Overwhelmed with hotel choice - help please!

[User415373]

Hi,
I'm looking for hotel recommendations for an abroad holiday next year, 2 adults and 2 kids aged 3 and 5. My DH and I have never stayed in a hotel abroad. I used to be a teacher so couldn't afford that kind of holiday in the breaks - we have done lots of road trips, air bnbs, camping etc around Europe which we love but with young DC we just want something easy. This will be our first holiday in 6 years and probably the only one for a few more. I've spent hours online on holiday sites, then I cross reference with trip advisor and just feel so overwhelmed/confused! We want:

• short flight
• beachfront ideally
• all inclusive
• suitable for young children, in particular a playground or similar and kids swimming areas.
• a bit of entertainment, live music in the evening for example but doesn't need to be a full blown programme.
• near an old town where we can have mooch about, drop into a cafe etc.
• we'll be going in term time, probably May. Some hotels have waterparks which appear to be open from June but prices go up so much at this point. Looking for somewhere that has enough pools for the kids without necessarily needing to be a full waterpark if that makes sense. Will everywhere be dead in May and pools etc closed?
• somewhere we can have a 2 rooms or a suite or do we actually need this? Advice on this welcome!

Please let me know if you have experience anywhere like this you'd recommend!

We’ve just come back from here:

https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/europe/spain/lanzarote/playa-blanca/hotels/hotel-h10-rubicon-palace.html

took a 2 and 4 yo.
its got sea views
4 hour flight
kids disco and kids pools and kids clubs for every age (free)
entertainment for grown ups (live music or Cabernet show, something every night)
5/6 restaurants in resort
can walk into town or local beach restaurants
half an hour transfer from airport (taxi) or 45 mins on a coach drop off
beautiful resort (village feel, not big tower block)

absolutely loved it, we are going back next year!! We booked a suite eg the kids were in our room but slightly section off, 4 yo in single bed and 2 yo in travel cot. Room was gorgeous, we asked for ground floor and were 2 mins from breakfast and central pool

Why don’t you speak to a travel agent for advice? That is literally their job to help you find what you need.

Pools can be quite cold in May in my experience, unless you do the longer flight to the canaries. If you're able yo go late September then mainland Spain and the Balearic islands pools are much warmer

I was (perhaps wrongly) under the impression that they can't really get any deals that aren't available online and I didn't want to use one just for hotel recommendations! I see lots of people online that are seemingly solo travel agents but I'm not sure how legit they are but I'll take another look - thank you!

That's interesting thank you - I didn't realise this. September could be an option!

Creta Maris has most of what you’re looking for and has a number of heated pools, which would solve your problem about whether it’s warm enough for swimming. It’s walking distance to shops and cafes, but the actual old town of Hersonissos is just beyond walking distance.