What would you want at a child friendly villa?

[hanlon2043]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this site today! Have a 6 month old and a 6 year old. We are creating a family friendly villa in Greece and want to ask other mum's what items they would want at a villa if they were travelling with babies and children?, I know the sort of things I would want but as they say two (or lots) of brains are better than one, any tips would be great. Thanks.

Cot with bedding (obviously)
High chair
Child-proof house and pool, as far as possible
Baby-sitting service

... Will think on it, but those would be a great start.

The number one thing for us is a pool safety fence - one that is reliable and no bloody marble interior stairs/hallways - absolutely lethal for toddlers oh and villas that have internal stairs with no railings as is common in Spain.

omnishambles - you nailed it. The house we stayed in in Italy was beautiful, but labyrinthine, with multiple levels and steps. A fecking nightmare from a kids pov, in other words.

Fenced garden area. And clarity of this on the booking details.

Washing machine and clothes line with pegs (or a tumble dryer, but I guess not in Greece!)

No sharp edges or marble floors.

My children aren't babies but I'd like pool toys eg balls and inflatables (to save packing them) and some board games, maybe a CD player.

Enclosed garden
a bath
big bed (big enough for little 'visitors' to join)

Pool alarm. I know it's a legal requirement in France, but possibly not in Greece.
Still, for peace of mind I wouldn't stay anywhere without one while the children are young.
My 2 yr old fell in when we were eating. Luckily we were right there and saw it as it happened. Alarm went off immediately.
But to think if we'd been further away or worse still further away with no alarm and distracted. Gives me shivers.

A safe garden with gates and fences.

Other than that travel cot, some toys, high chair, plastic plates and bowls and some child friendly cutlery.
A safe place to stash away breakables.
One place had beautiful stuff - pottery, ornate fire tongs and beautiful big shells etc. Great for adults to look at. There was a massive cuupboard to lock stuff like this away. High shelves would be good also.

Things we have also enjoyed in the past and subsequently look for:

pool towels, some sort of games console, no balconies off kids bedrooms or donstairs bedrooms that open onto the pool, agree about the pool toys and beach toys as well, plastic bowls and cups in the kitchen. Uphigh locks on the inside doorway to the roof balcony - ie not at childs height. A shaded outside table for eating. Optional pool heating. No knick knacks.

yy pool alarm (preferably with also the pool fenced off with childproof gate), stairgate for any stairs, fenced off garden/terrace.

Pool toys, maybe some outdoor toys in a shady area. A box of toys for various ages - nothing fancy, a trip to a charity shop or big supermarket would cover it.

IKEA plastic cups/plates/highchair

Travel cot? Possibly those detatchable side rail things you get for single beds?

Cool box for the beach.

Child step stool to reach sink/toilet
Bedroom with thick curtains/blinds or blackout material

I would greatly appreciate information on how the pools are treated and consideration of skin friendlier treatments (my youngest daughter can't go to the local swimming baths as they set her eczema off horribly so would greatly love if she could swim, or at least to be warned a head of time with something I can show her because blaming paper is better than her crying afterwards). And all the pool protection already listed by others.

Plenty of non-pool play equipment.
Outside shade - plenty of it for eating and general sitting.
Ceiling fans (I love them and the kids can't mess with them so much).
Big bed in master bedroom.
Blackout blinds for bedrooms.
Map of local area with family friendly attractions, shops, and the closest A&E because if I don't know where it is I'll need it .

A list of tourist and family friendly taxi numbers (include at least one that is suitable for larger families - getting a taxi list where they all only take 4 people is a real pain - at least 1 6+ people carriers).

English TV channels and if you can get CBBC and Cbeebies even better in addition to everything everyone else has said.