Majorca/Menorca recommendations

[Sparklynewyear]

Last year we went to the Hoposa Villaconcha in Puerto Pollensa, I know lots on here are familiar with it. We absolutely loved it, fantastic hotel and resort. The only downside is eldest will be 12 next year and while it was amazing for youngest, it might be nice for there to be a little more for eldest to do. Also dh fancies trying somewhere new.

We are looking at Majorca again or maybe Menorca this time.

The trouble is we want it all, nice rooms, good pools, close to the beach, enough activities but not too 'brits abroad'.

Can anyone recommend anywhere lovely that they've been?

Personally i would go on a cruise that caters for your age group of children. We never looked back, kids had a better time than we did

It depends how busy you want it to be, but our favourite Balearics resort is Binibeca in Menorca. It's so not brits abroad. Just quaint and beautiful. We stayed in a villa though so I'm not sure about hotels with lots going on - they don't have many high rise buildings.

@Funf what cruise would you recommend (thinking of children aged 9 & 12) ?

Any with kids club, having done 14 I wouldn't go on P&O. Celebrity, Holland america, Princess, Royal Carribean. Thompsons / Tui are very good value but usually the ships are older .
You just have to have a good look around for the best deal, a 4 berth cabin could be a squash but two of you can pop to the Gym and use the showers there if need be. Our kids just loved it at that age and had a better time than we did, research trips, ports etc, as many can be done by your self much cheaper, Cruise critic is a good forum to look on.
An questions just ask

Sounds good @Funf, thanks

I don't think Menorca would suit you, tbh

Really anyfucker? I've never been to Menorca so don't know what it's like.

We never looked back after the first one kids are adults now and still come with us. We feel it has everything g covered, most kids clubs will feed the kids whilst you eat of you want to do that.
If you shop around its often no more expensive than a beach holiday.
My only criticism is the drinks can be expensive but we just have a beer when on shore.
Look at the kids ages some might have both in one some might split them ours are still in touch with kids they met on a cruise years ago.
Look at the ports of call and plan, some people never get off. We usually plan our own trips as its easy and much cheaper than the ships own, most ports have independent people catering for cruises so you can easily organise your own. Cruise quoted us $6000 for a party of 6 on a full day minibus tour with a guide, we found the guide on the internet booked it direct paid cash $600 now that was a saving and the difference between going and not going. The following day he took a family on the same tour who had book via the ships and paid $6000!

Santa Ponsa is lovely.

Thanks. I feel as though we're never going to find anywhere as lovely as last year.

Only thing is a do think eldest might enjoy some kind of older kids club, he's very outgoing and likes making friends.

I'm finding as the kids get older that their holiday needs are a bit at odds with mine.

I love Menorca but it is more of a younger kids/child free kind of destination

We go to the Pueto Azul. Also in Pollensa. There’s usually activities for older kids - not a kids club as such but the entertainment team run activities for older children around the pool - darts, football, water polo etc.

I agree, I love Menorca too, been many times, great for young families or quiet child free people. To be fair we've taken our DC as teenagers but they are really quiet and they just enjoy jumping off the rocks into the sea and eating out or going on a boat trip where they can jump off the boat into the sea and then eat out - can you see a theme here?

If your older child wants activities then you will probably struggle. It's a very quiet laid back place. Liveliest bit is probably Cal an forcat but that's about as close to brits abroad as you'll get in menorca in my opinion.

Some of the large All Inclusive resorts in Turkey (Antalya/Lara Breach/Belek) would probably fit the bill. Complete freedom for your eldest and usually organised activities available and a safe environment for them to get a bit of a holiday without needing to be joined are your hip. Mine enjoyed learning to windsurf but didn't really join in with much else but there was football and darts and pool games etc

Thanks all.

We are thinking we might just go back to where we went last year. Just can't seem to find anywhere as nice for the money. Might incorporate a waterpark and a boat trip this time.

We couldn't afford a cruise I don't think.

All of the holiday village type places seem to have lots of bad reviews.

I am 100% against cruises for a variety of reasons.

We are going to Majorca, Playa de Muro this year, it is difficult as DD is 12 and outgrew the kids clubs 3 years ago. We decided just to go for over a week and add a seperate holiday with a city break at another time. It seems the way forward with a teen now.

You can do watersports and boat trips and in my opinion the beach is nicer than at Port de Pollensa.

Another idea was combining beach and city trip, we looked at 4 days Granada and a week at a resort around Almaria but it was above our budget this year.

Thanks reluctant where are you staying in playa de murp? Can you recommend any good hotels?

Santa eulalia in Ibiza has a similar feel to Peurto pollensa, but a bit smaller (and TBH I prefer PP)? But nice if you’re looking to try somewhere new.

We've been to playa de muro few times. Highly Recommend the iberostar hotels there. There is a kids club for the older kids where they do activities like water polo, football etc.

If you have the money we had iberostar and the Zafrio hotels recommended to us.

We are staying this year at the Playa Garden hotel.

We stayed in a Zafiro hotel on Majorca ( Can Picafort) & it was absolutely fantastic. Not the best area outside but we hired a car & went to nicer beaches etc so it really didn’t matter & actually we had a couple of nice evenings locally too. DD is 11. She didn’t want to go to the kids club last time but if we book this year we’ll go AI & I think that includes the kids club. We had a free upgrade to an apartment with a swim up pool so hopefully that will happen again.

Definitely going to look into Playa De Muro now, the beach looks lovely and it's not somewhere I'd really looked into before.

Look at the Iberostar Cuidad Blanca which is right on the beach in the Alcudia end of Playa de Muro. Fabulous beach and lovely hotel.

If you're on a budget and booking direct, look at the apartments of the hotel rather than the main hotel (they actually have two different booking pages). It's the same hotel but just a different block. The rooms are older and a bit more basic but I think they're bigger and they seem to be a few hundred euros cheaper.

Apartments: www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/majorca/iberostar-ciudad-blanca-alcudia-apartamentos/

Main hotel website www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/majorca/iberostar-ciudad-blanca/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=NA_IBSVOLEMEA_MYBUSINESS_ORGANIC_ORG_WW_EN_NA&utm_term=BLA

We stayed at Prinshotel La Dorada in Playa del Muro. It is not on the beach so is cheaper than Iberostar but is lovely, we've been there two years in a row.

A few times we have managed to get a good cruise for the cost of a beach holiday, remember everything is included except drinks and trips