I saw a week in Sani Beach Club and spa for £2400 (week in June), 2 adults and 1 child with Thomson. I thought that was quite reasonable.

No experience of MW or club med but we have been with Neilsons twice in the last year, first when my son was 6 months and again when he was 14 months (Turkey and then Greece), both brilliant, obviously he is little so we went in term time!

Kids club/nannies are great and the set up is perfect for children, they do a kids tea and sleep club and the nannies do lots of activities with little ones if you use the kids club in the day.

We loved all the activities and did yoga, tennis, waterskiing, open water swimming, cycling and sailing. All included (a lot of people there when we were there had done MW previously but you now have to pay for a lot of extras so it becomes more expensive and Neilsons has all activities included). Spa is extra but great value if you book before you arrive and lovely treatments.

They are holidays focussed around activity or pool/beach and tend to be in locations where there is not huge amounts to explore beyond the immediate resort or local village town (you have to eat out once or twice a week in the evening but otherwise all food included). If you want to just sunbathe, people do that too!

We're looking at booking again for September and definitely recommend Neilsons!

We started at Mark Warner and went 6 times! then moved on to Neilson and Sun Sail.
Mark Warner was much larger than Neilson We thought the food better at Neilson.
We started with 2 boys 11 and 8. They never ever wanted to go anywhere else.

We still go to Neilson without children.

I can also throw my support behind Club Med. As a kid, I went to the one in Guadeloupe (French Antilles in the Caribbean) for several years and I loved it. So did my parents, given that there was a Kids Club and Mini Club for babies which meant that kids were entertained all day. The kids could take part in the club or stay with their parents. The hotel rooms were very nice and the restaurant was amazing. I loved the sports activities and day trips too.

The Club Med website is great because you can choose your destination using criteria that's important to you: holidays for couples, families, sport-focused etc.

Good luck!

Hi - have done quite a few Club Med holidays (Turkey, Malaysia, Italy, Tunisia) and all have been amazing. Accommodation can be simple in some of the 3 Trident Clubs (but always clean and very well setup) but the overall holiday is very high end. The childcare and the food are particularly amazing. Two years ago I went on Neilson holiday in Turkey. Childcare also excellent and if you are into watersports you are in for a treat. I have a slight preference for ClubMed but you wont go far wrong with either. Note that ClubMed being a French brand has a majority of French customers but in the resorts marketed in the UK the staff speaks English.

Hello. Does anyone have any more recent experiences with these companies to share? Thanks

I've only been to Neilsons with teenagers, but we went on Mark Warner holidays a lot when the children were tiny - in fact we were among the first families to use their baby clubs when they opened them. Club Med is the all-round brilliant looker-afterer, but the English doesn't always add up to enough for youngsters when being able to communicate easily with your fellow 'inmates' is as important as with those looking after you, so I'd say less ideal for the 4-12s.

Thanks for your comments - very helpful

x

Hi,

We've done 3 Nielson holidays now (Egypt, Turkey and Greece) and have had great experiences every time. Kids Club has always gone down when whether 6 months or 3 years old and they get them doing lots of activities. There are lots of adult water/tennis/biking activities if you want to do them, but there is no pressure to be active and you can also just relax by the pool if wanted. Hard to say quality of accommodation as not sure on your expectations, but we have always been happy with what you get for the price (always been in term time though) - some resorts are newer than others so if you are concerned I would suggest picking one of these - Focha in Turkey is only a couple of years old. They do get reviews on Trip Advisor so might be worth looking at those to narrow down your resort choice

To LKNorthcote, you may like Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus, which is comparable to Sani in lots of ways, but you should get a week in June for closer to £2600 currently for 2 adults + 1 toddler (guide price, including flights & transfers). Here's a link:
http://www.totstoo.com/hotel_interconti ... sort-hotel
Call 020 7284 3344 or email sales@totstoo.com for more details

I too am debating a similar type of holiday, with my husband and toddler.The Sani resort looks AMAZING but a bit on the pricey side for us, the search came out at over £3500 for a week in June.

Does anyone have any feedback on the Nielson holidays? I have been looking at these but have the same concerns as the original poster - the trip advisor reviews suggest they are more suitable for the family that wants an activity-filled holiday and the places sound a bit tired. I am looking for something a bit more luxurious and chilled but with an awesome kids club (appropriate for 2.5 year old).

Any tips would be most welcome. x

club Med has upgraded a lot and is quite glamorous now, this is definitively not the shak resort it used to be 40 years ago, and this actually reflect on prices !

Take a look yourself on their website, and I am sure you can ask further info in an agency
http://www.clubmed.co.uk/

Tots Too specialises in luxury family holidays, with a portfolio of toddler-friendly holidays at the sort of hotels that you would have loved even before you were a parent!
Have a look here
http://www.totstoo.com/
or call 020 7284 3344 for a chat

Thanks for the last few posts. What about the comments I've seen that club med and mw are a bit rough around the edges. Is that fair? As our main summer holiday we were hoping for somewhere with a slightly luxury feel.

Thanks

Depending on where exactly you'd like to go, I would recommend Club Med with a Toddler club.
Kids love it, they are together during the day, doing all sorts of activities, they are independent yet taking looked after by trained . In most cases you wouldn't have to pay any extra fees for your kids activity, since everything in inclucled in club Med resorts.
Check their website where you can run a research by type and see if there is any the kids friendly Club that might suit your family