40th Birthday trip with young DC

[Pandax3]

We're hoping to have a special holiday next year with our DC who will then be 2, 4 and 8.

We're flexible on timings, could be Easter holidays, spring half term (we get two weeks) school holiday) or August.

Budget flexible but ideally £10k to £15k.

Problem seem to be fitting us all into a reasonably sized room!

Current possible contenders are Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand or Bali.

Does anybody have any insights or recommendations?

5 in a single room? I suspect not many hotels offer this. What about a villa or apartment sleeping 5? Caribbean islands are great at Easter. Bali is a long way for no great advantage I think. How many hours is Thailand? Maybe a villa there?

if you want to enjoy it you dont want kids there best to leave them with grandparents

the show must go on

Happy to have a one bedroom suite or villa but preferably in a hotel rather than fully self catering.

Flight time doesn't bother us too much, and children will have to come with us (don't have any suitable babysitters plus wouldn't want to leave them behind anyway). Accept it's going to have to be family friendly.

then I suggest you choose somewhere with a creche

Maldives is very resort based and ours was a flight after a long flight, fine for us but maybe more difficult for young children. It was also predominately couples were we were, all ages of couples but few families. It could still work if you are just after pool / beach etc, dolphin boat rides but it's pricey and a long way for that.

Not been to Bali but reviews have seen aren't that great.

I think you can get hotel apartments. Costa Rica might be worth considering as you can get resort type activities and trips to rainforest, wildlife etc though 2 is very little and best age would say is teens there as there's lots of ziplines etc which are age limited. This one have seen recommended on here and has private houses https://www.tulemarresort.com/

With 3 young kids I'd prioritise the shortest journey time door to door. Bali is an awfully long way from the UK (if that's where you are) - I'm sure you can have a very similar holiday much closer. Bali is where Aussies head to for a bit of winter sun, in the same way Brits may head to Spain etc. I can't imagine going all the way there from the UK for a special holiday.

What kind of holiday are you looking for? Pool/beach/sun etc or more culture/activities too? Personally I'd pick Thailand as it offers everything.

I'd also look at vaccinations needed/health risks for all those destinations too and see if any are a Zika risk if you're thinking about any more kids any time soon.

Some not very encouraging posts on here! Of course OP can go to any of the places they listed as a family of 5, especially with a budget of £15k.

I would recommend Thailand. Accommodation is reasonably priced so you should be able to find a suite/villa that fits all 5 of you.

Thanks for the input, appreciate the thoughts.

DH and I like culture and sightseeing,, the DC are happy to do some too but obviously it's more restrictive at their ages and they like the beach and pool. So ideally we want a hotel with a beautiful beach wjth things to do and preferably day trips out.

We have been to the Maldives before and would probably go for an island with a speedboat transfer to cut down the transfer time.

I would love to go to Costa Rica, but it's one we're planning for when DC are older and we can do a tour and make the most of the activities.

@BritInAus good point on the vaccinations and health considerations, will make sure I check them out.

We are doing the same thing with our young DC and have booked Thailand. Getting family rooms/suites in Bangkok and beach areas was fine but a bit more challenging in other areas (we are doing 4 stops) and check child policy carefully on hotel own websites too, many are incorrect or unclear are booking sites.

Check weather for your dates, April/May is not ideal for a lot of thailand.

Like you we are perfectly happy going long haul with DC!

Bali is fabulous if you avoid the main Aussie party spots. One of the best places I've ever been and I've travelled a lot. I found it a lot less hectic/stressful than Bangkok, although I haven't been to other parts of Thailand.

It is a very long journey though. Having said that, you'd need an onwards journey from Bangkok too.

I didn't travel with children so can't make recommendations in that respect but just wanted to stick up for Bali following some of the other comments on the thread. It's an amazing place and I wouldn't discount it. Just stay away from Kuta!

There are direct flights to Mauritius for <12hrs travelling at good times of the day too (overnight flights). We've just booked! Might be a good option with kids as fairly easy travelling, no connections etc, just get on a plane, sleep, wake up and youre on a paradise island?

Thailand is fantastic with kids, I took DS at 18m and 5.5.

You’d need to check the weather but we love Khao Lak, Nai Harn in Phuket and Hua Hin with kids. In HH we stayed in a great air bnb that had two bedrooms so would be plenty for your family.

Bangkok is good to start/end your trip, Centre Point or Chatrium do 2
bedroom suites.