Holidays with Childcare/Babysitting available? Advice Needed Post Reply

[AprilBaby]

My husband and I would like to go away with our 9 month old baby later this year. We have stayed at Wooley Grange near Bath and loved it, and are looking for something similar abroad. Ideally we would like a couple of child free hours during the day and then the ability to eat in the hotel or restort restaurant/go out in the evening. We would be very grateful for any suggestions for recommended resorts or travel agents who can help. Thank you!

[cocopops]

i would discourage you from paying a lot for inclusive child care.. when we did it one child got ill so wasnt alowed in child care, the other one hated it so it was all a bit of a disaster. (even tho both had been very used to nursery and day care from v young age..) and staff were rubbish and inexperienced.

so my advise go with somewhere like a babyfriendlybolthole place
i think all their top ten places have child care available on ad hoc basis.
in spain the best one is caserio del mirador, short flight, good weather, great food, other young parents/babies. and all the gear included.

[amybelle79]

Hi there,

We've taken our daughter on holiday with club med to tunisia (hammamet) and also with mark warner to kos.

In tunisia she was 10 monhts old and had a fabulous time in the creche - we were ble to spend time by the pool, windsurfing, tennis etc and had a really relaxing time. Our experience of mark warner was great too - she was 18 monhts by this point and I think it was a real plus to have english staff running the creche, again she loved it.

I know some people have had trouble with these types of all inclusive holidays - if the little ones dont want to go to the creche the whole thing is a bit of a waste! But our experience has been great both times and we felt we had real value for money with both companies

Good luck!

[emsken]

The almyra hotel in cyprus is lOVELY... it has a lovelyl creche with qualified english staff (OFSTED regulated) and then you can spend your afternoons at the adult only spa pool area which is amazing and we definintely felt like we were then on holiday! I wouldnt go during school holidays though as it is SO child friendly that it is too filled with kids!!! But with bubba "off peak" so to speak is lovely.

Other than this i cant recommend scott dunn villa holiday more - if you go with a couple of families it can work out pretty reasonable and the nannies are soooo lovely.

[shafeenan]

We've done Woolly Grange (fantastic but expensive) and just about every Club Mark Warner and Ski Esprit when the kids were small (our youngest was in the first 'baby club' in Cap d'Or in Greece!
If you aren't hell bent on spending time in airport lounges and if you like the west coutnry, we have three weeks in two different fantastic cottages just outside St Ives in Cornwall - about 7mins from the beach (bit more coming back up the hill). They were originally the stables for the big house, now a hotel. You get the use of indoor and outdoor pools, badminton, squash, tennis - loads of facilities courtesy of the hotel and certainly up to last year there was a kids club each day and help with babysitting too, (not included in the price, but hey, the cottages are cheap enough, see below!) They are only available in August as we own them on a timeshare basis.
This year we can't go so are offering them at a massive 45% discount if you can book and pay in full by May 1st 2012.
If you would like more info, please call me on 01483 282471 or email nancyshafee@tiscali.co.uk and I can send you pictures, details, list of facilities and loads of fun things to do in that part of Cornwall.

[northerngirl]

Pine Cliffs in the Algarve and Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus both have kids clubs on a pay as you go basis. We've been to both resorts and they are lovely. I haven't used either of the childcare facilities, but they are both high end resorts so I am assuming the standard of care would be good. Pine Cliffs was my favourite but it's significantly more expensive than Aphrodite.

This year we are going to Martinhal in the Algarve which also has a kids club and looks lovely for children. We're also going to The Four Seasons in Sharm el Sheikh which is offerering free upgrades and 3 hours free babysitting a day.

[mytravellingnanny]

If you fancy a villa or resort holiday with that extra freedom you could consider taking someone with you. Many families are now opting to take a friend, gparent etc or even one of our travelling Nannies.

Not as expensive as you might expect, we have standard (student type/aupair) Nannies who are cheaper just for short childcare and babysitting etc.

If you were definitely wanting to go down the hotel route (and didn't want to pay for another room for nanny/granny etc), do check the babysitting prices at the hotel before booking, as some are extortionate! (25 euros an hour).