To still want luxury holidays with a young child

[Hadenough1234567]

DH and I have become used to holidaying in 5 star hotels. Usually Jet2 indulgent escape type places as an indication. We now have a 16 month old. We’ve been to Greece and long haul holidays with DD.

We still want to have high end holidays but need to tailor them a bit.

We like hotel facilities and our own outdoor space with sun beds. We like to be at the beachfront and avoid high rise hotels. (This is why we like the Greek islands) We like a good sized room, a junior suite at least but ideally a separate living area and bedroom.

We’d like places that tick these boxes but possibly aren’t aimed at families, so the place isn’t necessarily over run with kids.

All inclusive is preferred because we like breakfast and lunch buffets - ideal for DD. We still like high standard food and drinks, some all inclusive can be a bit questionable quality.

We like a bit of room service too.

Any tips?

We have a decent budget - about £10K for 10 nights but a bit of flexibility here.

I go on a Jet2 5* Indulgent Escape holiday once a year. It's not actually a child free hotel but I don't think I've actually ever seen a child there.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Presumably OP doesn't want to be surrounded by people with families, they wouldn't mind a few children being there. When my children were young I never went anywhere on holiday aimed at families because I didn't want to be surrounded all day by other people's children.
Same way as despite being British I never want to go on holiday abroad where there are a lot of British people.

Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme in Turkey.
Just Google it.

In my experience, whey you're having a holiday with children, the best options are as high end as you can possibly get or as low end. It's the ones in the middle that are sometimes difficult.

Hillside Beach Club in Fethiye, Turkey. AI with two adults only and one family beaches, and a special pool & play set up for under 3s.

However, almost no resorts do kids club for u3s, you need to engage a babysitter if you want time as a couple.

Sani or Ikos

So you don't want other people's children inflicted on you but you want to inflict your child on everyone else.

That's going to be popular!

As the above poster said- at 16 months we also had the types of holidays you describe. Now 3 and 7 would be absolute hell- nothing to keep them entertained at those types of holidays which then makes life a whole lot harder and less relaxing. We still go on lovely holidays however have had to adapt and accept we now holiday in NICE but family friendly resorts with slides/ kids clubs etc and the restaurants serve chips/ burgers and plain pasta 🤣🤦‍♀️ we will return to our luxury in a few years when they’re older and happy to sit and chill and enjoy the finer things in life.

Domes Novos Santorini, Six Senses hotels

Oh and follow Tiny travelship on instagram

They should book adults only then if they don’t want any children there at all.

I feel like there are so many people just wilfully missing OP’s point. There’s a huge difference between a hotel aimed at families (think water park, kids restaurants, fairground etc) VS a standard hotel with a couple of kids facilities (kids club and a small paddling pool) which is what OP has asked for which is not unreasonable. If a couple chooses to go to either of the above there are going to be kids there, it’s not rocket science if they don’t like that then they should go adults only. OP not wanting to go to a family aimed hotel but go somewhere where her child is welcome is completely fine.

+1 for Club Med. Not always as luxurious as Sani (for example) but the food is amazing and kids clubs are better and include looking after DC during the evening if you want.
@Laughinglama these could be good for
you, the older the children get the better the activities from the kids clubs are, perfect for 5-12 I would say.

Ikos of course.

also Sani, and check out hotels on Gibson Dunn family page, there are places like Westin etc

And ClubMed! (But not in France)

Martinhal cascais was amazing, but possibly too kid friendly for you 😅

You seem to be making this more complicated than it is. Go onto the Jet2 website, select the hotels which meet your criteria and then see which ones have room for a travel cot. Job done! Oh, and whilst she's so young, avoid travelling in school holidays (including private school holidays and Scottish holidays) and that will significantly reduce the number of children at any hotel

A cruise with this company? They don’t specifically exclude children, but there are no children’s facilities on board, I’ve cruised with them 4 times and never seen a single child.

https://www.azamara.com/home

I get it OP. There's a huge difference between going to a normal hotel with a swimming pool and outdoor area suitable for a child, than going to a fully family centered hotel with slides, playgrounds, sing-a-long dinners, dressed up characters about the place and a request to do the chicken dance with 100 families holidaying in the same place.

I've no suggestions for you unfortunately but it sounds like my kinda holiday!

I sort of understand what the OP is trying to find but she has made a fatal error is assuming that HER child will be beautifully behaved and won’t make a scene at breakfast or start screaming the place down just when others are enjoying pre dinner drinks. I have been to many many luxury hotels and there is always one child who will kick off at the wrong time.

Loved Constance Ephelia Seychelles and Heritage Awali Mauritius

We stayed at the Grecotel white palace in Crete earlier in the year, it is the most beautiful place I’ve ever stayed and we’ve booked to go back next year. On their socials it doesn’t come across as being very family friendly but it really is, but without the full on “family” aspect of some resorts. A la carte restaurants are amazing, great kids club but not sure on the minimum age. We had a room that shared a pool and garden with a few other rooms but the main pools were fab too. They also had a creperie and chocolaterie included as part of the AI.

My kids are 10 & 15 now but we have always avoided holidays aimed specifically at kids because both of mine are fairly quiet and have never wanted to do kids clubs etc.. They have a better time floating around in the pool and kicking a ball on the beach than running around with loads of other kids.

People saying that they would hate kids being on their luxury holiday need to realise that there are adult only hotels!

£10k on a holiday? Blimey. Spend £2k and give the rest to a food bank...

So I am assuming you regularly donate most of your holiday budget as well?

Martinhal Sagres? Might be more than £10k though if you are including car hire, flights etc. The villas might be quieter. It’s lovely we’ve been a couple of times.