Family Resort in Bali/Malaysia/Thailand

[indochichi]

DH and have decided to escape for Christmas and go on a big jaunt with kids to Asia. Only problem is where to exactly? Would be very pleased to hear your recommendations for lovely child-friendly resorts in Indonesia or Thailand or Malaysia, preferably with a kids club.

bump

I wouldn't be going to Bali at the moment. Dengue fever is rife there at the moment with daily reports of locals arriving back here in Australia very ill.

I'd also stay clear of Thailand due to the political unrest too.

Malaysia is nice. We've been to Langkawi. Beautiful beaches and nice people but that was before children.

I've not been much help but certainly wouldn't take my children to Thailand or Bali at the moment.

You have been a help

I didn't know about the Dengue fever in Bali so thanks for the heads up.

Did know about the political unrest in Thailand but Thailand was our third preference of the three places anyway.

We won't be travelling until December so that does give some time for things to change, but obviously current situations need to be taken into account.Interestingly, none of the five travel agents we've spoken to about Bali have mentioned the fever.

I was thinking about Langkawi. Is it very resort based or are there local restaurants and markets etc too?

Langkawi nice, Westin Resort in particular but there isn't much to do. Would throughly recommend Le Meridien at Khao Lak in Thailand or Ramada resort there. If the situation in Bali improves The Conrad is a fantastic resort.

I love love love Bali and DH and I are taking the kids next month. I grew up in Asia and dengue fever breakouts do happen, even in countries where they take very strict measures to ensure it doesn't happen. For Thailand, if you stick to the islands, you will be fine. We travelled to Phuket with DS1 (7 months old then) during the last unrest and it was absolutely fine. The islands depend on tourism for their livelihood and generally don't get involved in the political shindings of Bangkok...

As for Bali, I did lots of research into the island for family-friendly accommodation. We wanted a villa but within a hotel for the facilities. If you book a private villa, most of them would have their own pool, which I thought would be dangerous for young children. I also wanted somewhere with a children's playground or kids' club (both my kids will be too young to go into kids' club but I wanted to be able to access the facilities like toys etc). We found a three-bedroom villa within a hotel here. There is only one though so you need to be quick to book it. Very reasonable as well. Another fantastic option is this, they have a kids' suite attached to the family suite. It was booked out for our dates though... Good luck!

When we were in Phuket, we stayed at Movenpick. The main building looks like a carpark so avoid rooms in there. If you go for the garden villas, there are separate sleeping/living areas with a sliding door for partition as well as a day bed in the living area so you could squeeze the whole family in there, the bathroom is massive! They also have 2-bedrooms suites if you want to splash out. Lovely and quiet beach within walking distance and very easy to get Tuk tuks just outside hotel...

we go to thailand every year and there is always some kind of unrest.gwaiting til sept this year to book tho incase things escalate.
we stay at the meridien khoa lak but did pop into the new marriott down the road so might do a few days there this year.

Thanks for all the tips. Have decided to sit on this for a little.

Am particularly grateful for the Novotel in Bali one as we searched for hotels with kids clubs quite extensively yet hadn't found that one.

Been to Malaysia 4 times, twice with DD - love KL, Penang and Lankawi. Lankawi very nice and relaxing.....Stayed at Holday Village I think it was and in Kl recommend Istana, Mutiara and Renaissance.