Mark Warner or Club Med??? Looking for advice please

[smilesandsun]

Hi,

We're looking to go on holiday with 2 children so childcare is important. We were thinking club med as they have kids clubs, good food and pools etc all within the resort. Someone mentioned Mark Warner resorts to us but I have never heard of them (we're new to UK) and I would love to hear what you think. We are after a relaxing holiday for us all so it needs to cater well to a family.

Thanks!

I enjoyed Mark Warner but I didn't really 'fit' in

I like Neilson tbh but they might be a bit active for you

What do you mean by didn't fit in? And What is Neilson tbh?

Sorry as were totally new to UK and Europe I really am trying to learn from scratch.

Whats important to us is:
Childcare
Food quality and variety
Activities and pools / beaches etc
Feel of the resort

Thanks.

neilson

Umm it was a bit posh

smilesandsun - we are looking for the same thing.

Some people say Mark Warner is a bit well ... too Boden catalogue but not a bad holiday by all accounts. What they do, they do well. Its just a case of what you are comfortable with as an atmosphere.

Nielsen not heard of and sounds interesting if it is a bit more active for DSs.

We had a great time in Malta last year at the The Westin Dragonara Hotel. It has a great Kids Club with inside and outside activities that our DS1 (8) and DS2 (6) both really enjoyed. It involved lots of organised swimming pool activity and also calm sititng down inside activity. It is a full day of proper organised fun with very good staff. Both DSs said they would far rather be there than with us by the pool. They ate there as well.

It was a bit pricey and even more so now the Euro has gone up againt the Pound. It was just about worth it though (said through gritted teeth). The DSs want to go back again this year and so does DW.

Other facilities were very good too.

thanks. I'll certainly take a look at the Westin and Nielson. Our DSs are younger though at 2 and 5, do you still think that it will be suitable? Was it all inclusive? I like the idea of knowing pretty much what we've spent before we go, so we don't get shocked with food etc costs.

On the Club Med / Mark Warner question, is Mark Warner a better class than Club Med or equal or below? We've been to Club Med in Bali a long time ago and really liked it, but Mark Warner is sounding interesting too.

Thanks

God I hated Mark Warner (Greece)- thought it was rather 'common'!! Food was poor, couldn't stand eating with other people etc etc.

Some of their resorts are better than others though. I went to Forte Village in Sardinia last year (very nice) - the Mark Warner resort was along the beach - it didn't look very nice.

ok thanks, good to hear. I thought thou at those types of holidays eating with other people was the standard thing? Sorry if I'm wrong about that as mentioned I'm new and haven't experienced Mark Warner.

We're really looking for something where the kids are happy, happy kids = happy parents right?

thanks

I think you either love MW or not! Some resorts do the eating together thing - not all I think.

I have friends who enjoyed the one in Corsica.

I think you can get packages to Westin Dragonara in Malta - we got a room with a mini kitchen in and pull out beds for the kids. It worked well as we did not have to faff about with going down to breakfast and dinner.

We just gave them simple stuff they would eat at home - they wil eat anything and have adventurous tatses but frankly dragging them to a restaurant in the evening and then have them leave an a £10 meal because they do not really fancy it and are too tired to eat is not fun. We just got stuff in the nearby supermarket and the kids ate lunch at the Kids Club. We ate lunch in the hotel which was pretty good but there were lots of good local restaurants around too.

I think DS age 5 would be well catered for at the Kids Club. The DS age 2 might be OK with the baby sitting service they run separate from the Kids Club. I do not think they would do nappies and things like that though in the Kids Club. The pool activities are also likely to be too much for a 2 year old as well - but best to ask.

We have friends who like Club Med too but never been. I think it is sligtly above Mark Warner but have not been so do not know for sure. Comparative price is usually the best indicator.

thanks, we're looking for a place where we can take the kids to all the meals as well, as I don't really want to be cooking, though as you say its good to have the option to do so if you want. I would just like to have some cooking free time I guess !!

It would be great to hear form someone who has stayed at both a club med and a mark warner to compare.....

Also any specific resort recommendations would be great club med, mark warner or other. Either in Europe of Uk, but preferably somewhere hotish...

S&S I have done Mark Warner, Sunsail and Neilson (x3). Neilson is the winner on every front. Their Beachplus hotels are lovely, food excellent, and kids clubs (they are not just childcare - the activities were brilliant for all ages) were way out in front of the others. Having said that we will probably do MW this summer simply based on our dates.

We have done Sunsail and enjoyed that a lot, have never done MW and never wanted to as they seem to have rather hostile flight times (6am!) and their kids clubs stop at lunch time so you can't go out for a whole day, should you want to. I would love to give Neilson a go. I know people that have done Club Med and I've heard there can be an issue of lack of english speaking children and/or staff.

We have been to a few Club Meds and they have all been fantastic for the children (aged 2 and 3). We went to Hammamet, Metaponto and Agadir and they were all great. We have never opted for a Mark Warner as you have to pay for all drinks and snacks and this can all add up. On Club Med we have tended to spend no extra money as absolutely everything is included.
This year we have decided to go for something a bit different and have gone for Lykia World in Turkey which is meant to be superb.There are 19 pools, full children's clubs, 5 superb restaurants and it is "full board plus" which means you only get alcohol served at meal times.
We are very particular on our food and thought that the variety and quality of food looked good here and we are very excited about the Children's Paradise area for the children. The rooms look really clean and modernised as well - my only complaint about Club Med was that the rooms were quite tatty.

We went to the Mark Warner in Kos last year. DS was 2 and I was pregnant with DD.

Kids club was fantastic. At that age you can only book them in for morning or afternoon session, you pay extra for them to go for the full day (it's different when they're older). We had DS with us in the morning and we had the afternoon to oursleves where DP would go off and do active stuff and I would sleep or have a spa treatment.

DS did lots of great activities at the kids club, including coming to the pool, going on a boat, fottball etc. He really enjoyed himself.

In the evenings you can take them along to a 'sleeping club' where with the younger children they're all in ready beds in one room and you get them off to sleep them leave them for the staff to watch. You let them know where you'll be and they contact you if there's a problem.

Older children have a film to watch and other activities I think.

Food is pretty good. The kid's dinner is at one restaurant at 17:30 and they have a lot of choice but it's a bit hectic. For the adults it's a buffet but was quite nice. There are other restaurants on site but we didn't use any of them.

The spa was fabulous and they had a great kabana by the ocean where you could have treatments.

Agree it is a bit Boden. Pretty much all the kids were wearing one thing or another from there and many of the kids had the same sunsuit!

In Kos the hotel side of the resort has been newly refurbished and looks great. We were in the village side which hadn't been refurbished but the rooms are much bigger.

We would go back but mainly because the childcare was so good and relaxing.

thanks, give me something to think about. I'll also have a look at Lykia World in turkey.