First holiday with 2 children, 2 and under- all inclusive or villa?

[karrliz]

Hi, it is our first holiday as a family and wondered what was best- villa or all inclusive?

I have a 2 year old and a 3 month old and can see pros and cons for either type of holiday! My biggest worry is nap time for my 2 year daughter... is a villa better as we can still be around the pool? Or is an all inclusive better as it takes pressure off other things like food...

Any advice is welcomed!

One problem I've found with all inclusive is having food my little one wants to eat and at the right time. However my lo has a dairy allergy so it does limit food. Saying that I still go all inclusive.

Where are you going? Some hotels offer the best of both with suites or apartments that are swim up or with a private pool but with all the hotel facilities too.

We're just booking our first holiday with our (at the time) 5 month old and we've booked half board at a hotel but the family suites have kettle, fridge and microwave so we can sterilise bottles and store expressed breast milk if we need to.

Once he's older we'll book an apartment with a kitchen but within a hotel complex.

When our DC were little we went for a villa in an all inclusive resort. Some days we used the food for every meal but we also went to the supermarket for fruit, cereal, water, snacks etc and had takeaway pizza from the pool bar for lunch etc a few days that DH or I would pop down for.

https://www.eloundaresidence.gr/accommodation-twobedroom-villa

We stayed here on first trip (2014 I think) It was nice but too far away from the town itself for us and not great food. More just to give you an idea of what you can get.

We always did a villa when kids were little. So much more relaxing.

You can get easy food. Lots of restaurants in resort areas are happy to do take away so we used to feed kids put them to bed and then eat take away food with a bottle of wine

We did villa because DD was a very early riser (6am) and hated sleeping in the pram. We could just have breakfast when we wanted, have dinner or eat out and put jet down while having a drink in the terrace.

o also loved having a washing machine at hand.

a Villa in an AI Resort would have been the best choice

Villa in ai resort, we got a small apartment with open plan kitchen/ sitting room. Best of both worlds.

Villa. Personally I am very selfish and like to have my own pool! You don’t want to be stuck inside in the evening either, with a Villa you can put them to bed and then have a relaxing dinner outside and even an evening swim.

Some AI have private pools/2 bedded rooms and 24 hr restaurants. Voyage Belek is one of these! They do cost more though.
Just done a Villa holiday, great, but you don't have to worry about planning food/shopping in an AI!

We always did self catering with small children - a villa with a private pool, or a two bedroom apartment. We found it easier, as we could easily cater for the kids, sterilise bottles if needed, sit on the terrace or by the pool when the kids were napping or in bed fir the night, and there was space for the children to play if we didn’t want to go out. We would do a combination of takeaways and meals out in the evening. It also meant that we could take it in turns having a lie in, while the other parent looked after the children in the lounge. I’d have hated for us all to be stuck in one hotel room together when they were little.

I’d say half board, you’re not going to be drinking lots of alcohol with having the children, if you go out for lunch you can pick somewhere that gas food the children like but with half board rather than self catering you’re getting your room cleaned and beds changed and not cooking and faffing about what everyone wants to eat and where to buy food from

For that age, I would go for a villa. You still sit out at the pool while the kids nap, and you have space in the evening after they go to bed
You have a choice for food from light snacks, BBQ, eating out, or order in. Once they get to primary school age, all inclusive is the way to go (even better if it has organised activities they can dip in & out of).

I would always choose a Villa holiday. Love our own space, the flexibility to eat in or out, no competition for sun beds etc. Much more relaxed imo but I have no issue with cooking simple meals while away - I know some people hate that.

It's a conundrum we have every time we go away OP and our kids are teens now. We've done self-catering apartments, villas, hotels, suites and apartments within hotel complexes.

I guess our ideal is self-contained space (apartment or villa) within a hotel complex with restaurants and bars and a private pool as I hate the behaviour of other people in shared pools! There are places that exist like that - Martinhal in Sagres is one and it's great with small DC.

I wouldn’t have a private villa with I gated pool access with 2 year old. With 3 month old also your likely distracted as it means you can’t leave villa doors ever open

Look for a villa or apartment within a hotel complex with communal pools. And on site restaurant. Then you can choose to self cater or eat out

This would be a good compromise between the two options. You can get one bed apartments with their own swim up pool and be half board. The food is good and the have a separate little section at in the restaurant with more kiddy friendly food, colourful plastic plates and cups. I think Jet2 and Tui do packages there
https://www.zafirohotels.com/en/destinations/mallorca/can-picafort/