Our Summer Family Holiday 2017

Use my code 'blogme100' to save £100 per booking at Mark Warner T&Cs at end of this post

I don’t think I’ve ever gone back to the same holiday destination twice, let alone the same hotel. However, this year we did just that, choosing to visit the exact same resort that we stayed at last year - Levante Beach Resort in Rhodes. Loving instagram and travel blogs, you’d think I’d want to go exploring new places, and I do, but what we really needed this year was to take some time to really relax and spend as a family.


My hat: Sunshine and Shade

With a toddler in tow exploring little quaint villages and remote beaches isn’t impossible, but its not the recipe for a chilled out break. Compare this to Mark Warner’s sun resort with built in childcare, activities for everyone on tap and food that will keep even my fussy eater happy and this year it was a no-brainer. 

Sophie's Hat: Sunshine and Shade

Having raved about our holiday last year (see last years blog post) my parents and sister and her family were all to get a piece of the action too, so we booked our party of ten ranging from 0 to, shall we say 60+ to head to to Greek island of Rhodes.

Mark Warner uses charted BA flights and has organised sensible flight times - I have sworn I will never again book a flight pre 8am! Sophie was an absolute dream for 90% of the journey, but the last 45mins she was not… but rather than tuts and mutters of ‘control your child’ from other passengers, I received sympathetic looks, offers of toys and understanding ‘we’ve been there’ comments, which helped minimise the stress levels. Thankfully when we arrived at the airport it was a smooth transition through security, baggage reclaim and the transfer to the resort was only half an hour, and all this excitement kew the little ones entertained.

We upgraded our room to a suite, so there was a sliding door between our half of the room and Sophie’s - which meant that everybody had a good nights sleep (Sophie decides she like to play in the middle of the night if she can see us…!) and I would TOTALLY recommend this! We also asked for our rooms to be ground floor and poolside which meant that when Sophie has having her afternoon nap we could sit outside the french doors rather than being stuck on a balcony. Our room was 5002 and we decided that if we visited again(!) we'd ask for the same room.

My Kaftan: Boden

Sophie's UV Suit: Boden

Inflatable Flamingo: Toys R Us

Like last year, Gareth and I tended to go off in the morning whilst Sophie played at Jelly Fish Club on little adventures, sailing, windsurfing, paddle boarding and cycling, oh and the odd morning just chilling out by the pool. One of my favourite of these was cycling the 40 min mountain bike trip to the Beautiful Anthony Quinn Bay. We wore our swimmers underneath our clothes as well as having a refreshing drink we had a swim in the beautiful blue waters.

My dad, sister, bro in law and Gareth are all keen cyclists so as well as taking the bikes out for little trips, they went on the organised mountain and road bike trips - which they loved. But as there were so many of us, there was no-one that ended up being left on their own. If you are a super keen water sports enthusiast you can book different courses to complete throughout your stay, such as the RYA levels.

James' UV suit & Hat: JoJo Maman Bebe

Although the adults had blast, I think the little ones really had the time of their lives! George (8) and Evie (5) LOVED going to their clubs where they were taken sailing, windsurfing as well as loads of other activities. Even so, they were all so happy to be reunited at lunch time for lots of fun in the pool and so lovely to see them all playing together, Sophie donning her armbands and splashing around with her elder cousins and helping push baby James around in his inflatable.



Sophie's UV Suit, Hat & Beach Shoes: JoJo Maman Bebe

In the evenings, the kiddies all had their kids tea (whilst we oversaw drinking the happy hour ‘cocktail of the day!) and with all the classics even my fussier eater was well fed. The little holiday makers were then dropped off at the ‘evening listening service’ where they watched a film and then the smaller ones were put into little beds before we scooped them up.



My Dress: Millie Mackintosh - now in the sale!
Sophie's PJs: The White Company

My Dress: & Other Stories at the Bentalls Centre Kingston

Last year we only had one week and I am SO glad that we booked a fortnight as when we got to the middle Saturday, there was no way I was ready to go home. As the kids clubs don't run on satursdays, we took the bus (which was only a few euros each and stopped pretty much outside our hotel) to Rhodes Town. We explored the old town and I snapped away at all the instagram worthy doorways and old buildings.

Rhodes Old Town is beautiful, we walked along the cobbled streets (not hugely pram friendly!) and took our time choosing which of the eateries to choose.

So next year, I might have to try out another of the Mark Warner reports, but I don’t think I’m ready to deviate from the winning formula that meant that we all had a well earned break in the sunshine!

***Mark Warner have kindly offered my readers a discount of £100 per booking by quoting code ‘blogme100’ or entering the same code on their website***

CLICK HERE

T&Cs
This is applicable to summer 2017 bookings
Book between now and 8th September 2017
This cannot be combined with other discount codes/ or offered in retrospect direct bookings only