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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Help us stop arguing about summer holiday!

7 replies

princesssparkle9985 · 08/01/2024 12:54

My husband and I have very different preferences about holidays and have spent many evening arguing about what to do this summer. We have ten days in June to travel and have one 7 year old.

He travels for work so has stayed in lots of nice hotels and has been to many places. I have travelled very little so want to see a new place and explore when I’m there.

We don’t want to do a villa just the three of us as we prefer a pool for our child to have other kids around and ideally a kids club.
We both want to do Sani / Ikos but next year - this years budget is more like 3k - 4k all in. Ideally 10 days but could do less.

The main problem is that he is picking holes in every hotel that I show him. I want to go somewhere where there is a nice town (have focused on Pollensa or Sóller as recommended by friends) so it’s not just a very nice Marriot that we don’t leave which is what we did three years in a row. I want to go wandering for dinner and atmosphere in the evening. I found a hotel in Pollensa with great reviews for kids that looked nice but he says it’s literally on a street where people can see you at the pool. I don’t really want that either.

He won’t stay in a “nice but not fabulous” hotel in the areas I’m showing him because he doesn’t trust that any touristy area won’t be tacky (people dragging you into restaurants, selling stuff in your face etc.) so the accommodation matters to him. It matters less to me in a nice area because I see it as a place to sleep. He doesn’t believe our friends that Pollensa is a nice area.

I’ve floated the idea of Lake Garda but it seems as pricey as just doing cheapest Sani!

Its like we can’t afford the hotel he wants this year that’s in an area that I want! We did find some very nice hotels that were in Pollensa and Soller but are booked out at this stage.

Does anyone have a suggestion that might meet both our needs? Any country is fine. Budget a bit flexible. Needs to be coastal.

OP posts:
GettingStuffed · 08/01/2024 14:17

Use TripAdvisor to look at reviews

Stowickthevast · 08/01/2024 15:01

I think it's hard to get both as the nicest hotels tend to have big grounds so are a bit away from the main track.

We have nearly managed this a couple of times. In Menorca, we stayed at Royal Son Bou which was lovely. It has a few restaurants nearby but not really a town or strip like Pollensa. We also stayed somewhere on Cala n Bosch which had a lovely little row of shops and restaurants nearby but the hotel wasn't amazing.

princesssparkle9985 · 08/01/2024 17:54

@GettingStuffed Well yes that’s the obvious thing to do , I have used Tripadvisor for years. But the difficulty is that you read reviews with no context as to what the person values on their holidays, how high their expectations are etc. I have stayed at hotels I thought were awful that had mostly great reviews and also stayed at some where I was surprised at negative reviews. Hence posting here, providing some context around our preferences in case someone is similar.

OP posts:
HalfasleepChrisintheMorning · 08/01/2024 17:57

The new Zafiro in Camp de Mar looks nice
Zafiro Menorca
Radisson Blu Puerto de Mogan

Probably far too hot in June but Dubai has fabulous hotels and lots of facilities for children.

HalfasleepChrisintheMorning · 08/01/2024 17:58

Camp de Mar is a short taxi to Port Andratx for the wow factor restaurants

minipie · 08/01/2024 18:09

When you say 10 days in June, do you mean May half term? Or term time? As a lot of places won’t have many kids your DD’s age around in term time, just small tots, so the kids’ club may not be that useful.

I would recommend this place - small hotel with kids club and a snack bar for lunch if wanted, but you eat at local restaurants for dinner so gets you out and about more than an all inclusive. Its kids club is aimed at 5-10 yr olds so perfect for your DD but it only runs July & August.

Bella Mare Hotel | 31-room Hotel in Corfu, Greece

Book Bella Mare with Simpson Travel; situated in Corfu, Greece, this is a perfect holiday retreat.

https://www.simpsontravel.com/greece/corfu/bella-mare-hotel

minipie · 08/01/2024 18:13

Lake Garda is also lovely - we stayed at Hotel Du Lac et Bellevue in Bardolino, nice but no kids club. Definitely not Ikos prices! I believe Du Lac et Du Parc hotel at the north end of the lake has a kids club, bit more expensive but still not Ikos.

Certainly wouldn’t pay Ikos/Sani prices if you want to explore and eat out.

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