Booking with older teens

[TartanMammy]

We're just back from a fabulous all inclusive holiday and to banish the post holiday blues I started looking to book for next year, when my eldest will be 16. I have found when searching that lots of our usual options are not appearing, when I adjust the filters to put his age as 14 then lots of lovely hotels appear in the search.

For example, Fergus Waterpark hotel Majorca.

I know that at 16 he's no longer a child but we're still a family of four sharing the same space, I am happy to pay adult price for him but it's very difficult to find anywhere that will allow us to book for 3 adults and 1 child. Jet 2 for example says child is up to age 17 but then the hotels don't accomodate it.

Is there a way around this? I don't want to book two rooms (can't afford it). We usually have a family suite which is plenty of space for the 4 of us.

I'm looking for 7 nights all inclusive, European destination, not Turkey, October 2026, budget £2.5 - £3k.

Just book direct with the hotel you fancy and then the flights separately?

The hotels are also saying children are under 12, 13 or 14yrs (depending on the hotel) and also limited to 2 adults per room, so booking direct doesn't help here. I've also priced flights separately and the prices are ridiculous for flights only, and don't have the security of ABTA.

In Spain hotels over 12s are classed as adults. It's so annoying as you pay adult price but they don't drink alcohol and can't go in Adults only hotels. very annoying

I have the same issue as DS 16, though we always have 2 rooms. No way would I share with my DH and DS 16. Even when he and I holiday alone without DH I try and book something with privacy. Look at hotels with partition rooms -TUI magic life are good for that. we've just come back from greece with them and the room category choices for older teens are great

As a PP said look at booking directly, we tend to do that too.

We always book a suite or apartment so we are not sharing a bedroom, we always a separate sleeping space, but only one entry door. I would consider interconnected rooms but not entirely separate rooms, we'd never see him! I don't mind paying the adult price but I don't want two entirely separate rooms. We've had portioned rooms before and it doesn't give enough privacy for us now dc are older.

I'll check out tui again but nothing suitable was coming up within our budget.

I love the "not Turkey" part😂

My DS is 16 and has his own room. He sleeps all morning, appears in the afternoon and we spend the afternoon and evening together. He is 16, not 6. I don't need to see him all the time. It's his hoilday too. He does water sports etc.

Of course if you can't afford 2 rooms that's different and I apologize.

It's a bit of both, we probably can't afford 2 rooms and having just come back from a holiday where ds spent very little time with of outside meals times I feel like if he had his own room and not a shared living space he would just be in there the entire time which defeats the purpose of a family holiday. We're not a watersports kind of family! He'll only be a week turned 16 when we go, to seems young for his own room.

Do you have any suggestions for places to go with teens?

I'm not sure why but I have a mental block about Turkey. Everyone keeps tells me how great it is and how lovely the hotels are, how much you can get for your money but it just doesn't appeal to me.

Does he not have his own room at home? I’m not sure why 15/16 is too young for his own room? How about an Airbnb or euro camp instead?

I’m just back from a Jet2 package with DS16.
It was not straight forward to do online (they pick up 2 adults and put you in a double bed - no thanks!).
I called Jet2 and they could not have been more understanding. We had a bungalow with 2 rooms - Playa Blanca, Lanzarote. I could only afford it because he’s just done GCSEs so we could go outside of school holidays.

Of course he has his own room at home, but a separate hotel room in a large resort is completely different from his bedroom at home within a shared living space. As I've said he already has his own room on holiday (shared with his brother) but it's within an apartment or a suite, with only one entry door, shared living space and shard balcony which is a very normal set up for a family.

There's no guarantee if he had his own room it would be nearby the rest of the family. Especially as in the resorts we've been to family suites and single rooms as usually in a different block or floor. He would absolutely hate that too.

Air BnB or eurocamp is not my idea of a holiday, we've done it before and it wasn't relaxing at all. So stressful finding places to eat and expensive paying for everything separately. All inclusive suits us.

This is exactly the set up I'm looking for! Can I ask for the name of the resort?

Sure. It was Sandos Atlantic Gardens https://www.jet2holidays.com/canary-islands/lanzarote/playa-blanca/sandos-atlantic-gardens

It's adults (over 16) only though, which won't suit you as you have a younger child as well. Sorry. I think on the Jet2 site if you filter for 2 rooms (maybe put 1 adult and 1 child in each?) you might get some hits. Def call them though, they have special looking up skills!

Hi, it's very difficult with an only one isn't it. We've just come back from one of the TUI magic life hotels but travelled with friends with teens so DS wasn't alone.
They have teen clubs if your DS is interested in mixing. Mine isn't tbh. Re rooms, they have the partition and suite rooms which are quite good value. They are a good choice for families with children of all ages.

Usually we go to Tenerife and stay in the same hotel. It's a high end, quiet hotel mainly full of older people, so I'm comfortable for DS to have his own room and has been since he just turned 15 (rooms next to each other) but i understand if you are in a new environment it might not be something you are happy with.