What used to be a swing set and a DVD cupboard now resembles a theme park in the sun — it’s certainly fair to say kids’ clubs have come a long way. At some hotels the focus is on education by stealth, teaching kids about ancient mythology, conservation or science in such imaginative ways that they don’t even realise they’re learning. Other kids’ clubs rely on star names to impress your children, offering top training at tennis, football and dance academies. You can expect aqua parks, water slides, soft play and gaming stations. And most importantly? You can expect time off. After all, it’s your holiday too. 

Main photo: Amada Colossos, Rhodes (Expedia)

1. The Yeatman, Porto, Portugal

Best for city-centre location
The Yeatman’s sense of fun is plain, from its decanter-shaped infinity pool with underwater porthole windows, to the elevator designed like a hot-air balloon with ropes and all. This goes beyond design too, with a genuinely family-friendly atmosphere (the hotel is owned and run by various generations of a Porto dynasty) and pretty gardens that feel like a resort rather than a city-centre five-star. At the kids’ club, children take treasure hunts through olive groves of millennia-old trees, giving parents time to enjoy the spa with its port-barrel hot tubs and wine-inspired treatments. 

Pool Y
Price B&B doubles from £265

2. Amada Colossos, Rhodes

Best for value
This brilliant-value five-star beach resort really comes into its own for families whose kids are not yet school age — plus, the weather is still warm well into November in Rhodes (nicknamed the “frying pan of Greece”) — so set your sights on spring and autumn for the best rates. But even during school holidays, Amada Colossos is a winner, with three kids’ clubs (for children aged four months to four years, four to ten, and ten plus), a five-slide waterpark, children’s movie nights, beach volleyball and tennis courts. There are also dedicated family and adult-only areas in the many pools and restaurants, so even parents can look forward to me time when offspring are otherwise engaged. 

Pool Y
Price B&B doubles from £129

3. Ikos Dassia, Corfu

Best for families  
Of course, every one of these hotels with kids’ clubs is great for families — the clue’s in the name — but Ikos Dassia wins the title because Nanny will love it just as much as the newborns. For starters, it’s all-inclusive, so multi-gen groups needn’t worry about bills or differing budgets. And then there are the extras, such as Tesla cars, free to guests to explore Corfu island, as well as a Dine Out programme, which includes authentic local restaurants in your all-inclusive package. The kids’ club is Ofsted-standard (and split by toddlers, tweens and teens) and the hotel offers 30 minutes of free daily childcare on the beach or by the pool to every family.

Pool Y
Price all-inclusive doubles from £495

4. Lujo Bodrum, Turkey

Best for kids’ club haters
Lujo even managed to get this writer’s child — staunch opponent of all kids’ clubs on an international level — through its doors, so we can vouch for its genius. The attraction is in its sheer size and freedom to do as you wish; it’s more like a kids’ hotel within a hotel. So, there’s a music room (with drum kit), an art room, dedicated spaces for science and Lego, a dance academy, ceramics, basketball court and wood workshop, in addition to sessions around the grounds that focus on planting or yoga. The picturesque spot of this luxury all-inclusive among pines near Bodrum on the Aegean coast — with countless private beaches — is a plus point for parents too, who are rested and ready to see kids when they emerge.

Pool Y
Price all-inclusive doubles from £690 — or look at package deals with Expedia.com

5. Eagles Resort, Halkidiki, Greece

Best for authentic Greece
There are lots of upmarket, family-friendly resorts in Greece — many with impressive kids’ offerings, but many with such a loyal British clientele that you’ve always the sensation you’ll run into someone you know by the soft play. Greek-owned and independent, as well as being located on the furthest of Halkidiki’s three “fingers” of land (thus harder to reach), Eagles Villas feels much more Grecian and smaller-scale too, with a gorgeous shelving beach out to waters where dolphins play (go out on the hotel boat and they’ll come swim in your wake). The kids’ club only takes guests aged up to 12, yet still splits them in two-year bands so they’re only with close peers; we also love the Aqua Explorers arm of the club, making the most of the Med, teaching snorkel, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing and even scuba and triathlon training for older ones.

Pool Y
Price half-board doubles from £128

6. Borgo Egnazia, Puglia

Best for style
What more do you need to know than Victoria Beckham brought her brood to Borgo? Seduced by the sensational spa, sumptuous architecture (all built in ancient limestone) and the option for big groups — or big egos — to rent vast villas on this divine Italian estate, she and the mini-Beckhams lived la dolce vita here back in 2020. If you can’t stretch to a palazzo, even the standard rooms are spacious, while some one-bed Corte suites are like little townhouses and perfect for families with one child. There are three kids’ clubs — for under-sevens, tweens, and teens — the Trullaleri, for the youngest, being most popular with its design and magical activities being inspired by Puglia’s fairytale trullo houses.

Pool Y
Price B&B doubles from £290

7. Marbella Club, Spain

Best for luxury
There are two sides to the Costa del Sol: the “no-Carbs-before-Marbs” crew, with big muscles and big cars; and the glamorous old-school Marbella, once frequented by Brigitte Bardot, a coastal escape for well-heeled Spanish families. Marbella Club hosts the latter clientele, its ancient wooden doors open since 1954, inviting guests to the terracotta-roofed finca rooms, or individual villas amid seemingly endless tropical grounds. The kids’ club is as stylish as Marbella Club, with a beautiful courtyard-design enclosure holding a kids’ herb and vegetable garden, a high-spec kitchen for cookery classes, dance and arts studios, and a path down to the shore for aquatic larks.

