All inclusive family holiday recommendations please

[wilbo83]

Planning on going away for a week in September with the wife and our 2 daughters (at that time, one will be almost 4 and the other nearly 1 and a half). This will be our first abroad holiday as a family. We are keen on staying all inclusive, preference for short flight (c. 3 hours) and obviously comfortable temps with children of that age (mid to high 20s).

After a search on here and some advice from friends, I have the below shortlist currently but would be keen on more recommendations anyone has? Budget is up to £3k for 7 nights (but would be great to have it closer to £2k).

Insotel Cala Mandia Hotel, Mallorca
Gloria Palace Royal Hotel & Spa, Gran Canaria (obv. longer flight time)
Adrian Hoteles Jardines de Nivaria, Tenerife
Pestana Blue Alvor, Portugal

[joestifff]

I have heard, but have not been to the below, we are in same boat as you age wise, but with wife being a teacher it has to be in school holidays, regardless of their age!!! I will be watching this thread:

-Insotel Punta Prima
-TUI Blue Lagoon Princess
-Gran Castillo Tagoro

They all offer rooms with areas (or separate bedrooms) for them to sleep in away (ish) from you.

[IanJ9375]

wilbo83 said:

Planning on going away for a week in September with the wife and our 2 daughters (at that time, one will be almost 4 and the other nearly 1 and a half). This will be our first abroad holiday as a family. We are keen on staying all inclusive, preference for short flight (c. 3 hours) and obviously comfortable temps with children of that age (mid to high 20s).

After a search on here and some advice from friends, I have the below shortlist currently but would be keen on more recommendations anyone has? Budget is up to £3k for 7 nights (but would be great to have it closer to £2k).

Insotel Cala Mandia Hotel, Mallorca
Gloria Palace Royal Hotel & Spa, Gran Canaria (obv. longer flight time)
Adrian Hoteles Jardines de Nivaria, Tenerife
Pestana Blue Alvor, Portugal

Edit - different Gloria - I stayed the Gloria Palace Amadores Thalasso and Hotel not the Royal which is weirdly above the Amadores beach and further out.

Stayed a the Gloria 3yrs ago, I only went half board but the food was pretty good omlette man for breakfast is all I needed, reviews at the time very positive and the only issue I had was trying to extend our room for the day of departure we had to have a slot so we could freshen up - I guess this didn't happen for anyone on all inclusive etc.

Positives for me -
Very convenient as lift right to the footpath that runs along the coast from Altamadores to Puerto Rico although depending where you are in the hotel it might be 3 lifts you need to ride to get out! Beware this external lift closes at midnight if you decide to walk back.

Pool/pool area very impressive, large family pool, quieter pool and even a nudist area if you want to get rid of all the tan lines!

Edited by IanJ9375 on Monday 10th February 11:29

[carparkno1]

Stayed at the Gran Castillo Tagoro in December - me, the missus and our 3 yr old.

Lovely hotel, needs a little paint here and there but aside from that very nice, and lots of segmented areas so never felt busy. Restaurant(s) good, lot of different pools, kids club on the money for quiet season (our little one went into mini club but saw the older ones taken care of too).

Hotel is a good 40 min walk along the promenade from Playa Blanca, but the marina splits it halfway through. It was lovely for a stroll each day and only 4.50 euros for a quick cab back. I liked the distance but if you have a load of hyper kids they may want to be closer to the main bit.

We had a "merlin" room, so basically the little one had his own area with a dividing door. My son is autistic and non-verbal, so we had to ensure he had a bed guard to protect him and a pull-out mattress below in case he rolled. The hotel had it all ready on our arrival after we emailed them - they honestly couldn't have done more.

Main thing was - 22 every day in December, and only one day of winds. Wasn't boiling but just right for a break with mini me.

Hope that helps

[timmymagic73]

Grand Palladium White Island in Ibiza. Nice short flight away, very short taxi transfer from the aiport.

The White Island resort is linked to their sister Palace hotel over a large footbridge - you can use all the facilities in both. White Island is the smaller and quieter of the two, also more modern.

