Somewhere offering beach, pool and a little bit of luxe for two adults and a pre-schooler. Maybe all-inclusive?

[BranchingOut]

I couldn't put this in short or long haul, as I am not sure where we want to go.

We are looking for a hotel or villa holiday with:

Good beach weather but not unbearable heat - probably mid to late June
Excellent childcare, so that our 3 year old could have childcare each day
easy access to the beach or a lovely pool complex
limited or no driving around
4* plus accommodation
Good quality food
People around us and a few things to do, but nothing too organised!

We have thought that this might be Mark Warner, but have been somewhat scared off by negative reviews on Trip Advisor.

We are not huge bar-drinkers so full-board might be just as good as all-inclusive to us.

Holidays we have enjoyed in the past since becoming parents include Sands in Cornwall, going to the mountains in the summer and a stay at a luxury beach hotel in South East Asia.

Last year we went to the Vendee and hated it. Sorry folks! Bad weather, endless miles of driving, the villages were all closed-up and everything seemed very spread out.

Budget - not sure, anything up to £2500?

Thanks.

Cruise, Celebrity if you can get a good deal, Royal carribean are the next step doan, Thompsons are excellent value for money but smaller older ships.
We have doe 8 all excellent

I'm not convinced you'll get what you are looking for, for £2.5K - well not for 4* AI.

First Choice Holiday Village Manar in Tunisia is lovely. Nice rooms, good food, 3 pools, excellent beach, good kids club, good entertainment. Not much to walk to outside, but easy and cheap to get taxis. June should be pretty perfect weather wise.

Sorry, pressed post too soon. There is also a Spa for adults that was great value and a swim school etc.

Protur Bonaire, mallorca

Look at a company called sun sail ... I went before DD was born .. Child care looked impressive.. Has pool, beach, Spa... We went to the turkey resort.. You also get basic water sports kit included which was great for DH who get bored on the beach

Thanks everyone.

I said 2500 because we have always gone self catering before, so I am not too sure what these things cost, but budget isn't too much of a problem.

What about £3,000?

Is there anything like a complex of self catering places with a pool and other things, including childcare, right there?

Am also lurking on the perfect family holiday thread to pick up ideas.

Cruise. Cunard for us. We're taking both kids this July! Can't wait!

Childcare stars at 2 an runs 9-12, 2-5, 6-12 If you want it. Ds1 would live there if he could! There are pools onboard and the food is excellent. We're doing Norway this year, but in the past have done the Caribbean and transatlantics with ds1. I can't go on enough about how fabulous cruises are.

I've been to the Bonaire too, lovely.

Palm beach Ibiza, shorter walk to the beach, really good variety of food.

Draw back, you need a bus or a taxi into the old town as its right on the edge of town. And nearby is young people's bars for night club. No trouble just not the lovely family see front at Calabona or Calamillor.

Badia Vista Sa coma is nice, I believe the Sa Coma grand is even nicer, but more £££, much nearer beach than the Bonaire, (Mallorca again).

I hated the Algave, I suspect it's beautiful if you have a car, our accommodation was up on the hill and everywhere was a hike. It's not as laid back as Majorca and the restaurants were hopelessly slow and less friendly with children.

I think any of the Thomson's family stuff would be on budget with a small child and no car hire.

Buy a very cheap umbrella buggy if you don't already have one.

We ended up hiring one for DD2, she was 3.5 and she still remembers it.

What's a gentle evening stroll to a grown up and an adventure to your long legged 6yo sister is really hard work for a preschooler. Much better ride there and sleep on the way back and enjoy running up and down the sea front while mum and dad have a drink.

Cala Bona, Cala Millor is perfect, long car free sea front with chairs outside the bars, everyone out with DCs of all ages to about ten pm. No one worries.

On are last day it poured, DD1, me and DH ender up eating ice team sundaes and taking two hours over them and a couple of drinks as DD2 had fallen asleep and DD1 was in grown up chatting mode. No one minds.

Issue is that a lot of childcare doesn't start till age 3.

Princess yaiza lanzarote always gets good reviews have not been there myself but ticks all your Beyer from what I have heard

Sorry, meant till age 4

Thanks for the suggestions, will get busy on google with those names!

Can see why a cruise would be ideal, but I am a bit scared of boats unfortunately! Don't even like ferries...

It is interesting to note the real price jump between self catering and all-inclusive. The last couple of years we have rented somewhere for less than £1000 Euros, then it is just fuel, crossings and food to think about.

But then again we came back feeling not particularly rested, so maybe we need to take a different approach!

Let us know where you end up always keen to see where people go with good childcare!

Why don't you try Tots Too. We've used them, and have since found loads of people who also do. They have lots of pricey holidays, but should know where to find you exactly what you want.

Neilson beach holidays - they throw in childcare from babies up, the half board food is pretty good, the rooms fine but not palatial and they lay on as much activity as you want (watersports/tennis/mountain biking/excercise classes) but if you want to chill that is fine too. Last year we went with them to Phokaia in Turkey, going back this year to one oftheir other Turkish resorts.

I love Neilsons but accommodation is definitely basic rather than 4* although personally the children club and all the activities more than make up for it.

sensatori crete would fit the bill.

Otherwise if you are prepared to pay for it Martinhal on the algarve is fantastic - our best family holiday yet- self-catering townhouses but with plenty of eating out options on and off site.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the suggestions - impatiently awaiting the arrival of my Tots Too brochure..

Will come back and update.

Thomson senatorial in Egypt. Best childcare we have ever had. Has is own beach on the reef. There are 4 a la carte restaurants which you can dine in every night....they ave. kids club / party which runs in evening and we fed dd in buffet restaurant then went for dinner ourselves when she was partying in club. Kids club from 3 years. They have a kids pool and splash zone as well as large family and an adult only pool. Service s amazing, we tipped the bar staff at the start of our stay and they kept us topped up with crisps, ice cream and beverages without asking. They have a piano bar, an entertainment dome for shows, a pool room and a beachside bar. We went for 11 nights all inclusive in may and upgraded to a swim up room and it was about 3k but it was truly all inclusive apart from tips. You didn't need to tip but f you did, they looked after you extra special. We tipped about 150 in goal between waiters, bar staff, cleaners and porters and they deserved every penny. Staff were all lovely