Portugal, or somewhere else, want to go away in late October, can anyone recommend anywhere that has a bit of childcare or alternative solutions

[rookiemater]

Hello, we want to go away the last week in October and I'm finding it quite difficult to find something suitable.

We want to fly from Glasgow which limits us destination wise. Our DS is 2.6 ( when we go) and we would quite like somewhere that has the option of a bit of childcare, probably not every day but maybe a couple of days for a couple of hours just so we could flop and read our books and a couple of nights babysitting would be nice as well.

I can't find anywhere at that time of year with a childrens club, and tbh we have never used one before so I'm slightly hesitant about it. Does anyone know of any nannies etc that you could book out for a few hours over there or can recommend any of the nice hotels or appartments that offer that sort of thing. It isn't a super luxury holiday we are after but would be prepared to spend a reasonable amount if its what we were looking for. We priced up Club Med, but without flights that was about £1800 which we thought was too much.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Hi,
you might like to try the Pine Cliffs Residences. These are part of the Sheraton Algarve complex and offer high-quality self-catering apartments on the Sheraton Algarve complex (Albufeira). Every facility is on the complex. There is an excellent kids club (Porta Pirata) which you can sign up to by the morning, afternoon, or by the day or week. They have loads of play areas and things to do, and supervision is kind and vigilant. We have been to several family-type resorts in the Algarve and we found this kids club to be far superior to any of the others.
It will not be be cheap but if you go to the Sheraton Pine Cliffs website they often have good offers. Hth

saw this and was going to recommend pine cliffs as well. we're going there in mid oct (half term) and people at work recommend it

Have you thought about Turkey??? There's a small village called Akyaka, 1 hour transfer from Dalaman airport. H4U go there if you want a package or look at www.akyaka.com for more information. There is a 32yr married English girl there that provides childcare both in the evenings or in the day,she has a childcare qualification, first aid, GB police check, speaks fluent Turkish and has LOADS of experience. Look on akyaka.com for more information and to read from people who have used her. Akyaka is child friendly with a sandy beach and shallow sea. Turkey is cheap with a strong YTL as it is outside the euro zone.

The golf suites at Pine Cliffs are (slightly) more reasonably priced than the Residences, depending on your budget - try Supertravel Golf online for decent rates. They're 2 bed 2 bath apartments, with a sofa bed too, so you can travel with friends or in/outlaws if it helps. Don't buy a "timeshare" there though - we're looking to sell one (due to potentially moving to Oz and it being a bit of a long way back to visit each year!) and cd do you a much better deal
Do check with the Sheraton that the kids club will be operating though - if you're in school hols you should be alright, but best to check. The actual facilities are usually open regardless, so you can go with the kids and use the swings, playground, race track with scooters etc, but there might not be supervised child care...
We've been there for the last 5 years and love it - if you need any more info, photos etc, email me on vjarmstrong at googlemail dot com.

I havent been to portugal myself but i just wanted to say we used the thomas cook childrens club when we went to tenerife and they were great.