Luxury resort with toddler childcare??

[Dreamhouseorstay]

I would love some recommendations on this! We are currently planning our family holiday. We’re looking at going in September, but would be happy with October if we were confident it would still be warm.

Very open on location - not opposed to a long flight/somewhere further afield if it means we get more for our money.

We did Mark Warner last year; and loved the childcare - especially the evening childcare/film nights so we could enjoy an adult dinner. However, the accommodation was quite basic, and neither of us are sporty, so it feels like we’re paying for facilities we don’t want to use.

We just want somewhere hot, where we can take our 2 year old swimming at the beach/pool, and have a couple of hours a day to read/destress while she enjoys some time at the kids club. No other facilities really required! I would ideally like childcare staff with uk qualifications/ratios etc.

The dream would be great childcare and a more luxury feel.

Our budget is £5k including flights for 10-14 nights, at least half board. We are happy to pay extra for childcare on top.

We are not looking for full days of childcare etc - some half days and a couple of evenings would be perfect as we want it to be a family holiday and spend time with her of course, but also have a real holiday and feel relaxed at the end of it!

Can anywhere recommend somewhere like this? I’ve spent hours and hours looking at different places and would love some opinions from people who have actually been to the places 😊 Am I expecting too much at this price? I’m not sure if it’s because we’re now a three, or Covid etc but everything seems so much more expensive than a couple of years ago!

Thank you in advance!

Neilson Beachclub Alana in Croatia
Neilson is similar to MW - but miles better (imho)
Surprisingly the locals tell me that they always have an Indian Summer in October - borne out by how lovely it’s been the last 2 years at that time
Bonus of a significant sized included spa here.
Short flight, though transfer a bit longer this year (flying into Split rather than Zadar)

for what I see yes, you might be expecting too much. I paid that for less than a week in Ikos in Spain last year. Although it was very nice and all inclusive, not the level of luxury you imagine for almost 1k per day for 3 people.

Look at Sani in Greece. It is fabulous. You won’t get 14 days but you might squeak 10 days, especially if you travel in October. We went in October last year and it was less than half the price of our previous visit on May! It is pretty perfect though.

Maybe look at the tui blue family resorts

I think you're expectations are a bit high for the budget you have, sorry.

I doubt you'll find a luxury resort with childcare with similar UK ratios/qualifications for that price, unfortunately.

The other issue you will come across is that most kids clubs start at 3 or 4 years old and above.

I've been looking for something very similar to you, same month, and it's been quite hard to find a place that has kids club for a 2-year-old.

Good luck and let us know if you find anything as I'd be interested for next year!

I reckon you could get a room within your budget at MarBella Elix. The kids clubs and crèche have Ofsted ratio standards.

We're taking our 18 month old (by the time we go) to IKOS but will pay extra for the childcare for a few mornings in the week.

Sani and Ikos are the obvious choices but they are £££ and likely to be above your budget. You should look at Eagles Palace in Greece, not a million miles away from Sani. It has the same childcare system and set up as Sani and you can do mornings or afternoons only and pick and choose days, but there aren’t all the other child focused bells and whistles as it’s a hotel not a big resort. The hotel is nice and the food options are good too, we’re going again this year!

A friend of mine always used Scott Dunn when her dc were young. I think it's is quite pricey though.

Scott Dunn

Club Med, go for a newer resort and ideally opt for the Exclusive Collection accommodation option. V similar to Mark Warner but much more comfortable. You pay for childcare for 2-3 year olds but they follow French childcare standards and all staff are qualified to the level they would have to be in France so it’s very good even if it isn’t quite UK ratios.

I'm not sure if it would be in budget but might be worth looking at Martinhal resorts in Portugal. They have a big childcare element.

I was going to suggest Martinhal but it may not be warm enough.

You're asking for a lot for not a lot of budget! The tui resorts have kids clubs but under 4 I think you stay with them it's not drop and run.

@FlounderingFruitcake do you find they speak English at the club med kids club? Or do most of the kids tend to be French and therefore the staff mainly speak in French to the kids?

Lux Grand Gaube in Mauritius. www.luxresorts.com/en/mauritius/hotel/luxgrandgaube

They asked if DC is French or English and group accordingly. We’ve only been to the Mexico and Florida resorts (wouldn’t recommend Florida but Mexico was lovely!) outside of European school holidays, and found very few Brits but there were as many Americans as French. It might be different in Europe though.

We did Domes of Elounda in Crete with our two year old last year - lovely. With that budget you’d get one of the smaller pool villas, if you could stretch a bit the two bedroom pool villas give you a bit more space.

Kids club was fine but not amazing so I’d say it works for a half day but there are probably better options if you want DC in childcare for the full day.

Oh hang on, sorry I missed the time and thought you were looking at a week, you wouldn’t get a pool villa for two weeks, possibly a suite with a hot tub which did look nice.

Have you considered a cruise? Check the child care for under 4's but it used to be available pre covid for a fee.

Scott Dunn is excellent but so expensive. We have used them for more complicated travel such as multicentre holidays, but I wouldn't use them for something like this, there are definitely cheaper ways of doing the same thing.

Thank you all for the suggestions, please keep them coming! I think I am expecting a lot, DH was shocked by prices and I wondered if I was missing something obvious, but it seems like you have to spend £££ to get childcare and nice facilities. We’re saving to buy a house and hoping to do a big holiday next year so trying to keep this year relatively sensible! I dread to think about prices once we’re restricted to school holidays, how do people do it?!

Ahh this is interesting, what do you prefer about Neilson? I grew up doing MW but have never tried Neilson - I’ve heard it’s sportier than MW?

Perhaps consider a hotel which offers a nanny service? Sri Lanka springs to mind, flights are around £800 each but a 5 star is about £140 a night, last one I stayed in was super luxurious, next room along had a nanny come to watch their children.

Paradisus Playa del Carmen has a fab kids club and lovely pools. They also have an adults only side, so you can drop you child at the kids club, and then go and have a cocktail by the grown-ups only pool. Bliss.

I’ve also been to Domes and would recommend that. It may also be worth looking at Daois cove as I’ve heard good things about that. There’s also Ikos and Sani but for your budget you might not stretch to two weeks there even out of term time. Ikos is all inclusive but Sani isn’t so you’d need to factor in the extra costs.

Also, everywhere we’ve stayed the kids club has been an additional cost for DCs as young as yours, they tend to only be free for over 4. And the cost can be quite high so worth checking out how much extra that is, as just a couple of mornings can add up.

We’ve definitely found everything more expensive this year!

Ikos - is AMAZING
But your budget may be tricky, unless you can go in term time