May holidays, 3.5 and 6 months old

[Travellingislife]

I’ve got some great advice on here before so I’m trying again ☺️
We’re looking to go outside school holidays in May or June for a week, ideally less than a 4h flight, short transfer and a child friendly hotel ( kids club for the 3 year old and crèche / baby sitters for the youngest.) I’ve heard good things about Royal Son Bou but I think I’d like something more upmarket. Maybe something between RSB and Ikos?
Has anyone used Neilsons?

It’s not Ikos style at all but a FANTASTIC crèche and have been there three times - truly fantastic - Mousses. Highly recommend.
https://www.simpsontravel.com/greece/lefkada/mousses-creche-and-kids-clubs?paid_campaign=(GOOG)_(CVM)Hotels%20-%20Specific%20Properties_2024(ALL)&utm_term=mousses%20lefkada&utm_campaign=(CVM)_Hotels+-+Specific+Properties&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6319445229&hsa_cam=1693686628&hsa_grp=63504964502&hsa_ad=688357317764&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-354480883873&hsa_kw=mousses%20lefkada&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2uiwBhCXARIsACMvIU1UeQ_PtnsJ2h3P68iRLXfUSiHdJflxumzZY46cvEfzZzf6LGkuuVkaAvmzEALw_wcB

Thank you! It looks great! Does it mean cooking though 😅 or can you get half board/ all inclusive? It didn’t look like you can and I really need someone else to do it haha!

Funny, we went to Mousses 2 years ago and was talking about it the other day with a friend 😄 lovely hotel but my kids (7 and 4 plus a 4 month old) weren’t keen on the holiday club (personality thing really). We had our own pool which was nice. But still self catering so not a huge break really. Local town felt a bit unfriendly (‘tourists go home’ graffiti 😄) and we should have hired a car for more freedom as the Greek taxis for a family of 5 including baby in car seat were terrifying. Even though run by an English company, the staff looked at us like we were mad when we said we weren’t going to squeeze 4 of us inc a 4 month baby into the back of a saloon 😄
Gorgeous hotel though (and I had 2 great massages!) but not really much around to do for the kids other than swimming and kids club, and definitely hire a car. Loved staff member Panda for our daily ice creams!

OP we did Sani in 2016 before it became an instagram hot spot - nice enough but looked up prices recently (granted in school hols) and it’s absolutely not worth those prices!

So I wish I had a suggestion for you and am here to hear others 😄 best holidays we’ve had were Paradisus Palma Real (I think that’s it!) in dom rep (1x 1 year old kid), and air BnB in Florida (3 and 1 year olds) but CBA with the flights right now!

Check out TUI BLU holidays

Check out Scott Dunn hands down the best kids clubs.

100% Mousses and just eat in the restaurant there, you do have to do your own breakfasts though!

Much more personal and laid back than a big resort.

So many great suggestions, thank you! Lots to think about and I’ll let you know what we go for.

OP check out Mark Warner - v similar to Neilson by the looks of it. Excellent kids club, and there was an article running on mumsnet actually with info on all of their resorts.

Second TUI blue hotels. At that time of year though I'd either go canaries, turkey or southern Greece. If you go to Spain etc the pools (unless heated) will be very cold.

Can highly recommend Neilson Holidays! My boys (7 & 9) are not a fan of kids clubs in general however I couldn't get them out of it when we went on a Neilson last year! They had the best time and so did we! Looking forward to going again this summer!

Thanks for all your suggestions, we will work our way through them in the next few years 😬
To start off I booked a holiday with Neilsons now in May, I like the idea of all the activities and the kids clubs seem great.

Hi Notacottish, I know this is an old thread but I’m thinking of booking mousses in mid June. Our little ones are 4 and 1.
We are looking for a holiday that can provide as much relaxation for the adults as well as fun for the kids! I’m torn between mousses, Ikos and a Kinderhotel in Austria.
The pros of mousses - the kids get their own room (Ikos we can only afford a junior suite). However, I’ve heard breakfast isn’t included and you have to self cater. And it’s not all inclusive. I really want to just get up and do nothing (cooking / cleaning).
Any tips?

Hello 👋🏻
I think they are apples and oranges so really depends on what you want. Mousses is a little cottage and separate bedrooms (which we would much prefer over being all in one room). But yes self catering. Now I don’t cook at all on holiday so we made it work by going out for breakfast into Lefkada - there’s a nice hotel that did pancakes and eggs by the marina. And then we would have lunch if we were out for the day in a beach cafe or restaurant or by the pool or dinner out or just by the pool bar. The pool bar is closed one night so you have to fend for yourself then but they do kids meals and is generally kid friendly so possible to make it work by eating there. It’s not luxury at mousses but so child friendly and we love all the kids playing together in the pool and we used the child care for afternoons and it was brilliant. I haven’t been to Ikos but I have heard it’s truly another level of luxury. I hope this is helpful?

Hi there, have a look at Neilsons holidays. I highly recommend them. We went to Sardinia and the kids clubs are great! The resort was a bit tired but perfectly adequate. Apparently the Greece one is newer.
It definitely gave us parents some time to relax. We had two interconnected rooms and it was perfect for us. Breakfast and lunch buffets always included and dinner buffet on 5 out of the 7 days I think it was. We are sporty so we loved all sports that were included!