Originally Posted by
Raffles
About a year ago I started a thread on European beach resorts. This year we are looking for something for late October / November in Spain or Portugal (or possibly Italy) which is the longest flight my wife is willing to do with the 2-year old.
A beach is not an issue, although it would be good to be within a modest drive of one. What is key is a property with a good indoor pool that welcomes kids, since the weather is too touch-and-go to risk somewhere with an outdoor-only pool. Hopefully the weather will be OK and we can get outside in a bit of sun, but we want the fall-back alternative.
I have looked at numerous properties online, but a lot of places with good indoor pools ban children as the pool is part of a kid-free spa. There are other things we need (ie buffet breakfast, so Finca Cortesan is out for example - I can't imagine trying to get a 2-year old breakfast at an a-la-carte pace) but an indoor pool and a modest drive (1 hour max) from the airport.
All suggestions welcome! Thanks.
Responding to an old post, but it may be useful for someone:
We stayed at Finca Cortesin two years ago with our two-year old, and it worked quite well. No kids club etc, but the staff were all very kind and accommodating, even though they are not really a kid's destination (my daughter was the only little kid at the hotel at the time (this was September, so high season...). There are four pools; two huge outdoor pools (one adults only), a kiddie pool adjoining the open outdoor pool, and an indoor pool, which IIRC is adults-only.
Re breakfast, it is not a buffet, but worked well with my daughter; they bring you basically a whole bunch of food as soon as you sit down (all tasty, but same every day), and then you can order ALC as well, so no waiting around feeding your toddler bits of croissant.
Overall, a nice place to relax, albeit the location in the seeming epicentre of bubbleburst Spain is a bit depressing.