Holidays with 3 DCs

[Sevendown]

I’m trying to find a summer sun holiday for a family of 5 but am getting very frustrated that all the sites give me results based on the cost of 2 rooms!
Of course we done want 2 separate apartments!
Family is parents, 2 school aged dcs and a toddler who sleeps with us at home.

What we want is a 2 bed apartment or even a 1 bed if dcs has the bedroom and we had a bed in the lounge/kitchen. It’s only for a week so we don’t mind being cramped.
The dcs want activities ie a pool with slides poss playpark/ sports/ kids activities. We do t need a kids club per se. Also not bothered about being close to the beach.
We are flexible with dates from mid June to mid August.
Prices are excruciating!
£4K for 1 week all inc (wasn’t looking for AI but that seems to be what companies offer).

Have considered eurocamp but it’s so complicated combining with flights/transfers. I’d rather a package.

Help me!

I would search based on 4, shortlist a few and then phone them to ask about the toddler.

Or just book villa and flights? We are 5, find it cheaper that way - in fact, have always done it that way.

If you search for a private apartment/villa they usually tend to give you more space than a hotel room.
I would go in June before the school holidays if you can. Maybe try Vila Da Prai in Alvor, Algarve or Monte Dourado in Carvoeiro, Algarve (but it’s a hike up the hill) or an apartment in Puerto Pollensa or Menorca?

Could also look at Hotel Villa Maria suites in Tenerife

We wouldn’t do a villa.

The dcs want to go away for the reason that they want a fun pool with slides, activities and other kids to hang out with.

All of us cooped together would be a nightmare!

Plus we don’t want somewhere remote where we’d need a car.

Have you tried looking at campsites to rent a caravan, or there are some with gites/apartments on site. Loads with big pools, slides, activities etc., and lots of other kids around.

These apartments are supposed to be great for kids. I haven’t been but they do have excellent reviews.

Menorca is beautiful and very family friendly. The beaches are very safe and if you wanted to hire a car it’s very easy to drive around.

We took our children when they were small then went back last September and wondered why we’d not been sooner. We booked yesterday for June and I can’t wait.

Ooh, meant to add if you did fancy that holiday the code SPAIN150 gets you £150 off.

I looked that one up Fairy and it came out as £4400!!
I thought £3400 was pricy.

The older dcs really want a pool with big slides. That’s why they want to go on holiday. If we don’t get that we won’t bother going.

They don’t like sand so being near a beach doesn’t matter.

With a toddler I’m not going to attempt going around sight seeing, we can do that on child free trips.

We just want a resort with lots to do for tweens/teens.

Eurocamp type places may end up the best choice for us but it’s difficult to get a full price eg flights/transfers/ food (with a very fussy dc).

How old are your children and where do you want to fly from? Is there anywhere that you really don’t want to go to?

I think your stumbling block is going to be the water slides unless you fancy Turkey. If you do there’s a few on Thomas Cook and TUI.

Eurocamp / Canvas are really not complicated and would definitely suit you. I don't know where you are in the UK but you can easily drive to sites in the Vendee with big water parks attached in under a day. (7am ferry from Poole, on site by 4pm).

I would book flights and accommodation separately. You need to go for a family room which basically is one room off another so only one door leading out into the hallway. Plenty of room for 5.

Cheap options for water park hotels are Antalya and Hurghada. Or Mallorca and Benidorm have some too. Look at aquamania hotels on Thomas Cook and pick one that you like and try booking it elsewhere cheaper.

If you don't want to book flights and hotel separate then look at sunshine.co.uk I always book hotel there but they do packages as well. Or Holidaygems.

Holiday villages (Tui) have 1 and 2 bed apartments but are all Inc, and for your budget I'd expect only the Turkey one would be close to what you'd want to spend. You would have kids clubs, pools and snavks/drinks sorted though

This website is old. Not sure when it was last updated 😀 but may give some places to consider
www.over5s.com/

Oops just had a look and the content is all gone, sorry

Only when I go on holiday with the IL's do we book through the likes of TUI otherwise it's normally cheaper to book separately. The hotels themselves normally have up to 30% on early bird deals if you're in a position to book now. Transfers can be easily arranged just do an internet search, i've done it so many times now for all over Europe.

Thanks I’ll do more searching.

I’ve found a Eurocamp in salou but it’s £1800 and flights are £1700.

Plus food and transfers it would still be over £3500.

Driving not an option.

Drive to a camp site in france? It's what we did with 3 DC's. Plenty to do, slides etc. We booked direct with the site & had a chalet type thing rather than a tent (as cheap to do that as book a canvas holiday in a tent). I'll see if I can remember the name.

Parc des Alicourts.

I would say that £3.5k is probably about right for June for a family of 5 to be honest.

woodlanddreamer Depends where the OP lives if up north it could be a full days drive to a ferry port down south. Also depends how much consecutive annual leave they have. Personally, I could think of nothing worse than sitting all cooped up in a car for 2 days at both the beginning and end of a holiday. Also DH drives a lot too and from work so it would be no holiday for him either. I think you will be able to get a package but will likely have to ditch the hotel with its own slides/water park and settle for a day at a water park.