Package type holiday with 18ish month old

[Greenblue12]

I’m hoping to take my little boy on his first holiday abroad for the first time this summer.

He’ll be between 12 months and 18 months. I’m thinking of a package type holiday to Spain or Portugal. I’m not sure what we’ll need at the hotel and if it’s worth booking somewhere with loads of facilities if we might not use them. For example wether to book a large family type hotel.

What facilities at the hotel did you use the most when on holiday with a 18m old? Which did you think you’d use but didn’t?

Did you use pool or beach more?

*whether

Mine are adults now but we preferred pool to beach at that age .
We also liked the option of some children's entertainment and kids club . Even though we rarely used them.

We went on holiday with DS when he was 18 months. Hated it. Such a waste of money. He caught impetigo so we were quarantined for a few days, he didn't adhere to my idealised notion of napping on a sunlounger whilst I read a book and just wanted to walk round and round the pool area constantly 😂 We would just get ourselves down to the pool all suncreamed when he would decide he needed a nap, so back up to the room we'd go! We were all inclusive which was great as we could just shove food into him and ourselves, but meal times could be fraught as he wasn't keen on sitting in a high chair eating and one of us was always up and down to the buffet. We preferred going to the beach than the pool, but didn't use any facilities other than the pool and restaurant. Didn't use any kids clubs or go to any entertainment as i, personally, don't like seeing kids sleeping in buggies late at night. With hindsight, a villa might have been better for us.

I'm sure that many people have had wonderful holidays with toddlers and will come on to tell you that, but it's a definite no from me. We're going abroad this year for the first time since and he's now 5 😂 Nobody could have told me it perhaps wasn't a great idea at the time though (as my mum loves to remind me whenever it comes up!)

I would go self contained- kitchen and living room. You need a place to chill while the kiddie goes down.
At that age the most memorable was Cyprus. Rented a car and a lovely apartment with a swimming pool

@Ginger1982 speaks sense.

We liked the Zafiro Menorca in a superior room.
Small kitchenette and fridge for snacks etc. Garden with loungers so you can get lo to sleep and sit outside/ read and sunbathe while they nap. Even push round in a buggy then park in the shade in the garden to sleep.
Lovely kids pool with pirate ship- nice and shallow.
Child friendly restaurants around the marina in easy walking distance.

@SilverontheTree this looks lovely - thank you 😊

@ginger1982 thank you for this warning! I am getting to the point where no one can talk me out of it now as it feels like a lifetime ago we had a summer holiday 😂

[quote Greenblue12]@ginger1982 thank you for this warning! I am getting to the point where no one can talk me out of it now as it feels like a lifetime ago we had a summer holiday 😂[/quote]
Absolutely! I would just go with low expectations! It definitely will be a 'different' holiday

I agree. I adore holidays and would have been, and still am the same.

I remember first holiday with ds who was 14 months at the time. We had an apartment, he was “cruising” pulling himself up on every bit of furniture. Combined with tiled flooors I was convinced he’d have a smashed head by day 3.

We survived however, and aged 14 he’s probably been to more countries than most adults, and is a breeze to travel with.

As said, go with low expectations and do your research on here for useful tips before you go. Things like a small blow up paddling pool to have by your sunlounger, a decent shade, lots of crappy toys to keep entertained on flight and endless supplies of rice cakes will serve you well. Oh and a change of clothes for you all for the plane just incase sick/explosive nappy.

Agree somewhere with your own terrace/lounging space would be ideal at that age rather than relying on naps in buggy. Plus a fridge for cheap Spanish wine! Win win

Oh yes the flight! No separate seat as under 2, fidgeted and wanted to crawl up and down the aisle constantly! Had no interest in the lovely bag of things I had prepared to distract him 😂

I enjoyed a private villa with little ones at that age. I found a super website that let out second homes in the Algarve. Mostly owned by Germans and British. They always had a travel cot (you can request this) that I used as a playpen in the shade.
The villas were of a very high standard and beautifully kitted out. They really were much loved second homes.

The beauty of a villa is you can take people with you. I would take my MIL and Aunty who loved being abroad. They helped looking after LO. At that time we all fitted in one car so it worked well.

Comparably it was about the same cost as a package holiday. The villa was fairly easy as it included hire car, and I arranged local flights out, quite cheaply. We could go out of school holidays at that time.

I recall another villa holiday location in Sardinia when we had our second. We flew when she was 12 months. I couldn't believe the cost. The entire holiday came in at £1,120 for 11 days, including villa with pool, car hire and flights. For four of us that time. It was cheaper to book for 11 days than the usual 7 for some reason. The pound was strong so the exchange rate was good.

Sadly the company I used for a decade was taken over by James Villa holidays and now it's expensive. There must be others, especially with Air B&B.

I'd say, don't rule out a good villa. Make sure it's a second home though and not something marketed as a villa that's nothing more than a bedsit with a single ring stove and one pan!

@beautifullymad thank you so much for this.

I’d love a Villa for space and privacy but think it will be difficult in reality as I don’t have any family to help to take with me and I do all the cooking and domestic work at home, so don’t think it will really be a holiday as this will still fall to me.

Think this will work well when baby’s older though. Will check out these sites.

@Redtartanshoes fab suggestions - thank you!

Check flight times carefully, some package deals have horrendously unsociable flight schedules!
Keep your flight time short (so Spain rather than Greece maybe!)
Keep transfer times from the airport short or book a private transfer so you're not doing laps of the resort on a bus dropping everyone else off.
Definitely get accommodation with a separate sleeping / living space if you can and a balcony or terrace so you can sit outside when the toddler is asleep.
A very shallow toddler pool is great, pack your inflatables and pool toys.

We found Menorca really child friendly when ours were little and a nice short flight. We went for an AI so finding food wasn't an issue in case of sudden hanger and the hotel has a children's splash pad. The hotel also had an indoor kids club with qualified nursery staff so she also went there for a couple of hours when the sun was at its hottest.

Have been to 2 places with kids 18 months or younger and would recommend both.
First was a lovely apartment in the Bellresguard complex in Port de Pollenca in Majorca. It had a shared (cold) pool and was a short walk to the beach. Our daughter preferred the beach as she could run around there and the pool was absolutely freezing cold.
Lots of nice restaurants there too.

Second place was on Ile de Re in France (just off La Rochelle). Accommodation-wise this was probably unbeatable as you had a private heated outdoor plunge pool where you could adjust the base to make it as shallow or deep as you like.
This was brilliant as we could leave it nice and shallow for her to splash around in. I don't think I've seen anything similar to that anywhere before. Also, there was separate bedrooms and living spaces.
We are intending to go back to both places.

The main thing I would recommend with small kids who will be going for naps during the day and to bed early at nighttime is - don't stay in a hotel room!!
Stay in an apartment where you have a separate living area to chill out in when little one is asleep.
Also having an equipped kitchen is a Godsend with small kids.
I honestly could not imagine doing a weeks holiday with small kids in a single hotel room.