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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

What do you do in the evenings when holidaying abroad????

28 replies

bacon · 20/10/2008 22:05

Stupid, stupid question!!!! We are looking at booking a holiday to the Canaries in November with our 3 yr old son. Havent been on holiday for 4 yrs and after having a terrible year have decided to blow some savings on a deluxe package holiday so we can all have quality time together...however, if we stay in a hotel am I to assume that we have to stay in every night as my little one stuggles to stay awake after 8pm and gets really ratty if doesnt cuddle up. Baby listening service doesnt seem to exist anymore and not convinced by a baby sitter. What does everyone do????

OP posts:

PeaMcLean · 20/10/2008 22:08

Don't stay in a hotel. That's our answer to it.

Get a villa or lovely apartment and eat out a lot.

PeaMcLean · 20/10/2008 22:08

Or in our case, a caravan

But I spotted the word "deluxe" so maybe not.

carmenelectra · 20/10/2008 22:08

Both mine have always fallen asleep in the pushchair so we have been lucky. They both had daytime sleep x2 and then stayed awake till ten ish maybe and then we perhaps had an hour or so out after that. No way could i go in at 8pm

morningpaper · 20/10/2008 22:09

self-catering

hotels are a nightmare unless you have a luxuriously large balcony with a jacuzzi

and room service that operates before, say, 11pm (bloody forriners)

carmenelectra · 20/10/2008 22:10

By the way i have a good routine at home with the children but i just modify it when on holiday!!Dont have late nihts like that at home but i do like staying out having a few drins on hol!

Waswondering · 20/10/2008 22:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Quattrocento · 20/10/2008 22:12

I second Pea.

Don't stay in a hotel. You will go stir crazy staring at the walls in your room every night from 8pm. Even in a suite it can be painful.

So your (deluxe) options are:

(i) Hotel and leave your DS alone relying on crappy hotel not listening properly services
(ii) Hotel and stay in every night
(iii) Nice villa and eat out lots

The villas win every time, IMO

SixSpotBonfire · 20/10/2008 22:15

Not a stupid question! But having spent one holiday in our hotel whispering in the dark with DH while our DCs slept...I'd definitely recommend some kind of villa/apartment/caravan. We had an apartment with a balcony one year in Menorca, and that was nice - we could sit out there and have a drink and a chat while the DCs slept in the room behind us.

carmenelectra · 20/10/2008 22:20

Am i the only one that goes out at night?

morningpaper · 20/10/2008 22:21

Yep

The problem is that if you RELY on your children napping during the day, and then they don't, you will end up in a TOTAL RAGE which will ruin your whole holiday

not worth the risk

mumhadenough · 20/10/2008 22:22

Have a look and see if you can see anyone renting out their week at Anfi Del Mar in Gran Canaria. They are sometimes on Ebay.

Its an RCI gold crown timeshare resort and the accommodation is stunning. There are several restaurants on site and they all deliver room service.

The balconies are the most enormous I've ever seen and they have a dining table on them.

Stunning safe beach for the little one and a kids club, although I'm not sure if they allow non "owners" kids to use the club. My wee fella did but it was his granpa that was the owner.

I'll see if I can find some links for you, its beautiful.

FimboGotAxed · 20/10/2008 22:23

Carmen - You'll be the buggy pushing ones still up at midnight then, waking all the sleeping children up (can you tell this happened to us this year).

carmenelectra · 20/10/2008 22:26

LOl at the total rage.

I must have been lucky as ds 1 who is 9 always fel asleep at night whilst we were out but then would go straight back to sleep when we got in at night. WE took ds away twice this year and the first time we did wonder how it would be as he was a baby, but God bless him, he slept morning and afternoon and had a lively hour or two about 7- 9pm then fell asleep in his pushchair and we went in about 1130

mumhadenough · 20/10/2008 22:29

heres one its at Monti Anfi, I've stayed here but would say this is a bit expensive
Couple of others here

Some lovely pics and info on anfi here

carmenelectra · 20/10/2008 22:29

No fimbo not me thankfully once mine were asleep that was it, no pushing of buggies, just a quiet corner to stick em in!

No if they would have been unsettled then we would have admitted defeat and gone in! THis has happened occasionally

PeaMcLean · 20/10/2008 22:30

I always envy those people who could enjoy an evening out with children napping in pushchairs. There's no way DS would have ever done it! And believe me we tried!

