The Best Luxury Hotels for Families by Leo Bear
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Whether it’s singing around a campfire in Jordan’s Wadi Rum or swimming with sea cows in southern Thailand, you’ll find something to thrill all the clan in this essential guide to family travel.
With hotels and tour operators coming up with increasingly creative ideas to keep the ankle-biters in their element, from off-roading in mini Land Rovers in Scotland to milking coconuts in the Seychelles, traditional kids’ clubs are upping the ante. So, whether you’re yearning for a luxurious escape to a far-flung exotic hideaway or prefer to keep things on a budget and stay closer to home, the good news is, there are plenty of exciting trips for all the family.
The United Kingdom and Europe
For busy working couples, nothing compares with the ease of a quintessential English break, especially when enjoyed in five-star eco-luxury. Brompton Lakes is buried in the Yorkshire Dales giving you the seclusion you require to enjoy some quality time with the family. Next to a national park and a mere stone’s throw from Richmond, you can go fishing or walking or just sit back and enjoy the sheer lack of distractions.
At the Alexandra Hotel in Dorset, your nippers have direct access to Lyme’s sand-and-shingle beaches via a safe footpath. Children’s’ supper is served daily at 6pm and the hotel is happy to organise fossil-hunting expeditions along the rugged coast and mackerel fishing trips from the harbour – and, what’s more, the chefs are more than happy to cook the catch for the kids’ supper. Other child-friendly activities include guided rock-pooling, horse-riding and a visit to Dinosaurland Fossil Museum.
Further north, the Gleneagles Hotel, set in the beautiful Perthshire countryside, has recently had a facelift creating a dream retreat for wee bairns and teens. Small children can run amok in the playroom equipped with its own sand pit, water area, soft area and a storytelling corner, all supervised. And teenagers have their own games room with PS2s, pool, tennis and football tables. Family sessions of archery, horse riding, gundog training and falconry can be arranged, or children can have a go on their own with personal instructors. Best of all is junior off-road driving in mini Land Rovers and zooming around a track in an Argo Cat (eight-wheel-drive, tiller-controlled vehicle). Great for dads too.
Across the channel, Les Jardins de St Benoit is the ultimate rendez-vous for a family get-together. Located in the unspoilt Corbieres region in the south of France, its 171 traditional Mediterranean houses are set within 20 acres of vineyards, olive groves and 12th-century gardens. Children up to 12 stay free and there’s a kids club, an on-site farm, fishing, bicycles, horse riding, kite surfing, water rafting, trips to the local apiary to see how honey is made, and the chance to see how goats cheese is made by hand, too.
Unlike most Greek island getaways, at Ekies All Senses Resort in Halkidiki, there are no ferry transfers to contend with – it’s a direct flight away. And banish any mass-market preconceptions you might have about Halkidiki, Ekies sets a new standard for upmarket travellers: it’s a chic design hotel with a pristine private beach. Children can befriend or torture each other at arm’s length in the hotel’s treehouse loft, which is decked out with cushions and games, just a shell’s throw from the beach. And the crystal, shallow waters create the perfect safe environment for any budding water-babies. For a mini-adventure, there are plenty of nearby secluded islands you can paddle off to in your own boat.
Africa and Asia
There aren’t many children who can say that they have tucked an elephant into bed, but those who have stayed at Camp Jabulani can. Located in northern South Africa, this unique camp has its own herd of elephants, so you really can get up close and personal with them. Of course there are safaris by day – and by night – to see the big five, but nothing compares to hugging a baby elephant (and being hugged back).
At the Mandarin Oriental Chiang Mai, theatrical girls and boys will love dressing up in Lanna-style costumes and learning Thai dances or trying their hands at folding lotus flowers or writing their names in Thai – all at the Lanna Kids Club. Children can also ride through the grounds in one of the resort’s colourful, hand-painted horse carts, or dress down in traditional farmers’ clothes for a spot of rice planting and water buffalo riding.
Hotel La Roseraie in the foothills of the High Atlas mountains is a leisurely 90-minute drive from Marrakech. Set in 50 acres of beautiful rose gardens, there are 40 cottage-style rooms and suites, four swimming pools, tennis courts and a well-established riding school. Accompanied by a local guide, you can grab the reins and go trekking through carpets of wild flowers, overnighting with hospitable Berbers (for treks lasting more than one day). Or close to the hotel, there’s Terres d’Amanar Eco Adventure Park with zip wires, a monkey bridge, quad-biking, mountain biking, donkey and camel racing, BMX tracks, Berber bowling and archery.
For a serious culture shock, on Abercrombie & Kent’s Spirit of India tour, your slumdog millionaires can enjoy a crazy rickshaw ride through the narrow streets of bustling Old Delhi, arrive at Amber Fort Palace maharaja-style on an elephant, spot pythons, pelicans and painted storks at Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary, and come face to face with tigers at Ranthambore National Park.
The otherworldly Arabian landscapes of Jordan will give kids plenty to write about for a geography project. Surrounded by Indiana Jones-style scenery, a highlight for aspiring adventurers is certain to be camping out in the desert of Wadi Rum. It doesn’t stop there though, with activities such as camel riding, jeep safaris, hot-air ballooning, a tour of the ancient city of Petra (a must), plus diving in the Red Sea and a multitude of watersports in Aqaba, if anything, your scout leaders will have a hard time choosing what to do first.
