Holiday in late November/early December

[Clockwork99]

Looking for a relaxing holiday for 2 under 3 for a couple of weeks at the end of the year.

Requirements are:

1. Flight time less than 8 hours (shorter the better).
2. Family friendly hotel ideally on the beach front.
3. Kids love being on the beach, so ideally warm enough for a couple of hours each day

Went to Dubai a couple of years ago. Ticked many of the boxes when we had one little one. Would like to go somewhere different. happy to splurge on the hotel. Oman has been recommended to us.

Open to any other suggestions or particular hotels!

Caribbean.

Any particular island?

I love Barbados and St Martin. Thought St Martin you need to fly through Paris or Amsterdam. Love La Samana on St Martin.

We self catered in Barbados

Oman has a different feel to Dubai, they haven’t built over every spare space they could find & it’s less commercialised. Muscat is a nice city with a mountain backdrop and good beaches. The souk sells the same kind of tat you’ll find elsewhere but still has a traditional feel about it. The hotels are pricey though but if you are happy to splurge, fine! It is a country though where you’d probably want to quite a few trips and activities out to see wadi’s, forts etc which would involve quite a bit of off roading and time in the car which may be better when the kids are a bit older but definitely not un-doable.

Flight time wise some of the Caribbean would work? I’ve not been but flight time wise would Gambia work?

Barbados

Around 8 hours FT

The House
The Crane

Antigua or Barbados in the Caribbean, as with young children you'd be better with a direct flight.

The Shangri-la in Oman is meant to be good for families.

You could also consider a cruise?

I'd normally say Mexico but late Nov/early Dec is hurricane season and you could easily have a week of rain.

I'd fly for longer and go to Mexico. We went the 2nd week of December and it was about 27 degrees every day it was amazing.

Flight time to Barbados is about 9 hours, so longer than you want - but you'll have a great time there, and you'll be guaranteed warm weather. (The hurricane season will have ended by then, so it should be dry rather than humid heat).

Turtle Beach, on the South coast, is a very family-friendly hotel and right on the beach (like many hotels in Barbados). We've been there several times - from when the DC were younger - and all enjoyed it.

But with little children I'd recommend a hotel on the West coast, as that's the Caribbean Sea, and it's much calmer.