We’ve always taken the attitude that travelling is a great life experience for children and during the years when we only had one child we managed quite a few successful trips. These days, our first child, Benito, is seven and he has a two-year-old brother, Lorenzo, for company. Needless to say, things have got a lot more complicated. There’s the age difference for starters: both want and need different things to do. And there’s the sheer amount of stuff you have to take with you. Plus there’s the fact that as a family we’re not keen on the whole kids’ club philosophy.
It’s always seemed odd to me that the premise of many ‘family-orientated’ hotels is that they assume parents want to check in and then check out their children to a high-energy, overexcited Mickey Mouse club from dawn to dusk. We actually want to spend some time with them while on holiday, albeit chill out, too (don’t panic, we’re not martyrs). So, tempted by a few days in a lovely resort in Cyprus we resigned ourselves to the fact that it probably wouldn’t be that relaxing but at least we’d get some sun.
The Azia Resort and Spa is situated just outside Paphos on the west coast. The first uplifting moment of our holiday was seeing our rooms – which were adjoining with a little kitchen in between. It’s a perfect setup for families – the kitchen is practical for warming up bottles at 6am in the morning (yuk) or sorting out snacks, and the layout also meant the rooms were far away enough, but within safe hearing distance, so the boys could go to sleep at night without us having to creep around in the dark or watch a movie on mute (been there?). The bubbling Jacuzzi, or ‘big bath’ as Lorenzo called it, on the balcony was also a nice luxe touch and big enough for all four of us to use as the sun was going down (although I’m not sure it was intended for snorkelling and floating ducks, but still).
After a relaxed buffet-style breakfast, where the boys could pick and choose what they wanted, the mornings were spent swimming or sailing around the resort’s huge infinity pool in a dinghy (boys, not parents) with stop-offs at the water-based bar (parents, not boys). Child-friendly staff happy to play or just have a conversation with the children made a nice change from many other impersonal resorts as did well thought-out touches such as a healthy kids’ menu (pitta pizzas and veggie pastas), fresh-fruit granitas to cool the kids down and table tennis in the shade.
For parents not on dinghy-pulling duty, the chic Elemis spa was a treat. There’s an extensive menu of treatments for women, men and even children, with the enticing chance of taking an early morning or evening massage in the gardens. The Moroccan bar is tasteful and contemporary while the open-air terraced restaurant with its hot pink bougainvillea is grown-up enough for parents while still being practical and relaxed for kids.
Azia really does offer a good all-round family experience – a lovely setting (‘Are we in the Caribbean?’ Benito asked when he first caught sight of our azure-blue sea views), enough child-friendly perks to keep the little ones happy and enough opportunity for the parents to, well, breathe. Just keep it a secret.
Benito, seven, says…
"I really liked the pool. I got a new plastic boat and Dad would pull us around. I got to eat my lunch in it one day and used the seats at the bar for a table. It was brilliant. Lorenzo threw his cup into the water so we couldn’t do it again. But Thomas, the man at the bar, was funny. He made me laugh and kept hiding my sunglasses.
The hotel had banana trees in the gardens, just like in Barbados, and the sea was the same colour. It was like being in the Caribbean. I also thought it was cool to see the sun falling into the sea from our balcony. I liked that a lot.
Next time we go away, though, I think Mum and Dad should hire a car. That way we can then do even more things and it would be a perfect holiday."
WAY TO GO
British Airways flies to Paphos from London Gatwick. Visit ba.com. Azia Resort and Spa (aziaresort.com) has double rooms from £52 per person per night. One child (0-12) sharing with adults stays free.
Emma Kennedy talks to Robert Elms on board about her family holidays in her new book The Tent, the Bucket and Me (on selected flights).