Pool Y
Price room-only doubles from £398

8. Anassa, Cyprus

Best for new experiences
If you’re firm fans of Greece but looking to try somewhere new, consider Cyprus, with equally delicious fresh food and lovely landscapes of olive groves, but a longer season thanks to its sheltered southerly location. Anassa truly showcases its Cypriot heritage with kids’ club classes covering pottery, bread-baking, and archaeology — ancient history being something you can all experience on a trip to the nearby Baths of Aphrodite. With families in mind, Anassa has accommodation from studio suites that sleep three to vast residences that sleep nine and have private pools, each named after a mythical god.

Pool Y
Price B&B doubles from £419

9. Pine Cliffs, Algarve

Best for pirate-ship fun
We’ll get to the kids’ club in a minute. First, there’s Porto Pirata for children to explore (they may never make it out): a 7,000 sq m play village with two life-size wooden pirate ships, a bouncy castle, basketball court, mini-track for cars, scooters and bikes, as well as a kids-only pool and 18-hole mini golf course. Parents can play too or use the kids’ club services to leave children under supervision for the day — and then slope off to the spa, bar or golf course. Or all three. If you’re ever reunited with your offspring, you’ll all fall in love with Pine Cliffs’ sandy beaches, reached by a cool “elevador” from the resort’s stunning Algarve clifftop spot.

Pool Y
Price room-only doubles from £190

10. Verdura, Sicily

Best for foodies
Play your cards right and not only will you have an afternoon to yourself by the pool while kids play at Verdu club, but home-cooked dinner will await on your return home. That’s because food is part of Sicily’s DNA, and children are taught how to cook it from a young age (not to mention the fact the hotel’s four alfresco restaurants will wow you at every meal). Verdura’s Chefs programme shows kids how to make Italian classics, while its EduFun sessions teach them about cultivating fruit and vegetables, in addition to classes on mythology, gymnastics, football, recycling, tennis and film-making. When they want to switch off entirely, there’s an indoor pool, a 60m outdoor pool and a private beach; they can take out kayaks or stand-up paddleboards and join scuba trips at the latter if they get bored easily.

Pool Y
Price B&B doubles from £347

11. Princesa Yaiza, Lanzarote

Best for off-season sunshine
When it’s still too chilly to venture to the Med — we’re thinking of awkward February half-term and those early Easter school breaks — Lanzarote takes top spot. Springtime temperatures often hit 26C, enabling kids to get out in the fresh air. Which is exactly what Kikoland — Princesa Yaiza’s 10,000 sq m kids’ park — is lined up for, with playgrounds, soft play, age-specific swimming pools, beach areas for water sports and even a theatre for end-of-holiday shows. There’s a soccer school with former professional coaches, and special birthday parties if your child is celebrating while away.

Pool Y
Price B&B doubles from £167

12. Almhof, Austria

Best for winter 
Looking like the chalet from Wham’s Last Christmas video, the Almhof resort near Innsbruck in Austria is a snowy idyll. There are ski courses offered as part of its kids’ club programme, and we like the fact that kids are split by the three-six age bracket and the seven-ten bracket (they’re sometimes bunched together, much to their chagrin); there are also cookery classes, children’s shows and tobogganing in winter. But Almhof is every bit as family-friendly in summer, with lake parties for teens, campfires, survival training and football camps; its park Water World — with indoor-outdoor pools, giant tube slide, and FeRRRari slide — is open year round.

Pool Y
Price all-inclusive family rooms from £335 

13. Terre Blanche, Provence, France

Best for road trippers
It’s by no means a hop-skip-and-jump from Calais to this photogenic eco estate near Grasse, but it’s still a viable driving option for families who prefer not to fly. And, on arrival, the kids’ club activities more than compensate with tons of time in the great outdoors: making birdboxes, beekeeping, gardening — all the while fed by Le Pitchoun, a healthy children’s café with a chef-devised menu. There’s also a specific pool for the kids’ club as well as a children’s pool below Terre Blanche’s Insta-famous infinity version, with the same lavender and cypress-filled views for accompanying parents.

Pool Y
Price B&B doubles from £480

14. Neilson Alana Beach Club, Croatia

Best for sporty types
If you’re new to the award-winning Neilson concept, here’s the spiel-free take: in short, they offer active breaks to people who like to “do stuff” on holiday and this extends to the kids’ clubs. So, Alana Beach Club (where all guests are Neilson guests) in Croatia has the looks of a fantasy Adriatic fly-and-flop — clear waters, cocktail bars, beachfront pool — but there’s extra-curricular windsurfing, stand-up paddleboarding, dinghy sailing, mountain biking, kayaking and rock climbing when you’re bored. All of these pursuits are open to children, too, but in a safe and expert-led club environment, so popular that parents are advised to book spaces before departure. You can also book one-on-one services for children who need extra care, as well as sleep clubs where kids stay overnight.

Pool Y
Price seven nights from £799pp, almost full board, including flights 

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