Excellent buffet food, choice of restaurants to choose from, good shallow pools for young kids, splashzone with slides, beach was great and easily accessible, etc, etc.

Local area isn't worth visiting on foot, but if you wanted a change of scene you can get the bus to Ibiza old town from right outside the hotel.

I'd definitely go back if the opportunity arose.

[morrisk1]

wilbo83 said:

Planning on going away for a week in September with the wife and our 2 daughters (at that time, one will be almost 4 and the other nearly 1 and a half). This will be our first abroad holiday as a family. We are keen on staying all inclusive, preference for short flight (c. 3 hours) and obviously comfortable temps with children of that age (mid to high 20s).

After a search on here and some advice from friends, I have the below shortlist currently but would be keen on more recommendations anyone has? Budget is up to £3k for 7 nights (but would be great to have it closer to £2k).

Insotel Cala Mandia Hotel, Mallorca
Gloria Palace Royal Hotel & Spa, Gran Canaria (obv. longer flight time)
Adrian Hoteles Jardines de Nivaria, Tenerife
Pestana Blue Alvor, Portugal

My parents stayed at Jardines de Nivaria over the new year... it's a very nice hotel, but more for adults than kids? We stayed up the road at GF Isabel and it was much better suited to kids (ours were almost 2 and 5). When we took the kids to Jardines for a bit of quality grandparents time, you did feel you were being watched and think we only saw one other child! Costa Adeje was a really nice resort.

Take a look at Occidental Menorca if it's warm enough - we'd definitely return there.

[bakerstreet]

Have a look at the holiday village offerings at TUI. We have been twice. Once when we only had one and he was 3 1/2 and we went again last year when ours were 4 and 18 months.

We went to a Holiday Village in Turkey the first time and then a Magic Life also in Turkey last year. Ovwerall I would say the Holiday Village was better.

We Paid £1400 the first time for first week in June and then £1800 for last year's trip (Also first week of June). At least you have realistic expectations in terms of budget.

Our eldest started school in September last year so like lawful parents we are, we looked at going away in the summer holidays . Same place was £2900 and my response was pretty swift. Want somewhere nicer than a Holiday Village? Budget £5k Holiday companies disgust me on many levels.

we are currently looking at going to Jersey in May half term as I have relatives there...Beats staying at home with the kids, but its still not cheap.

[wilbo83]

Thanks for all the extra suggestions and comments, really useful. I'm used to just looking for the wife and I, where I would put equal focus on the hotel and the area we are staying. Given I expect to be doing far less days out with the kids, it's strange to just be comparing based on the hotel and it's facilities, rooms etc.

morrisk1, I think you are right about the Jardines de Nivaria, the more I look at it, the decor and facilities do not look fun enough for a family stay. Look's a great hotel though.

[Steve Campbell]

As a comparison, check out Belek in Turkey as a comparison for price / quality. Same flight time as Tenerife and short transfer.

Eg Gloria Beach Resort Junior Suite would come in around £3k. I only choose this one as I’ve stayed there and it was excellent but lots of great AI hotels along the Belek coast. Worth considering if you haven’t thought of it. We were looking at a Caribbean AI years ago and a friend advised a look at Turkey. Ended up going 7 times to different hotels over the years from when my son was about 4 to 14.

[tazgalsinh]

Steve Campbell said:

As a comparison, check out Belek in Turkey as a comparison for price / quality. Same flight time as Tenerife and short transfer.

Eg Gloria Beach Resort Junior Suite would come in around £3k. I only choose this one as I’ve stayed there and it was excellent but lots of great AI hotels along the Belek coast. Worth considering if you haven’t thought of it. We were looking at a Caribbean AI years ago and a friend advised a look at Turkey. Ended up going 7 times to different hotels over the years from when my son was about 4 to 14.

Hi there, any recommendations for a family hotel in Turkey? Been looking at Turkey for a holiday this year

[Steve Campbell]

I’ve stayed in Gloria Golf Resort, Voyage Belek, Barut Lara & Paloma Oceana in Side. All good or excellent for different reasons.

