- This is not an AD. We paid for the holiday ourselves.
You may, or may not have noticed that I've been AWOL the past couple of weeks, hence the three Sunday Photo's in a row. The reason for that is that we've been on holiday and just got back this weekend. We spent 11 glorious nights in southern Spain and the weather has totally spoilt us, coming back to the dreary British weather has been torturous! I'm hoping that we get a real summer this year because I'm missing the sun so much already.
We stayed at a four-star hotel in Islantilla called TUI Family Life Islantilla. We paid for it all ourselves, so this isn't an ad by the way. It's a beautiful hotel, situated in a quiet, non-tourist area in Spain. It's so far south that TUI actually fly guests to Portugal/Faro airport rather than Spain/Malaga as it's nearer. It was a 2 and a half hour flight, then a 1-hour transfer to the hotel. All in all, with transfers to and from, and airport time we were traveling for a good 9 hours which is long enough with two little ones.
As mentioned previously the hotel was stunning, full of palm trees, bright flowers, and greenery. The grounds are maintained to a high standard and it really pays off. It has numerous pools, all with a different feel. We found a nice spot near a quieter pool that we favoured and tended to visit every day. Noah and Ava loved dipping into the shallow pool, then cuddling up on the sunbeds together to warm up, usually with an ice cream in hand. Sometimes Nick would take them back to the room for a break from the sun, or to the play park, or games room and I would have some time to myself. It was total bliss to lay beside the pool, with a book and Pina Colada in hand! It made me remember what holidays were like before children.
The hotel is right on the beach too which makes a nice change from being around the pool. The sand contains lots of shells so thankfully I packed suitable footwear so we didn't hurt our feet. The kids liked collecting the shells and making sand castles and I swam in the ocean a couple of times.
The hotel is right on the beach too which makes a nice change from being around the pool. The sand contains lots of shells so thankfully I packed suitable footwear so we didn't hurt our feet. The kids liked collecting the shells and making sand castles and I swam in the ocean a couple of times.
The entertainment team, TUI kids club staff, and reps were amazing during our stay and are a credit to the hotel. They were upbeat, friendly, approachable, yet professional. Noah has always suffered from separation anxiety yet he felt comfortable enough with them to attend their Kids Club on a few occasions and even made a friend or two. The hotels Captain T and Bamse mascots were very popular with all the children at the hotel and it was lovely to be able to buy teddies of them to take home with us, real souvenirs to remember the holiday by.
We've only been home for a couple of days and we are already longing for another holiday! I've been thinking of trying to book a last-minute deal during the summer holidays, perhaps find a bargain? Has anyone had any luck doing this before? I'd love to hear about it!
