Club Med Metaponto vs Mark Warner Greece

[bertiesmum]

Any thoughts on which is better quality with a young baby (6 months)?

[Paula1]

Ems, they had double buggies that you can borrow when the baby/toddler clubs are not using them (i.e. lunch times and evening times), but it might be easier to take your own so that you don't have to carry your hand luggage around the airport!!

[Ems]

Hi Paula1, thought you were going to be there soon, glad you had a great time. Bet the weather was LOVELY compared to all our rain, rain, rain. Following our previous discussions etc, we have bravely booked for next month, and are really excited, and even more so now that you have posted a positive message!!

Quick question; Do they have buggies there or do I need to take ours? Thanks!

[Cityfreak]

Koshka, We went to Capo Testa last year but I think it has all been refurbished since then. I thought they were going to make it adults only. The path down to the beach is very steep and most pushchairs don't make it, but a toddler can easily walk. Nice sandy beach. Food was rubbish and sometimes reappeared on the buffet for a few days. I was really careful what I ate but was sick one night. Quite a few guests had minor tummy bugs from the food. Childcare was really good. Santa Teresa is a small town with nothing to do. I enjoyed the diving, sailing and windsurfing, with good new equipment, and good tuition, but apart from that you might get bored. Or you could hire a car. LTA, I'm a lone parent too and did feel the odd one out among all the couples, but I actually got on better with the staff, who were nearer my age! The previous year we went with Neilson to Turkey, and I preferred it because there was more of a mix of guests, ie some couples whose kids were grown up, some families with teenages, some single people, some pairs of friends, etc. I don't want to offend anyone, but most couples were not joyously happy and I ended up feeling, "Thank God he's not my husband," quite often! Pluto, did you see anyone scuba diving at the Ibiza CM? What kind of sports did they have nearby?

[Paula1]

I just got back yesterday from MW Paleros, it was fantastic. Childcare arrangements absolutely brilliant, all toys,pushchairs, sterilisers everything from reliable known names (mostly Mothercare/Cosatto/Little Tikes etc..). Malmomum - the food wasn't at all British (except at high tea for the children), it was actually really good. Going to book again for next year on 1st July when their advance booking starts.

[pluto]

Just got back from the best family holiday ever had at Clubmed (Ibiza). I nearly cried on departure. Food fantastic, childcare fine (DS is two and a half) GOs really welcoming. Starting to save for a return trip!

[Koshka]

We have finally taken the plunge and booked a MW holiday to Capo Testa - does anyone out there have any first-hand reviews? The MW V CM stuff is interesting however comments specific to Capo Testa would be welcome.

[MalmoMum]

I think it depends on the sort of holiday you want. MW is an Uk company designed to handle Brits and their needs so if you fancy a couple of weeks with a selection of people from your local school and gym, eating English style food etc then you will prob enjoy MW.

CM is a french company catering for a lot of different nationalities (Germans, Dutch, Italian, French and UK) with a main working language of French and meals are informal but important affairs. You get a well stocked baby feed rooms with water, milk, fruit, yogurt etc, a children's restaurant open at 6pm, pushchairs and beach umbrellas on loan. There is nurse on site and a peadiatrician visits each evening, I think.

If you intend to leave your child in the creche for a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon I think the creche is fine, my 10 month ds was quite happy although the staff ratios are not as high as MW. I'd never left my child in a nursery-style situation before and I didn't feel that holiday was a suitable time to try leaving him all day.

Metaponta is a big site with lots to do, MW would prob fit into a corner of it. The Hobie Cats on the beach were great fun to sail although I'm not allowed to try rollerblading anymore (I broke my wrist at my first lesson despite wearing all the kit). We went in June and soon realised that we didn't need to spray ourselves against mosquitos which was a pleasant relief (between us we are usually a fine dining experience for the little critters). We could also fit the cot easily into the bathroom, do make sure you ask for a baby bath.

MW is prob the more watertight experience for anglophones, partic if you want things to run the way they do at home. CM is more of a foreign experience, CM Ibiza might be less of a challenge with a small child (the transfer time is much shorter aswell).

