As we were flying from Heathrow, mum, the kids and I drove down on Friday evening and stay in a nearby hotel. The flight was at 7.45 the next morning so it was an early start but the children coped with it all really well and were excited to get there.
I have to say on arrival San Lucianu isn't as impressive as some of the other Mark Warner resorts. It is a three star and an older hotel and those of us who had been to Levante the year before were all a bit hesitant as to how this one could measure up. Just like Levante, though, all the staff came out to greet us and lend a hand with the suitcases and that pretty much set the tone for the whole holiday. Whilst San Lucianu may not measure up completely in it's luxury, the atmosphere is second to none.
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| Photo courtesy of Monika |
Myself and my mum were given separate superior twin rooms, just a couple of doors down from each other. Recently refurbished they had everything we needed from two comfortable single beds to an ample bathroom which had a walk in shower with all new fittings. We also had a balcony each with a couple of chairs which were nice to sit out on before evening Kids Club, whilst the children watched French cartoons for half an hour.
As we arrived so early in the day we had the opportunity to try out the facilities straight away, so the pool it was. There are two pools at this resort - an adult only and a child friendly pool. I was really pleased to see the shallow end of the family pool had a divide between it and the rest of the pool, meaning the young children were contained. It worked out really well for them all, and made it much easier to keep an eye on them without fear of them drifting. Of course there's no protection for a certain little guy who decided to throw himself in the deep end, life vest abandoned on the side!
During the first afternoon we visited the waterfront, childcare and had a meeting welcoming us to the site. The hotel is on a small setting meaning everything is in really close walking distance, this was perfect for me and it also meant that most places could be seen from every location. There is a fantastic open space between the pool and the beach and often the children and their friends could run around playing and were always in eyesight.
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| View across the site from the back of the hotel |
That evening the children attended their first Kids Club session, which was the evening film screening. As my two had experience a kids club at our holiday in May, they knew what to expect and were happy to go along and make new friends. Having read reports on Mark Warner childcare before, I knew what to expect, but it was still fantastic to see little beds all laid out with individual sleeping bags and each childs' name on top, meaning they had their own bed for the week. Mark Warner really put a lot of effort into their childcare, which I will talk about in a separate post later in the week.
The following morning everyone head down to breakfast around eight, before dropping the children off at Kids Club at nine. For mealtimes the hotel offers half board which includes breakfast and dinner, or full board meaning you get lunch as well. We opted for half board however I would suggest unless you are planning on venturing outside, and there is nothing in the immediate vicinity, go with full board. The beach bar does offer panini's but there are only four options and after a couple of days we'd had enough and ended up paying to upgrade the rest of the time we were there, which was more expensive than if we'd had booked full board before we travelled.
The food started off pretty poor, if I am completely honest, and all of us were quite disappointed. The children's pizza was rock solid and the adult food quite bland. However I have to say after the first day it massively improved, whether it was the chef settling into things or that our comments were fed back I'm not sure, but we really couldn't complain for the rest of the week. For the adult dinner there were three choice for starters, mains and dessert and whilst there wasn't something that appealed to me every day, whatever I had was well cooked and tasty. Breakfast and lunch was buffet style and had plenty of selection, however I did feel the kids could have done with more variety for their evening meal - it was generally pizza, sausages and chip and I would have appreciated them having more available to them.
The rest of the week saw us heading down for breakfast, dropping the kids off at Kids Club and enjoying a full three and a half hours of adult time before we collected them for lunch. In the afternoon we generally stay around the pool and then took the children for kids' high tea at five thirty, after which we head to our rooms for an hour and then once more dropped the kids at kids club for a film whilst mum and I had our evening meal and a couple of drinks. It was a lovely and relaxed routine filled with plenty of laying about and splashing with the children.
We had an absolutely lovely week and got to spend our time not only with other fantastic bloggers but also extremely friendly resort staff and guests. Miss H met another little girl and they were glued to each other all week and it was a joy to watch the children both so independent and confident. Whilst holidaying with children can never be completely relaxing, the fantastic kids club and safe environment for the children meant mum and I didn't have to be on our guard quite as much.
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| Children all in a row |
For now I'll leave with you with a few photos from our week, look out for my post on childcare coming soon.
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| It was lovely to be able to treat my mum as she helps us out so much |
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| Yes that is Little J swimming under water! |
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| It might have been hard work at times but these two just crack me up |
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| Miss H and Grandma having a giggle together |
Mark Warner are offering Hollybobbs reader's £50 off per person for all bookings mad before July 31st 2015. Use discount code LisaBlog50.
T&Cs: Get an additional £50pp discount on all Summer 15 & 16 bookings made by 31th July. Not valid for free child place and can’t be offered in retrospect.
To read more about the trip have a look at these posts:
Older Single Mum
The Ana Mum Diary
Mama Owl
Family {M}Adventures
*We were sent on this trip FOC, however all opinions are my own.
