play with other kids (plus formal care if you want it). It was great - we could stay away or dip in as we wanted. We didn’t go back only because it was a bit too windy (it’s an upcoming surf spot apparently as a result). And we’ve not been able to find anything similar since. Anyone know of anything like this elsewhere in Europe? Or how do you cope with bored/truculent/irritating siblings on sunny holidays?

That sounds great, we looking into Alps style holidays too. They were quite expensive though.

Self catering accommodation has communal pools etc, so you can use it but then also go elsewhere if you want and eat out in the evenings

I go on self catering holidays to Greece etc most years and essentially in most instances you have a mini apartment, but with use of a communal pool/sunbeds etc and sometimes a snack bar etc. We get a massive supermarket delivery on the first day and can retreat and see no one, or can potter down to the pool etc. They usually come in under 600 quid per person so not bank breaking either.

I’d do Neilson or Mark Warner in one of their small hotels - I wouldn’t do big AI again.

pay the upgrade for hotel room with a sitting room bit to give you the space.

@CurlyhairedAssassin look for a hotel with half board (ours even allows you to make a lunch up at breakfast to take with you) as eating out seems expensive from what I have seen of menus. Also, our hotel give you a regional card which gets you free/discounted entry to loads of things. So far, the things we have done would have cost about €150 but have been free with the card. We also get free travel on buses/trains in the area.

I'd suggest (1) aparthotels, (2) holidays with friends or (3) city breaks. As teenagers, my kids became increasingly keen on city breaks

Yup. It’s the kids meeting other kids thing we need to explore I think, before there’s blood!

We have had two holidays in Austria in the past few years and they weren't too expensive. Flights from Gatwick to innsbruck midweek aren't too pricy and we booked an Airbnb. Car hire has gone up a lot though. Most areas do free or cheap Summercards with give free cable car trips and access to swimming pools and other activities. There are great Summerparks at the top of the mountains with loads of activities for kids. We stayed near Serfaus which is very child focused.

Nielsens or Mark Warner (the former is better than the latter if you don’t like AI)

There’s also resorts / AI hotels that have private accomodation.

We have three (youngish) children and we've never done all inclusive, nor a villa holiday. We book good hotels, just B&B, and hire a car to explore/find nice restaurants for dinner. I would hate to cook on holiday 🙈

I love an aparthotel. Hotel breakfast, picky bits lunch and dinner wherever we fancy.
They seem to be very expensive or very cheap and little in-between. Always looking for recommendations.

So, OP, you definitely don't want AI. What do the kids like to do? We had a couple of successful holidays in the Dordogne when my kids were the age yours are. In the Sarlat/Les Eyzies area. Inspired by a post on here actually. Loads to see to do with prehistory around there if they'd like that, chateaux, canoeing, accrobranche (tree trekking - way longer courses than they have here), crazy golf/maze/aquarium type places. Lovely old villages and towns. One very memorable visit to the Maison du Forte de Reignac, an interesting old mansion built into a cliff, which, unbeknown to us, had a VERY comprehensive torture exhibition in an underground room. It really went into a lot of depth with the explanations - the kids were fascinated! 😂

The place we stayed had been recommended on here. A gite complex with English owners living on site who were really helpful if you needed advice on anything (without being intrusive). Lovely lovely shared pool and I did enjoy chatting to some of the other guests sometimes, and the kids made friends too. Games room kept them entertained. Was great. But we decided that we'd had enough of self-catering after many years doing it, hence our move to hotels.

Also Club La Santa, Lanzarote might fit the bill. They’ve got apartments with uP to 4 bedrooms and so many activities

https://www.clublasanta.com/

Yeah I see this a lot on MN with people thinking that because you book a self catering place you have to do a lot of cooking and it's always puzzled me as we eat out every night when we go away. I only book an apartment/aparthotel as I have a toddler and we like him to have his own room so we can chill in the evenings without disturbing him.

Ikos. All inclusives for people who hate all inclusives. Plus, a crèche, nannies etc.

That's fine, but that means that if you like a glass of wine or don't have access to a car then you need to make sure you're close enough to some nice restaurants, or have the means to get there and back. Age of kids is a factor too. Toddlers wouldn't be able to walk to far, but my teens have been happy to walk down nice country lanes in Majorca in the evening though, to get to a town.

You need Holiday Property Bond!
All self catering from small apartments to big villas. All on sites with lots of facilities and with restaurants. We tend to eat in breakfast/ lunch and eat out every night. Kids activities like tennis, crafts, water games etc on many sites in the holidays.
https://www.hpb.co.uk/

@CurlyhairedAssassin Yeah we always make sure we're in a city centre so we can walk to restaurants :) I'd hate to be stuck out in the wilds of nowhere. My toddler is a bit of an oddity though as he loves to walk and hates the buggy. He outpaced some American teens on the way up to the Sacromonte caves museum in Granada last year 😂

My son and his family went here and really enjoyed it. https://www.lamangaclubresort.co.uk/

I've reported this post.

Why? Not selling HPB, just a happy member of many years duration. It’s no different to recommending anything else on here. I don’t get anything for recommending it on a public forum.

Try an agriturismo in Italy. It's a farm stay with accommodation. Lots have swimming pools, restaurants and a playground. Very laid back, great locally sourced food and not too many other guests.

Aparthotels! We always get them.