Holiday Village - costa del sol (Oct)

[costadelay]

Hi I have a couple of questions about a holiday we are considering

Holiday village - costa del sol - has anyone been that can give my an overview?

We are looking at end October - anyone have experience there at this time of the year that can say what the weather was like? 18-22 would be ideal for us

Going with 10 and 13 year old - are they too old for holiday village now? We haven't done one before

Other options are benalmadena palace, los Patos or possibly the holiday village in Majorca - but expect weather won't be as nice in Majorca?

Thanks for any input - I'm useless at making a decision when there's more than one option!!

Oh the transfer puts me off Majorca too - does anyone know about private transfer and whether that is a lot quicker? (And whether there is enough to explore off hotel too?)

It won't be very warm and the pool may be unheated. I'd try the Canaries in Oct just for better weather.

I would agree with @MissBattleaxe about thinking carefully about how warm you want it to be. It’s likely to be around 20 or just under on the Costa del Sol at that time of year, but might be rainy.

I’ve just had a look at the Holiday Village trip advisor and it looks like all of their outdoor pools are unheated - they’re likely to be too cold to be used unless your DC are very very hardy / use wetsuits.

If you want to stick to Holiday Villages, there is one in Lanzarote or you could think about the one in Paphos or Sharm el Sheik.

I’d go to Tenerife at that time

Lanarote will be perfect weather at that time.

I've been to the holiday village near Benalmadena and it's fine. Food isn't particularly good. We went in October and the water park was open, but water is cold. They do have a small indoor pool.

Trouble is it's so far out of town, you need a taxi or bus to go anywhere.

The Estival Torrequebrada is much nicer and it's closer to town. Have a look at that one, it's around the same price as the holiday village but it's so much better.

Thanks @pepino I think I saw that one too - not sure why I hadn't added that to the shortlist

And the weather in southern Spain is usually 24-25 in October during the day. A little rain, but not too bad.

@pepino how did you find the weather?

Thank you for the canary island suggestions but we just want a short flight and transfer for this break if we can.

Hehe cross posted! I have a friend in Malaga, she always escapes the heat in July and august. By October it's usually really lovely. You will need a cardigan in the evening but daytimes are just right.

We have been there before but about 10 years ago now, was fine though was careful on what we ate as someone we knew went there and child got bad food poisoning and was in hospital but that was 10-15 years ago. We avoided chicken and salads and was fine. Maybe check recent food reviews.

I think the weather maybe very borderline on whether could use outdoor pools if they are not heated. It was mainly under 8s there, normally older kids go to waterpark hotels, like the Splashworld range if staying with AI. We did some nice trips out to Gibraltar etc from there and saw the monkeys, check trips running if interested on TUI excursions site if going via TUI.

If you want outdoor pools I would try a Splashworld somewhere warmer.

I've been to Marbella twice around 22nd October and both times it was around 21 to 25 degrees. I also got married in gibralter in March and it was 26 degrees

I think I'd like to go to benalmadena but perhaps looks at some of the other hotels.

Actually there were a couple of children that were taken to hospital for food poisoning while I was there too. That was in 2018.

OP, Benalmadena is lovely and it's so easy to get around by bus or train from there.

Yes this child was ill for 3 months after apparently so very nasty food poisoning and quite a few affected and a group legal action against TUI / hotel where they got a payout but it was 2010 or so. We didn't have issues but where careful what we eat, well I was, husband not so much and all fine. Though most of the big hotels you need to read reviews and check for food poisoning though its not always food poisoning, sometimes the kids are eating 20 ice creams with chips and sitting in the sun and then sick. I remember a kid being sick in the indoor pool there whilst we were all in it but I did enjoy hotel overall.

The holiday village in Benalmadena has amazing pools but we went one April and the water was like ice.

I think your children are probably borderline too old to get ‘value for money’ out of the holiday village. By 10 mine didn’t need/want kids clubs and were happy by the pool. I would look at comparable non holiday village hotels and use the extra money for some excursions instead at that age.

I think this is the right conclusion based on their ages. I'm back in the lookout.

The trouble now is finding an all inclusive hotel with a one bedroom apartment rather than a double room!!

I think I'll filter the search for a hotel with an indoor pool and a bit nearer to the main resort.

The Benalmadena Palace has an indoor pool but I think under 18s are only allowed in for a few hours in the morning - worth checking exactly what the rules are. Also has one bedroom apartments.

Yes I saw that one and it has good reviews - it is a contender. I just thought some of the photos looked a bit dated.

Hotel Costa Calero Spa Lanzarote is fantastic. Worth the extra for prestige plus too. Excellent reviews. Book via Jet 2 cheaper than tui. Also costa del sol holiday village is great. But the pool isn’t that warm.

I think it probably is a little dated - the restaurant looks particularly so in the pictures.

It claims to be a 4 star but from the facilities / reviews / pictures it looks to be more of a 3 star standard. Jet2 rates it a 3 star plus. It seems to be fairly good value for money though.