All Inclusive holiday suggestions please.....................

[Jemma7]

Hi everyone,

Am trying to book a holiday for next June time - we want to go All Inclusive as we are going with DP's brother, his girlfriend and their 2 kids.

Haveing a complete nightmare finding anything suitable - can anyone make any suggestions?

Where did you have in mind and how expensive? The St James' Club in Antigua is fab and has a kids club!

we've done a couple of Club Meds which are extremely kid-friendly. They are all over the world, so you can pick your resort. They are fun, food is great. A bit expensive though.

Have already been preaching on another area of mumsnet about a villa holiday. We just had our first and it was fantastic. Total privacy, pool to ourselves, freedom and relaxation. No kids club though. I think you can find lots on the internet. Have fun wherever you go.

Also think villa holidays are great, esp if you have built in playmates with you (ie the cousins). And usually works out much cheaper than the equiv standard all inclusive, with more room, more privacy, pool to yourself etc.
Only bummer is that you don't get away from supermarkets/cooking (unless you push the boat out and get a villa with a cook - or go to the west indies where the villas are all staffed).
Coco Reef in Tobago is great for families and does an all inclusive plan. June is quite a cheap time to go as well - out of high season but still well before the rainy season.

DP and i have been on loads of Villa holidays - it is always our first choice of how to holiday but as we are going with brother in law's 2 kids we thought it would be best to go All Inc - then they can leave their drinks to go warm without having to worry about askign for antoher one, or droppinf their ice creams on the floor and not mentioning it cos daddy will shout at them.

We were looking more in the med as we don't really want to take the kids on a long haul flight - think they will get too restless.......Mr brother took his 3 kids to Majorca last year and they had a great time - just struggling to find something to suit all.

If you have a large budget, then Beaches in Jamaica is fab. Expensive (but not when you consider how much drink, ice cream and food you can drink over the holiday) ,but well done.

Let us know when you decide

Jemma, you can look at www.clubmed.com to see if there's something that interests you. We've done it in the Caribbean and in Australia, and love it.

The usual suspects for all inclusive with kids clubs are Neilson (tried them in Turkey, very good, quite mixed crowd, ie not everyone had kids, Mark Warner (tried Sardinia, good childcare, good activities but very middle class family dominated)and Club Med (not tried them). You can also find all inclusives without childcare in general brochures like Thompson, Cosmos, Kuoni, etc. Otherwise, lots of 5 star hotels all over the world have kids clubs so you could select the country that interests you, find the hotel on the internet, and then go to the travel agent and seek companies with packages to that hotel. You have got loads of time to research it. Try babygoes2.com

agree with outofpractice babygoes2 has a fantastic selection of child friendly options from hotels to villas. i assume you want to go abroad, but just in case, one word of warning, their selection for the UK is poor - you're better off checking the mumsnet recommended breaks in the UK.

We went to Benidorm All inc 2 years ago, our first all inc, my first to Benidorm had a great time, Hotel Flamingo Oasis. We've booked to go again next year, partly because they were one of the very few hotels that would get all 5 of us in one room. The rooms are very spacious, have satellite tv - a godsend when you're trying to get ready to go out.

Before we stayed last time, we were REALLY worried as we'd seen loads of bad reviews/complaints about the hotel, it was then in it's first season, but most of the complaints etc. seemed to be teething troubles, as everything was fine when we arrived, we couldn't really fault the hotel itself. The hotel is huge - 23 floors I think, but has every facility you can think of, 3 bars (including piano bar for adults only), 3 restaurants, snack bar, roof top pool for adults only. Everyone has their own ID card which is used to get your drinks and is also the key to get into your room and turn on the electricity.

Benidorm market is only just down the road, we could see it from our room. Mundomar and the aqua park are only just up the road - 5 mins in a taxi.

Hope this helps

Excellent Ailsa - Thanks for that - I had look at the Flamingo Oasis on Lunn Poly's website.
What's Benidorm like as a place?
Nice beaches?

Hi jems xxxx
We just stayed at the Playa Garden nr (Alcudia) in Majorca, exclusive to first choice holidays, it is absolutley fab for kiddies and couples. they would never be bored and they really look afetr the kids (british reps) from 1 year to 16 years. It's 4* but not all inclusive. However the kids eat for a fraction of the adults, there is a supa suprmarket and the entertainment is great and starts off with a disco for the kids. It also has a soccer school. Most apts overlook the sea and it's right on the beach. Restaurants just outside the hotelare excellent too. Flight times are short. I know u said u wanted all in but it's sometimes hard to get one with everythin that u want eg the beach and good food etc.. Hope someopne recommends a good AI, but thought this might suit too. My next door neighbours are going now cos they like the look of it! ENJOY!!!Quacks xxx