Suggest gr8 holiday with 2 kids 6 and 3 - Barbados? Mauritius?

[Chipstick]

The title says it all really - Want to go somewhere different, not Majorca, Greece etc.

Possibly October or December.

Have you stayed anywhere really family friendly?

We go to Turtle Beach in Barbados for October half term (when we can afford it ).

This year will be our 5th visit, I think!

It's a 4 star, all inclusive hotel on the South coast. Small-ish and all guests appear to be families. Very good kids' club which does something different with the kids each day and is open, I think, until 9pm

If you want, they can also provide babysitters.

One main restaurant, one beachfront restaurant and one restaurant that is for adults and children 12+.

Food is usually very good. Staff are mostly lovely and many have been there for years, which is always a good sign.

Oh, and the bar opens at 11.00 am ...

Hi Chipstick. We have stayed at Turtle Beach in Barbados too. Our boys really enjoyed the kids club there which is also open in the evenings. However, Barbados IS expensive. If you want the Caribbean then Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic will most probably be cheaper. There are a large number of huge All Inclusive hotels available at these destinations and the vast majority of them will have kids clubs and family friendly restaurants, baby-sitting services etc.

DH and I got married in Mauritius in December and the weather was wonderful, however not all long haul destinations offer good weather at that time of year. I think Thailand, Mauritius, Kenya and so on will be fine and but the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, Turks and Caicos Islands etc could be a little unreliable weather wise. Have you a budget in mind and what are you 'wanting' from your holiday? Christmas dates are usually very expensive and quite a few of the flights will already be fully booked for this period depending upon where you want to go.

If you find a hotel you are interested in booking make sure you check out recent reviews on Tripadvisor or other hotel review sites like Holidays Uncovered , Holiday Watchdog and others before comitting yourself.

It may be expensive, but because the hotel is all inclusive you don't have to spend that much.