Family hotels

Family hotels must be well designed spaces reflecting the needs and tastes of all the members. Offering good services for children is not enough if parents have not an alternative to enjoy their free time. It is true that most of the travellers are happy with a hotel having a good swimming pool area to sunbathe, a wide room with private bathroom and a varied cuisine service, but there are more and more guests requesting specific services and spaces where they can really rest and get away from the routine.

In this sense, as we have previously said in this blog, the family accommodations that we find nowadays in the main destinations of the European coast have become aware and have started to repair some accommodations with significant lacks from the 60's and 70's, tourism boom time.

 

 

Some of them have focused on the improvement and renovation of facilities, concentrating efforts on offering more complete rooms, with more comfortable spaces, modern and friendly furniture, and restaurant services in keeping with new needs and tastes: theme dinners with international cuisine (Japanese, Thai, Italian...)  dietary dishes, vegetarian menus and special products for coeliacs and allergic people, food for children, etc.

Other hotels, with a more bold plan and more investment, have bet on a radical change and specialization in specific publics, allowing them to undeniably stand out among the rest. In the case of the called Flintstones Hotels which belong to the Sol Hotels line of Melià, offering to the parents the possibility of booking a hotel on the seashore, conceived as a small theme park for children.

Other accommodations have opted for paying attention to the needs of the adults, keeping a good service of miniclub and creating new wellness facilities compatible with the days of beach and good cuisine. Thus, family hotels with Only Adults areas or spa appeared, among which stand out many accommodations in Majorca, such as the spa and golf resorts close to Palma.

 

 

Romantic evenings with special service of miniclub or minidisco, collective activities, sport options for all ages...  The range of plans have also significantly changed in the last years, looking for more and more harmony between the members of the family that travel and share hotel.

The most neglected niche are the teenagers: too big to enjoy a miniclub, but too small to travel alone during a week. Nevertheless, it is likely that there will be progress in the coming years. The activities, facilities and options offered nowadays by family hotels do not care for this public, which ends up choosing activities for adults such as sports, or just sunbathing on the pools.

Family hotels: travel with children, and have a happy rest

Staying in family hotels with children is an authentic oasis of peace and safety for those travelling with the little ones. Holidays with children are always full of surprises and fun, but it is also true that they could be everything except holidays for parents, who end up more tired than they were before.

Today, we will make a list of family hotels in different destinations, with the objective of give you some keys to choose a complicit accommodation guaranteeing holidays for kids and adults alike. Every hotel has been selected for offering services conceived of to fulfil the wishes of parents and children, regarding not the destination, but the accommodation, since in this cases it could be more crucial than the place we decide to go to.

Flintstones hotels: the hotels for children who love their parents

They make part of the family beach resorts chain, Sol Hotels, which belongs to the Spanish hotel group Melià Hotels & Resorts and which have turned into some of the most appreciated accommodations for holidays with children. Their secret? They offer an authentic theme park inside the hotel, essentially conceived as an adventure camping for kids and as a place of rest and break for parents who can peacefully  enjoy entire days their own way.

They have a complete team of instructors with certified professional accreditation, specialised in child care. Facilities are other of the main attractions: they are hotels inspired by the mythic series of The Flintstones and offer from theme restaurant to miniclub and workshops, everything related to these famous characters.

Sleeping in a theme park?

Now it is possible: the family hotels line in Melià possesses another hotel designed to please the little ones. Completely refurbished and making part of a megaproject of recovery of the tourist area of Magaluf, Sol Katmandú Park & Resort is one of those places representing the dream of all children: a hotel with all kinds of comforts and special access to the Katmandú theme park, where you find activities and shows for all ages.

Hotels... Splash!

They are the latest in accommodation for those travelling with children. They are beach hotels with pools for children, turned into water parks. We find one of the best examples in Majorca, in the quiet area of Torrenova, one step from the Palmanova beach and with excellent connection to the Balearic capital and to its airport. Besides being a very comfortable hotel for couples wanting to rest on the banks of the Mediterranean, this accommodation of the Marina Hotels chain is one of the perfect places for travelling with children: its team of instructors, its miniclub and the Splash pools will make sure the children enjoy like never before while you forget everything and relax under the sun.

Sport, games and nature for children

For the most active families there are also very interesting accommodations options. Again in Majorca, but in this occasion in the northern coast of the island, in the hotels area in Playa de Muro and Alcudia are placed some of the best hotels for family and athletes of the Balearics.

Equipped with all the necessary services to enjoy relaxing holidays and activities out of doors, we also find this type of hotels in Almeria, such as those managed by the Garden Hotels chain in El Toyo, where these accommodations also offer special services for the little ones and a unique environment for enjoying with the family.

Sol Hotels, the family hotels chain of Melià

When we talk about family hotels or beach resorts for children, the Sol Hotels brand appears on the front page.  It is the chain created by the Melià Hotels & Resorts group especially for those families wanting to enjoy quiet days on the seashore, with everything within reach.

Almuñecar, Costa del Sol, Benidorm, Majorca, Tenerife, Lanzarote or even Bulgaria, Croatia or Egypt are some of the destinations where are placed the family hotels managed by this chain.

Its motto is the simple and functional space, with special furniture for the comfort of the whole family, both kids and adults, an affordable price and complete entertainment programs.  Besides, all of them have adapted cuisine service, with options for coeliacs, and common areas designed to guarantee maximum fun to all guests without needing to go out of the hotel.

The most famous hotels of this family hotel chain are the so-called Flintstones Hotels, beach accommodations decorated and inspired in the famous animated series The Flintstones.  

These hotels stand out for being designed like authentic theme parks, with services especially focused on children and spaces created in their own image and likeness: children dining room with kid's menu, workshop area, games area, children's swimming pool, miniclub for different ages (from 8 months to 4 years; from 5 to 8 years, and from 9 to 12 years).

The beaches of summer 2013

Although more and more people plan their different trips with alternative, economic and fun proposals with which to enjoy a few days off in the summer, the classic choice of a beach paradise with family or friends is still the general pattern: who does not like a dive in the Mediterranean when summer is finally here?

Fortunately, Spain has some of the most renowned sun and beach destinations in Europe. The climate, the quality of services and atmosphere, makes many of us decide to stay "at home" when choosing a holiday destination. This way, the popular beaches remain in Andalusia, Levante and the Balearic Islands, without exception.

Booking a hotel for friends in Ibiza, near the beaches of Ses Salines, Benirrás or Es Vedra, or arrange an escapade to a hotel for couples in Majorca, in Cala San Vicent, Es Trenc, Magaluf or Cala Barques... Both are options that have already become a classic: beach, party and the beauty of the destination are assured. Everything is usually at a cheaper price than planning a holiday abroad.

Holidays with children require a different type of beach, more spacious and with more comprehensive services and shallow water. Majorca, along with Cadiz, Benidorm and Menorca are destinations that offer the best family beaches for this 2013: Cala Mondragó, Palmanova, Cala Galdana, Cala den Bosch, Torremolinos, La Herradura (Almuñecar) or Chiclana.

All these places have the advantage of offering tailored hotel services to this type of traveler: Parents with children looking for a holiday for all, with moments to enjoy together and times of independence. One of the most complete accommodation options to take advantage of this type of holiday are the themed family hotels as is the case of the Flintstones Hotels, belonging to the hotel chain Sol Hotels, one of the most recognised brands in this regard.