No. Self catering for us. Eat out then get DS to bed, and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine on the terrace.

mumhadenough · 20/10/2008 22:32

Yeah I was always jealous too, dh would normally walk with him screaming his nut off for about 20 mins before he would go to sleep. Either that or he would just sit up all night whinging and refusing to sleep. We would end up just staying in too

hifi · 21/10/2008 10:32

i personally wou;dnt do a villa or an apartment, too much like hard work, all the clearing up.
when we stay in a hotel if theres entertainment dd will join in till shes tired then sleep in buggy. go for a walk outside resort for a drink/shop.
have room service in front of a trashy film. i usually take a box set to watch when dd/dh are asleep.
i also take portable dvd for dd to watch in room.

last year we met a fabulous waitress at the hotel, she babysat 4 times for us. it was heaven.

mrsruffallo · 21/10/2008 10:38

I wouldn't watch TV on holiday.
I would prefer a room with a balcony/ patio where you and DH can sit outside once he is aslleop and drink some vino

Tortington · 21/10/2008 10:39

self catering

get drunk

SweetApril · 21/10/2008 11:02

Is there a time difference for the Canaries? Our DD stayed on British time the whole time we were in Greece. Think it's quite common. Meant we could eat out at a more normal time and she went to bed at 10pm Greek time (8pm here) which made us feel a bit less boring. Might not work out in the morning though. Depends what time your LO normally gets up. Ours is 7.30 which meant 9.30 which would be no good if you were in a hotel as you'd miss breakfast (and no parent wants to miss a meal that someone else has prepared!!) We were self-catering and I agree that it's much more flexible. Frankly, as long as I don't have to do housework, washing or cooking, it counts as a deluxe holiday!

Bride1 · 21/10/2008 11:10

In the innocent old days (ten years ago) my babies would fall asleep by seven or seven-thirty. We'd put on the baby-listening monitor, lock doors and windows, and go down two floors to the dining room, returning every twenty minutes to check.

This was Praja da Luz, btw. Nobody thought anything of it then. But we were lucky to have good sleepers and we don't drink much, so we would just have a quick meal and go back upstairs.

Bumblelion · 21/10/2008 11:10

I am off on Friday to Tenerife with my children (now 15, 11 and 7 - little one's birthday actually on Friday).

This year I am going with my mum, my brother and his 3 children (all roughly the same age and sexes).

We have 3 adjoining rooms - one for me, my mum and youngest child, one for my brother, his two sons and my son and one for my daughter and her cousin.

Sometimes my son ends up sleeping in my room (each room is 4 bedded) if he wants to go to bed a bit earlier than the others.

When my youngest wishes to go to bed (normally about 10) I take her to the room with me and put her into bed. I then normally sit on the balcony on my own, reading my book ('me' time) and having a few drinks.

Sometimes my son (11) wants an 'early' night so he will come up with me. If not, he stays in the 'entertainment' with his nan, his uncle, older sister and cousins.

When my eldest was younger and in a pushchair, we would have very late nights with her falling asleep in the pushchair and then being put straight to bed.

When my son was younger and his sister that bit older, he fell asleep in the pushchair and she would sleep on two chairs pushed together and then either me or my husband would carry her to bed.

When my youngest was born, my husband left soon after but I then went on holiday with my mum and/or boyfriend and/or brother. When she was younger, she fell asleep in the pushchair.

For me, as long as they are happy and having a good time during the day then I am happy to have an 'early' ish night (say about 10/10.30) as it also gives me time on my own.

Original poster

bacon · 21/10/2008 17:37

Still unsure... a couple of points.

we lived in a static caravan for 3 years so any holiday like this is suicial for us and may actually push us over the cliff.
I want luxury!! Now living in a half renovated property full of dust and cold breezes!
Going on holiday with members of our family would not impress my other half, as much as we love them to deaf, its not for us!
Our little boy (3 yrs old) hasnt been in a pushchair for at least a year and has never liked sleeping in one (loves his bed). Impossible to control when tired and is used to a strict routine hence his 8pm last call - may be ok for one or two nights but have noticed that a late night has a nasty knock on effect the next day.
We stay in nearly everynight DH would not stand it staying in abroad, we love to stroll and take a few glasses of the rouge. Surely part of the holiday is to get away from the norm?

So really looks like to odds are against us for a normal Hotel break - no one has commented on the baby sitting service that some hotels provide or is that a no go?

OP posts:

NotQuiteCockney · 21/10/2008 17:43

When I had only one kid, I would put them to sleep in the bathtub (with a travel cot mattress in it), or put the travel cot in the bathroom. Means you only have to pee quietly, not hang out chatting quietly.

Bonus: bathrooms don't have windows, so they don't get woken by light in the morning, if you're used to blackout at home.

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