Holiday of a lifetime

[sloanedanger]

Next year we’ll have a no strings payout of about £5k and extra annual leave, so want to take DC (ages 8 and 5 then) on a special holiday. Not too long haul ideally (maximum 8 hours) and needs to be a pool/beach, ideally all inclusive holiday. I was considering the Maldives, but I’m not sure how child friendly that is, also to go luxury, all inclusive would that be an obscene amount of money? Alternatively, Mauritius?

Disney med cruise with plenty of beach stops might be in your budget 🤞
Very memorable and I bet your dc would love it.

Another vote for a Disney Med cruise and second choice would be Sani Resorts in Greece. It’s not all inclusive city offers many restaurants and activities.

Yas Island in Abu Dhabi

You have Yas waterpark, warner brother studios and Ferrari world

My kids absolutely love it there

Plus there is a private beach for guest staying in hotels on Yas.

It's not that expensive either. On par with UK. Nothing like the costs of Dubai

And it's very quiet , the places I mentioned above were almost deserted when we went, it was fantastic for the kids as no Q's

Steer clear of Zafiro Palace in Andratx - it's a stunning hotel but the beach is down the road and not very good, and there is nothing for kids to do really. Palmanova is obviously just next to Magaluf so All Inclusive will not be all inclusive, but the Alcudia one might be nice.

I definitely wouldn't consider Majorca a holiday of a lifetime destination though, I'd look more towards the Caribbean. I've heard good things about some of the resorts in Mexico e.g the moon palace

Oh and if we go to Mexico we go last week April, first week of May - it's cheaper but you usually just miss too much rain (maybe the odd shower the second week)

I am also open to luxury resorts in Europe, we have never taken the DC to Greece nor the Balearics. If anyone has any resorts to recommend that would be great! I have heard good things about Ikos resorts.

We've just come back from an Ikos resort (Spain and Greece). It's properly all inclusive - champagne, cocktails, lobster, steak and the customer service was probably the best I've ever had. Choice of 6 restaurants, 5 pools, free Tesla hire, people coming round offering you food and drinks all day.

Downside with the one we went to (Spain) was that the beach wasn't that nice.

Barbados - great fun, lots to do, don't go all inclusive get out and about. Perfectly safe. Best restaurants in the world and also great for kids.

Mauritius is more affordable than you think.
I have booked a Beachcomber resort, all inclusive with direct flights, 2 upgraded beachfront rooms for 4 adults for £8500 in April.

I went last October for under £5k for 2 in a fantastic resort.

I would not fly 8 hours for AI because you're not going to maximise the experience of the area. Sardinia has gorgeous beaches, great food and is the most child friendly place we have visited. This is probably the best known AI
https://www.fortevillageresort.com/

Someone upthread mentioned Kenyan Safari, that's more like £15k not £5!

I would recommend a week driving thr south coast of Iceland. We did it with kids a similar age. ‘‘Twas fabulous!

I don’t think you’ll get Sani or Ikos under 15k for 4 in the summer…

What is it you don’t fancy about Florida? Before I went I thought it was America’s equivalent of Blackpool but it’s a million miles away. Orlando is amazing & kids (young & old!) will love it.

Disney & Universal theme parks are first class. If your kids like Harry Potter, Star Wars & Marvel then they will love it. Universal Volcano Bay water park is also excellent.

It’s not all about theme parks - you could visit Kennedy Space Centre (I saw a rocket launch & heard a sonic boom), drive to the east or west coast beaches, go to a rodeo, swamp tour in the Everglades, indoor skydiving, crazy golf, escape rooms, shopping, or just have some lazy days at the hotel pool.

A friend of mine went to a resort in Turkey right next to a water park and said it was fabulous. Can't find that one but I did find this article

www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/turkey/best-hotels-with-waterparks-in-turkey

Would you not consider Orlando? All sorts there for all budgets and I think your kids are great ages for it. I haven't been to the Maldives but I imagine it's a bit boring for kids, once you've snorkelled on the first day or two!- but I could be wrong!

We really fancy a luxury type AI with choices of restaurants and things. I think water slides are a must too as both my DC love swimming, Center Parcs etc and will be entertained for hours, together with water sports like snorkelling, paddle boarding.

Weirdly there are very few luxury resorts in Europe with decent water slides. Watersports yes but not slides - maybe the slides don’t look chic enough in photos… ??

You could look at the list here eg Fodele Beach might fit the bill. But these aren’t Ikos levels of luxury.

The Maldives are lovely but a hell of a long trip from Europe and bloody expensive. Just because its further away doesn't mean its better! I'm in Oz lots of people go to Bali for their cheapo hols and Europe if they have more money! So if you want to travel in UK summer I'd definitely put more money to accommodation than flights, and go somewhere lovely in Greece or Italy.

We have been to Sani a couple of times. Absolutely fab for kids and adults. Loads of things to do and the beaches are lovely. Very pricey though. May half term will be cheaper than august.

Sani in Greece is fabulous for adults and children alike. There are over twenty-two restaurants, a marina, and the staff and food are excellent. Great beaches and entertainment.

Costing far less is the Leonardo Laura Beach and Splash Resort or the King Evelthon, both AI, 5* in Paphos, Cyprus. Both have their own water park.

I looked in a travel agents window today and the Maldives holiday was £5k per person for 10 days!

We did RIU Guanacaste in Costa Rica via TUI and that had waterslides, pool, beach, rainforest and in the hotel grounds there was rainforest geckos raccoons monkeys and was a choice of restaurants, was AI. AI included kayaks, beach volleyball, windsurfing for adults, SUP etc. Next door was a zipline at 60mph and there were lots of trips out. www.riu.com/en/hotel/costa-rica/guanacaste/hotel-riu-guanacaste/ Ours were 9 and 10 then and loved it.

I think she could at Ikos. We'd booked a week at an Ikos in Greece a couple of summers ago for 4 adults (irritatingly this applies to over 12s) for £7k. Two rooms, both sea view, one a panoramic junior suite, but it ended up being cancelled due to the pandemic.

We've just spent £3,800k for a week in October at Andalusia (only 3 adults but the deluxe collection).

The OP's kids are of the age where they could have one room at Ikos which is substantially cheaper than if you have two teenagers as we do. Just a thought if they're after a luxury all inclusive as it was up there with one of the best holidays we've had (excluding the beach).

So much world to be discovered, yet so many would spaff thousands of pounds on an identikit, dull, luxury resort holiday.

Greek Island cruise?

Why do you feel the need to criticise what people spend their hard-earned money on just because it doesn't match what you choose to do?