[LTA]

I have booked to take my little one to Corsica with MW in September. Only thing is, I'm a single parent going abroad with a 2 year old for the first time. Were there other single parents, or was it all joyously happy couples???

[robbie]

Rhiannon - mine were babies (11 month old twins) and they were horribly understaffed - about one to five in the babies room. What's more many of the staff were unqualified - our assigned worker had arrived 3 weeks previously thinking she was going to be a cook. She had no experience of babies. Not surprisingly we couldn't leave them for more than an hour or two per day (usually when they slept). I will say the older kids certainly seemed to be having a lot more fun - but I wouldn't recommend club med for childcare of under 3s.

[MiriamW]

I went to San Luciano (Corsica) last year with Mark Warner when ds was 5 months, and the childcare was fantastic. And they pretty much had everything you would need - they would even lend out their buggies. ds had a good time too - I was really impressed with what they did with the babies (who wouldn't have really noticed what was going on). They put on his trunks and had him paddling in a pool, and he came home with pictures of handprints and footprints. All very British, but actually that is fairly comforting when it is your first time travelling with a baby. We found the babylistening service to be really good as well. A very positive experience (though the hotel was a bit shabbier than our pre-ds holidays). However you only do a MW if you have kids - I couldn't believe how many kids were on the plane!

[Rhiannon]

Robbie, just read your comment about Sandpiper childcare, how old are your children? We went in February to Sandpiper and mine aged 3 and 7 had the most fabulous time that they didn't want to come out! They even had lunch in the club.

They did all sorts and were so proud of their medals at the end of the week. There was a talent show too and my DS told jokes and DD sang the ABC song it was great.

I would definitely go back but a word of warning, buy your flights separately and then phone CM pretend you're in the US on holiday and book your rooms as 'drive bys'. We paid £700 more for a week than the room rate that was being offered at the front desk. R

[Rhiannon]

We went to Metaponto in 2000. With CM you actually feel like you're on holiday, very few other Brits and v. good food and entertainment. There's a fabulous outdoor amphitheatre. Mark Warner always seems really expensive?

Both kids loved the clubs and we were impressed with them as usual.

Metaponto is a big resort, there isn't a local town for a visit so it did feel a bit insitutionalised. There are only childrens pools in the clubs and the central pool is a deep one so that was a bit of a downer.

There is a choice of restaurants and the Italian one was wonderful (but you need to book) and beware of the mosquitos!

The train runs down to the beach which made a change to the pool.

There were coach excursions you could go on and one day I went on a half day market trip (on my own!) which was uneventful but OK. Good Luck R

[bertiesmum]

There seeems to be a trend developing of preference for MW. A friend went to one of the Greek MW's and the child ended up in hospital with a tummy bug on return to UK. Possibly unlucky but worrying for little B's first trip abroad.

Thanks for all helpful feedback so far. BTW both companies heavily discounting for late bookings but you have to ask for the reductions.

[bertiesmum]

There seeems to be a trend developing of preference for MW. A friend went to one of the Greek MW's and the child ended up in hospital with a tummy bug on return to UK. Possibly unlucky but worrying for little B's first trip abroad.

Thanks for all helpful feedback so far. BTW both companies heavily discounting for late bookings but you have to ask for the reductions.

[bee]

Another vote here for Mark Warner (Lemnos) - the rooms are great, air-conditioned, fantastic water sports and kids clubs. We went when our youngest was 11 mths old. Found we couldn't leave him for very long - a couple of hours at a time, or he got very grumpy. But at 6 months you might fined it much easier as the baby might not be so clingy. Have a lovely time! (By the way, Sunsail also do brilliant clubs)

[robbie]

Well I've been to Club Med in Sandpiper and Mark Warner in Kos and there was no comparing the childcare - MW wins hands down. If you look at the reviews on this site, I think you'll see that the childcare at Club Meds is haphazard to say the least, so I'd go for MW. Won't be much of a holiday if you can't happily leave your baby for a few hours at least.