ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS IN THE CATALAN COAST

Catalonia hides an amazing Mediterranean paradise with more than 200 beaches, perfect for your family holidays. Paradise beaches, unspoiled natural areas, relaxing coasts, adventurous water parks for kids...a great tourist destination for families.

More than 200 beaches make it the perfect children friendly destination

The Catalan coast has become a great family destination where to travel with kids, thanks to the effort of entrepreneurs.

It’s difficult to choose a particular beach, but some of them are better for kids due to its facilities, comfort, entertaining areas and kids’ clubs, not to  mention its fabulous safety: as the hotels located at the beach shoreline of Calella, the perfect environment for the children. 

Fergus Espanya Hotel

The next stop of family tourism is in Catalonia

Catalonia is full of attractions for all ages and particularly for children. Beach activities are great in beaches like Malgrat de Mar, with places where to relax and enjoy with your family the quiet Mediterranean waters. Children will have fun at Parc Francesc Macia, where they will play, run and enjoy the kids’s club, beach-libraries and entertaining activities.

If you want to immerse yourself in nature and let your children discover the ecologism, Pineda del Mar is the perfect place with amazing parks, forests, gardens and a large sandy beach that you will surely recommend your friends and family.

Santa Susanna, is another destination in the Catalan coast perfect for children and family tourism. One of the best family accommodations is offered by Fergus Hotels with excellent services, fabulous complementary offer, personalized services and great facilities in order you to have a memorable holiday.

In Santa Susanna you will enjoy magnificent beach excursions, horse riding, wave pools and big slides, visits to theme parks and museums, charming spots and dolphinariums which will surprise your children and make them remember these holidays in Catalonia forever.

Fergus opens a new accommodation in Majorca for 2015

Young, indomitable, lively, with new proposals, and a modern and groundbreaking style. This is the new creature of Fergus Hotels chain in Majorca, a hotel complex aimed at the young public, stem from the merger of the Barracuda hotel in Magaluf and Pax hotel, both located next to the famous BCM Planet disco, sharing ambience, parties and DJ sessions.

Designed as a big hotel complex for young leisure, it offers all the advantages of an All-inclusive hotel in Majorca, along with the advantages of an Adults Only hotel in Magaluf: a perfect accommodation to travel with friends or to celebrate anniversaries, stag parties or events.

Fergus Magaluf Resort

The Fergus Hotels’ investment in these types of theme hotels related to the music, which have been so successful in Ibiza and Magaluf, with the famous Mallorca Rocks as precedent, is to say the least, notable.  They have recovered all the outdoor common areas and offer more that 10000 square metres of outdoor space used for terraces, chill out areas, dance floors, swimming pools, deckchair areas sunbathe listening to the background music…

Additionally, the new resort has theme rooms for stag parties, accommodations for groups, areas designed for sports –such as the gym or the outdoor sports courts-, dining room with All-inclusive buffet, bars and cocktail bars, Sunday brunch, lacked Lunches for those days out… And all types of details specially intended to make life easier for those seeking a holiday in Magaluf to enjoy the sun, beach and one of the most famous night leisure areas in Majorca.

The line marked by the Calvià Beach Resort of Melià, with its Wave House, the already mentioned Mallorca Rocks or Ushuaïa in Ibiza begin to see their reflection in the rest of the hotels in Magaluf and Palmanova, where we find one of the largest young travellers communities in Mallorca.

Keys to find accommodation for groups in coastal destinations

Finding a good accommodation for groups in a coastal destination, sounds easier than  it really is. The big offer of accommodations and hotels for groups in areas such as Cádiz, Tenerife or Majorca, allows you to choose among a wide variety, but you also run the risk of ending up in a low quality accommodation, with terrible services and careless attention, very usual in offers for groups.

A safe option is always to bet on the renowned hotels . Big chains offer interesting discounts in their beach hotels for friends and groups, especially during the spring season and at the beginning of the summer.  All the chains offering hotels in Cancún and the Caribbean are, generally, a wise choice, since they are big resorts with all kind of All inclusive amenities with no distinction between families and large groups. 

Nevertheless, with the national destinations you must be very demanding to avoid last minute disappointments.  The problem is that often hotels in Spain dedicated to the tourism of groups and friends (graduation trips, stag parties ...) are not the most comfortable, functional and newest ones.  This type of visitors, up to now, usually booked ripe hotels, without refurbishing and with limited cuisine proposals. 

In the last years, tendency has reversed, since it is confirmed this is one of the publics that keep travelling even in crisis times and, besides, use to spend a lot on hotels.  In this way, hotels lines for friends have not only refurbished its facilities (as you can see in the portfolio of specific brands such as Sol Hotels of Melià) but also has turned into a real goldmine, as happens in the hotels with DJ in Majorca and Ibiza.

When choosing a good hotel for groups it is important to bear some things in mind:

•  Price is very important, also for budgets, but especially because it is an indicative of the type of hotel we will find when arriving to the destination. Bargains are scant, so if the offer is really surprising, it is better to devote a while to search by internet on third parties' websites specific opinions from other users.

