HAVE you ever had a family holiday where, by the time you got back, you felt more exhausted than you did at the beginning? Where you turned to your significant other and uttered "we'd have been better off staying at home”? Holidaying with young kids in tow - in our case, three children aged four an under - certainly tries patience levels and requires the juggling skills of a trained member of Cirque de Soleil. Walking through the airport, we had more than one glance of sympathy as we carted our brood and all the paraphernalia required for a week abroad. People looked at us like we were crazy for even attempting to have a relaxing holiday overseas with such a young family. And as we queued to get onto the plane, I could see nervous glances in our direction as people silently hoped they were sitting far away from us as possible. That’s the thing: travelling + kids = stress and often without a pay off in the end. But not this time. This time we weren’t going to put up with second best just because we’ve had the gall to procreate.
‘Child friendly’ holidays - for me at least - conjure up images of horror. Screaming toddlers in urine-soaked ball pools and a never ending queue for a buffet of soggy pizza and chicken nuggets and chips. Loud, chaotic, uncomfortable. What’s with that? Why do so many businesses think that people should put up with sub-par quality just because they’ve had children? Before we had kids, holidays were all about going somewhere that was an escape from the realities of the nine to five grind: a week or two in the sun where you relax, unwind and come back feeling refreshed and recharged. Now that we’re parents, guess what? I still want that. And after researching and searching, we found somewhere that ticks those boxes.
The Martinhal Beach Resort and Hotel in Sagres on the Algarve offers the rarest of things: a genuine family holiday where everyone feels pampered. It officially opened in 2010 and has quickly garnered European-wide reputation as the go-to location for five-star family breaks. After spending a dreamy week by the sea here, it's easy to see why. The food on offer was varied and delicious, the view of the sea and beach spellbinding and the service was top-class. But it was more than that. In a world where all too often restauranteurs view bringing infants to the table like a request to dine with your pet crocodile, here you really belong. You're not the unwanted necessity, the eyes-to-heaven annoyance to fellow diners - you're the centre of attention in all the right ways.
Everything in this part of coastal Portugal seems to have been designed with families in mind. It was buggy friendly, for example. All the restaurants have a play area (supervised) in the back so that when kids inevitably get bored towards the end of the meal, mum and dad can sit back and enjoy their dessert and a glass of wine in peace. The bar area serving cocktails, beers and juices is next to a play ground AND an ice cream parlour. So as we sat sipping a mojito in the glorious sunshine, the kids had a blast at what they dubbed the ‘pirate ship playground’ but which was officially known as the Village Square. The bar, which doesn’t feel like a bar in the traditional sense, has even got its own play area inside, complete with iPad, plus a vintage Volkswagen and a hammock so the children - and adults - can channel their inner beach bum.
If you're not a parent and still reading this, don't flee in horror. It really isn’t all about the kids - I never once felt like I was holidaying in an episode of Barney. The place isn’t colossal in size either (the hotel itself only has 37 rooms, there are 55 houses with full sea views, 28 houses with partial sea views, 39 garden houses and 10 houses in a small complex called Pinewoods, each one with their own private pool) so it doesn’t feel over run with children or families at all. Far from it. You have plenty of space and room to breathe and there’s enough of everything to go around. The place is chic and the campus is centred around a beautifully designed two storey hotel building, right next to a glorious beach and across from the small harbour of Sagres town. Everything is beautifully laid out. There's no clutter, zero high rise and the footpaths around the resorts are edged with greenery and flowers. We stayed half board in an Ocean House, a building with a full panorama of the beach below. Our delicious buffet breakfast had everything we could think of and more on offer, and we had the choice either lunch or dinner in one of the four restaurants. The starters, main courses and desserts were all delicious and the kids cleaned their plates every time. Not a soggy pizza or wilted salad leaf in sight. The lunches and dinners were table service, not buffet-style.
It’s the little touches that set Martinhal aside, head and shoulders above other ‘family friendly’ places we’ve been. Upon arrival we were presented with a refreshing juice and a wet towel for mopping up the inevitable sweat that forms when travelling with kids. There's a cool rocking horse in the reception area and children get a goody bag including hats, beach bags and a ball. They were delighted. The range of activities on offer for children is mind-boggling. In a week my three never complained of boredom. If they were older, we could have gone on a bike ride or hiked one of the nearby coastal walks, but they were in heaven attending the local kids club or one of the four heated swimming pools.
As for you, the person paying for all of this, there's no sense of being shortchanged. With children being entertained and supervised, you can actually start to relax. There's a crèche and babysitting service if you really want to branch out but even if you stay close to your kids, you're not skimping on your own sense of a holiday. We walked the beach, sat out in the sun, bought and beautiful bottle of red wine in the Martinhal shop for a little more than €8 and sipped it on the balcony looking out at the lights of Sagres twinkling on the sea. I treated myself to a solo massage while himself entertained the kids at the playground and beach. But if I’d wanted to make it a family affair, there are treatments suitable for children too. I saw a few mums and their daughters pad through the spa in their matching dressing gowns, off to be pampered with a mum and mini-me bonding session.
Martinhal is an hour and 20 minutes drive from faro airport and it's worth every kilometre. Freshly baked bread in the shop, great range of individual and family activities, the surrounding attractions - surfing, hill walks, trips to the lighthouse, the fortress of Henry the Navigator, etc. So are there any downsides? Not really. Sagres town has good nightlife and if you fancy a pizza, D’Italia is highly recommended. The weather is lovely although you can overhear the odd comment about how the wind can pick up. I found the one day we did experience a stiff breeze a welcome escape from the dead heat of the rest of the week. And in true Irish mammy style, sure wasn’t it great for drying our clothes.
Ultimately, Martinhal is a five star resort, so it's not in the cheap and cheerful category. But then, you genuinely get what you pay for, and there are competitive packages available if you keep an eye out, especially if you’ve got younger children and can travel outside of term time. As well as that, If you're like me, and staring into the next 18 years of having holidays dictated by the school calendar, then you'll want to make any break count. This seems like the kind of place that rewards repeat visits, where as your children get older, they don't get bored and you don't feel like you're compromising on what you want from that well-earned break. And where, the usual parental anxieties aside, you can actually relax. Who wouldn't want to do that?
*How to get there: Aer Lingus and Ryanair both fly to Faro directly. Martinhal is approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes from the airport.
*Packages: Late Summer deal, valid from September 5th to October 31st: 7 nights for a family of two adults, two children under 12 and a baby under 2 in a two bedroom house €2506. Price includes a sumptuous buffet breakfast and three course lunch OR dinner every day, use of all four pool areas and free activities including family football, cinema, free wifi. Other packages available for smaller or bigger families!
Active Winter Holidays, valid from November 2nd 2015 to 30th April 2016: 7 nights in a two bedroom house for two adults and two children under 12, plus a baby under 2. Price includes breakfast plus lunch or dinner. Use of jacuzzi, steam room, sauna at Finisterra SPA, indoor/outdoor heated pool, 1 hour of tennis or padel tennis court hire per day, complimentary kids club, complimentary wifi.
There are plenty of other offers available online, check out www.martinhal.com
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