Away days
family fun
spot Take time out at this family-friendly
Martinhal magic
The Garden House was modern and comfortable (left), while the Finisterra Spa was a perfect chill out (above). The five pools had beautiful views (below).
Location The Algarve, Portugal
a stairgate to be fitted, too, so Keri could toddle around freely and we could relax.
Fab facilities
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The resort has five swimming pool areas, with two pools in the Village Square. The Square is the main entertainment hub with a great café and kids’ playground, so we based ourselves there in the afternoons. Most mornings we each got ourselves some valuable time out by enrolling the girls in Raposinhos Crèche and Kids Club – I had lovely Pilates lessons by the pool and Mikey went off and played in tennis tournaments. Annie was well looked after at the crèche and Keri had a great time at her club, where she made lots of friends and got her very own backpack with goodies for her holiday. The resort also runs clubs for older kids and even teenagers. One of the main attractions at Martinhal is the Finisterra Spa, which offers all kinds of treatments, including a mum and child massage or facial, but the girls were a bit young for that. After a lovely sauna, I had a 90-minute hot stone massage, which was bliss. Like most mums, I had knots in my shoulders from carrying a baby and lifting a tot, but the therapist went to work on me and I left feeling like a new woman.
Couple time We ate in our villa the majority of the time to keep costs down and because it’s just easier with little ones. You really need a car if you want to explore
ESSENTIAL INFO A two-bedroom Deluxe Garden House costs from €181 per night*. Booking can be made by emailing res@martinhal.com (martinhal.com). The Raposinhos Kids Club caters for 2 to 4 year olds and has morning and afternoon sessions costing €19 per three-hour session. The crèche is for 6 to 23 month olds and offers morning and afternoon two-hour sessions. It costs €12.50 per hour. Babysitting costs €10 per hour 7am to midnight and €15 per hour from midnight to 7am. At the resort’s Finisterra Spa, a 90-minute, full-body, hot stone massage costs €115. Monarch flies to Faro from Birmingham, London and Manchester. Prices start from £38.99 one-way (monarch.co.uk).
*Valid from 16 April - 31 May and 1-19 October 2012
Zoe Chapman, 32, and husband Mikey, 30, from Birmingham, enjoyed a week at the Martinhal Beach Resort & Hotel in southern Portugal, with their two children, Keri, 3, and Annie, 8 months. “As this was our first holiday abroad with the kids, we wanted somewhere that was well set up for families and we found the Martinhal Beach Resort & Hotel really fitted the bill. The resort is a mix of hotel-style accommodation and family villas, and is located within a natural park near the fishing port of Sagres, on the western Algarve coast. We were to self-cater so opted for a two-bedroom, two-story Deluxe Garden House, which offered a walled, private garden where the kids could play safely. We were picked up from the airport in a fully air-conditioned mini bus and driven right up to the front door of our gorgeous ‘upside-down’ villa. On the ground floor there was a master bedroom with en-suite, plus the kids’ room and a family bathroom, then upstairs – to get the best of an amazing view of Martinhal Beach – there was a plush, open-plan living area and a fully fitted family kitchen with all mod cons. The villa was very spacious so we had plenty of room for all our stuff. We arranged for
the surrounding area, but we were happy to stay in the resort. We did take a couple of short taxi rides to the local supermarket to stock up on essentials, as the on-site store only had basics. On our last night though, we decided to splash out and eat at one of the resort’s many restaurants. We used the babysitting service and went to Dunas, a romantic, stylish place with candlelit tables on the beachfront. We dined on local seafood caught earlier that day and even watched the fishing boats going into the busy nearby port of Sagres. It was the perfect end to a wonderful family holiday and we wouldn’t hesitate to take the girls there again.”
Find more exciting family-friendly trips and outings at Supporting parents for 25 years
June 2012 Practical Parenting & Pregnancy
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