Swimming with dolphins is an age-old family favourite but how about swimming with sea cows? At Anantara Si Kao Resort & Spa, a new hotel in southern Thailand, you can do just this. The delightful resort looks onto the turquoise Andaman Sea, which is teeming with all manner of coral, fish, and the friendly, lumbering creatures known as ‘Dugongs’ (sea cows). Anantara’s Eco Wild Life Trail is a full day’s programme including a picnic breakfast, Dugong watching, snorkelling, kayaking, bird-watching and a nature walk on Libong Island. There’s also the Dugong Club for younger children which offers trips to the local aquarium, kayak tours, snorkelling lessons and coconut bowling.
Being assigned your very own butler is one thing, but how about a donkey? In the scenic province of Segovia, you can take your family on a walking adventure with a donkey for company. It’s a great way to get your little ones doing some exercise – and when their legs get tired they can hop on the donkey. There are plenty of other fun things to do in the area, including visiting the Iron Age replica village at Prádena, the Duratón Canyon Nature Reserve to see vultures up close, and kayaking in Sebúlcor, plus a swimming pool for relaxing by at the hotel.
Picking up the gait, kids who dream of being cowboys will be in seventh heaven at Colorado Trails, a ranch that puts families first. There are three separate kids’ programmes including ‘Buckaroos’ for 5-8’s, ‘Rough Riders’ for 9-12’s and ‘Teens’. Horseback rides, nature hikes, rafting and power tubing down the Vallecito Lake will keep pulses racing and there’s even an overnight camp-out for ‘Brave Buckaroos’. Families can also head for Western Town, a makeshift settlement including a soda fountain, trading store, opera house and Rukus Room – a kids-only hideout. Nestled in the San Juan National Forest, each cabin has its own porch with breathtaking views.
Island Retreats
For ultimate spoiling for young and old, there’s nowhere better than the heart-stoppingly beautiful Maldives, and at the Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, there’s a Kuda Mas Club to keep your brood out of trouble while you kick back on a sunlounger. The club puts on treasure hunts, yoga classes and an array of arty activities. Beyond the club, there’s a bubble-maker programme, movies and PS2s available. Here, everything has been thought of down to the tiniest detail, with child-size bathrobes and complimentary baby and children’s toiletries in all the rooms. And if you’d like a romantic evening à deux, just call the babysitter.
Alternatively, brand new this summer, there’s the Constance Halaveli Resort. Halaveli’s double-storey beach villas are ideal for adventurous families looking to take the plunge and learn how to scuba dive with three of the best sites in the Maldives located close by. Children aged 10 and over can do a PADI course and children as young as five can join in the fun.
Lily Beach Resort & Spa at Huvahendhoo is another sumptuous resort in the Maldives. Turtles at Huvahendhoo, the aptly named kids club, offers a variety of programmes from crab racing to wakeboarding. And their two fresh water swimming pools are perfect for babies taking their first ever dip.
For kids who want to get as far away from their parents as possible, at the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora, there is ‘Chill Island’. Five-minute’s walk from the main beach, this is a vast area reserved especially for teenagers, so they can hang out in their own clubhouse or on their own private beach complete with ice cream parlour. If chilling out and making new Facebook friends isn’t enough, they can learn Polynesian skills such as hand-painting their own pareu (sarong), learning how to husk, shell and milk a coconut or hand-carve a Maohi canoe – then race each other across the lagoon in the latest fibreglass models of course.
Le Victoria is nestled on the protected western coast of Mauritius overlooking a bay sheltered from the trade winds halfway between Grand-Baie and Port-Louis. A laid-back atmosphere and a range of activities is provided for children and teenagers including bocciball, vibro-training and mountain biking. Every night, the entertainment programme features a different act ranging from live bands to theme nights.
By day, The Residence Mauritius offers the Planters Kids Club with its large playroom and a cosy room for under-threes, a shaded veranda and enclosed garden with climbing frames, sandpit and ample room to run around. By night, there are lively fashion shows, talent contests and dancing with enthusiastic staff introducing traditional skills such as ‘sega’ dancing and henna painting.
Beyond the Indian Ocean, Rayavadee, Krabi, in Thailand is surrounded by towering limestone cliffs and hidden among the coconut groves lining one of the world’s most beautiful sandy beaches which offers safe swimming for all ages. Families can explore the mangrove forests along a maze of canals by canoe or speedboat, visit the James Bond island made famous in The Man with a Golden Gun or hack their way through the Khao Sok jungle to watch shy monkeys, giant lizards and exotic birds. Back at the hotel, there are Thai cooking classes and fruit carving traditionally practised by the women of the Royal Court of Siam.
If you have a budding ecologist in the family, the Ritz Carlton on Grand Cayman offers a series of three-hour programmes introducing children to the natural wonders and cultural traditions of the Cayman Islands, wonderfully entitled ‘Ambassadors of the Environment’. Activities include animal Olympics, creatures of the night, starry nights, underwater photography, mangrove kayaking and survival of the fittest.
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