[essayer]

We have a 5yo and 3yo, love to go AI but there’s absolutely no way we could share a junior suite with them - and I doubt they’d behave if they shared a sofa bed

A 2+2 arrangement suits us great, but why do hotels make it so hard to search for them? Are we strange?

H10 Lanzarote Princess worth a look. Beach right nearby.

[tjl]

I have also spent many happy weeks at the Barut Lara

[CustardOnChips]

We went here last summer, loved and would happily go back. Not sure how much it would be when you want to go.

https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/europe/greece/k...

This was the first time we've been AI.
Previously we'd holidayed in private villas or apartments. After going here we'll certainly be doing it again.

[wilbo83]

Just a bump for any other suggestions.

Think the current top 3 in no particular order are Insotel Cala Mandia, Gran Castillo Tagoro and Barut Lara.

[Countdown]

Steve Campbell said:

As a comparison, check out Belek in Turkey as a comparison for price / quality. Same flight time as Tenerife and short transfer.

Eg Gloria Beach Resort Junior Suite would come in around £3k. I only choose this one as I’ve stayed there and it was excellent but lots of great AI hotels along the Belek coast. Worth considering if you haven’t thought of it. We were looking at a Caribbean AI years ago and a friend advised a look at Turkey. Ended up going 7 times to different hotels over the years from when my son was about 4 to 14.

I would second this. Normally we try to vary our holiday destinations but Turkey has been fantastic. I can recommend Land of Legends and Susesi. The food's a bit orientated to Russian/german tastes (IMO, te mashed potato was 50% butter!) but if you like salads you'll love it.

[StevieBee]

North Cyprus will get you closer to the £2k mark.

We've stayed at Acapaulco (Kyrenia) and Noah's Ark (Famagusta) - both very very good, Noah's Ark particularly so. But many others are good too (had a Day pass at Cratos in Kyrenia a while back - that looked awesome!

Have a look on www.cyprusparadise.com

[wilbo83]

Bit of a thread resurrection here. I am the OP and clearly after starting this post in Feb 2020 the world had other plans, so we never got round to going abroad.

Now we are looking at going away October 2023 and am revisiting the shortlist I had, so I thought I'd see if anyone has others they would add to the below list, for a c.£3k all inclusive week. The kids will be 7 and 4 by then, so I actually think delaying may have done me a favour and make for a more enjoyable holiday!

Would be good to have a room with separate sleeping areas and I like getting out and about, so whilst I want the convenience of having all inclusive for food and drink, it would be great if we could walk / get public transport to local marinas, towns etc.

Current shortlist in no particular order:
GRAN CASTILLO TAGARO
INSOTEL CALA MANDIA
PROTUR BON AIRE
PROTUR SA COMA
INSOTEL PUNTA PRIMA
PESTANA BLUE ALVOR
BARUT LARA (think this is probably out of budget)

[tjl]

wilbo83 said:

Bit of a thread resurrection here. I am the OP and clearly after starting this post in Feb 2020 the world had other plans, so we never got round to going abroad.

Now we are looking at going away October 2023 and am revisiting the shortlist I had, so I thought I'd see if anyone has others they would add to the below list, for a c.£3k all inclusive week. The kids will be 7 and 4 by then, so I actually think delaying may have done me a favour and make for a more enjoyable holiday!

Would be good to have a room with separate sleeping areas and I like getting out and about, so whilst I want the convenience of having all inclusive for food and drink, it would be great if we could walk / get public transport to local marinas, towns etc.

Current shortlist in no particular order:
GRAN CASTILLO TAGARO
INSOTEL CALA MANDIA
PROTUR BON AIRE
PROTUR SA COMA
INSOTEL PUNTA PRIMA
PESTANA BLUE ALVOR
BARUT LARA (think this is probably out of budget)

I’ve been 4 or 5 times to the Barut Lara but not for 4 years or so. I was a fantastic hotel at the time and would recommend

[Chicken Chaser]

I'm just in the Seven seas in Side Turkey. We paid that for 4 of us. Big place, but seems fairly chilled out. Weather is perfect for us, at 26 deg now.