FERGUS Barracuda hotel

• Rooms:  Sometimes, there are hotels which call themselves hotels for groups, because, commercially, this public is very interesting, but not all of them are prepared to host them with comfort.  Hotels with connected family rooms, triple or double, are a good option, since those offering just double or single rooms, usually increase the estimated costs. 
• Cuisine:  It is not necessary that they have gourmet restaurants, a good buffet is enough, but it is important to make sure it is a buffet worth to pay, especially if the getaway lasts more than 4 days.  Monotony of many buffets usually forces to pay twice: All inclusive of the hotel, plus the meals that, at the end, you end up buying outside.
• All inclusive:  It is a classic but is still the best option for travelling in group, especially if you have a fixed budget.  It is important reading what it includes and what not. Often, some products which are removed, are essential to enjoy a good trip with friends.
• Connections and moves: It is not always possible to rent a car for all the group, so a good condition to bear in mind is the location of a hotel for friends: close to the airport or with transfers included; close to the leisure areas, places of interest, and commercial areas; next to the beach or the mountain (depending of the type of trip you want). Forgetting during some days you car, is a great advantage.  Having prices and transportation controlled is a plus, especially if the chosen accommodation is instead of a beach hotel, a hotel in the centre of Madrid o Barcelona. 

The Fergus Style experience

Fergus Hotels is one of the hotel chains that has grown the most in recent months. With a portfolio of hotels centred on beach destinations like Mallorca, Costa Brava or Ibiza, it offers a holiday concept that goes a step further what is normally expected from a hotel chain with its characteristics.

Although the hotel chain has classic hotels in Calella and Pineda del Mar, with a family atmosphere and for all audiences, it has decided to invest in hotels with a very specialized design and for a very particular traveller. The Fergus Style experience is a combination of modernity and the elegance of a city boutique hotel, like the ones we can find in Madrid or Barcelona, but adapted to the requirements of the holiday makers including, terraces, gardens, chill out areas, swimming pools, spa…

Under this new style by Fergus, there are 4 hotels that fall under this category, two in Majorca, a boutique hotel in Santa Ponsa and a Spa hotel in El Arenal, another hotel in Santa Susanna, and the fourth and last in Lloret de Mar. They are all 4 Star superior (except for the latter one, that is a 4 star hotel) and offers rooms at very affordable rates (between 37 euros and 51 euros per night) bearing in mind the type of rooms and its complete services.

One of the most valued and continues to grow in its holiday offer, is the Fergus Cala Blanca Suites, offering 175 rooms with sea views in Costa de la Calma, one of the most exclusive areas of Majorca. With a typical Ibizan style architecture and white walls, it provides services for the whole family and a cove at the end of the swimming pool area.

The hotel has a new design, paying attention to detail, which combines with a complete All Inclusive service that is far away from traditional standards.  Also, as it is perfectly integrated into the beach and that it is a very quiet area, there are hammocks all over the cove, as well as a lively cocktail bar by the sea, where you can enjoy one of the best sunsets in Majorca.

For the low season, the hotel has designed a golf and cycling program geared towards those looking for an active tourism hotel in Majorca any time of the year. The advantages of this Fergus Style is its location, just 5 minutes away from the Golf Club Santa Ponsa, and its spaces specially designed to store golf clubs, bicycles, a laundry service specifically designed for cyclists and a catering, to face the intense sporting days. 

Pet friendly hotels in Majorca

Majorca is a perfect destination for a trip with your pet: the island has incredible natural areas, such as the Serra de Tramuntana where to walk and enjoy the outdoors with our dogs and, just recently, several municipalities have begun a series of policies and measures, designed to improve the coexistence of animals in our society, even reserving some areas on the beach to be able to enjoy the summer with their owners.

Furthermore, given the potential business that represents pet tourism, more and more hotels in Majorca have realised the importance of offering the service of pets allowed. Rural houses and Finca Hotels in Majorca have been offering this service for years, and some hotels are allowing guests to stay with their pet, albeit they do not weigh more than 8 kg.

One of the most advanced in this sense, is the hotel chain Fergus Hotels, a chain of Beach hotels in Majorca and Barcelona, ​​which opens its doors for pet owners to enjoy a complete holiday without the obligation to leave their pet at home.

Hotels have realised that it is more interesting that, the expense that the owner would have to pay at a daycare canine centre, should be done at the hotel leading to an increase in average reservation expenditure at the hotel. A real advantage, compared to children who need special spaces and attentions. Pets only require a small place in the room, a balcony to be able to get some fresh air and feel free, and a responsible owner that is aware of the pets needs.

In this sense, the policy of hotels is usually quite strict as for this coexistence to work, the animal must not be unattended, must be on a leash on all common areas of the hotel and can not access the dinning, sports and swimming pool areas.

When booking a hotel room with pets, the best is to contact the accommodation and find out in detail, all the requirements and conditions that must be fulfilled, as well as the rights you have as a client. Furthermore, it is common for the reception desk to know interesting places in Majorca to which you can go with a dog, hiking routes and fun activities to enjoy together.