Stepping off a plane to be hit by warm, humid air in the dark of the night always makes me existed: There are usually adventures ahead.
This time was no different.
I was travelling with 12 other lovely ladies to Rhodes to get a glimpse at what a Mark Warner holiday is all about.
We arrived at the Levante beach resort after a 30 minute transfer from the airport to a buffet kept open for us.
In the dark, the resort was lit gently. We had a good view of the 84m main pool and, I for one, longed to jump in after our plane journey.
Our bags were taken to our rooms, with us soon to follow. We were allocated suites in block 6, 7 and 8. I was in block 7, just beyond done ancient Greek ruins…
“How extraordinary!“, I thought to myself as I saw it all lit up in the night.
My room was 7007, a ground floor delux suite just by a smaller pool, the 18+ pool as I was to find out next morning. The room was spacious: two rooms opening into eachother with a large sliding door to separate them. The lounge area had beds with backrests, that could be be used for lounging during the day and sleeping at night. The bathroom was huge, with two sinks, separate large shower and a lovely deep bath. Plenty of wardrobe space, two desks- one with a large mirror above and decent light to apply makeup. One of the wardrobes hid the safe and the lovely thick bathrobes.
Stepping outside, I found a terrace gently screened by some low plants.
I love sleeping by an open window and left my terrace door open for the night. However, I kept stirring to the different noises- crickets chirping, sprinklers watering and water lapping gently in pool- and probably due to the fact of being on my own in a new environment. After an hour or two I caved: I closed the door and switched the air-conditioning on 22C. I slept like a baby in the huge comfortable bed, waking in the morning much refreshed to a view like this just outside my large terrace door:
Once freshened up in my huge bathroom and dressed, I couldn’t resist a wander down to the beach as the sun spread its rays.
Afterwards a breakfast of hundreds of choices greeted me in the restaurant: Fresh fruits, Greek breakfast, aka cakes, continental breakfast, warm breakfast, freshly made omelette and even a whole pancake and waffle counter. My favourite were the waffles and the omelette with everything stacked on except peppers. Of the food at the resort, I found the breakfast the best.
Some coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice got me and rest of the ladies ready for the manager’s welcome. We listened to the briefing about the resort, things to do, places to go and had a quick tour of the childcare facilities.
Wow! I was blown away by the childcare facilities: Spacious and very welcoming, and the little ones don’t even spend all their time in there. Mark Warner childcare, it seems, is all about giving the kids a fabulous holiday not confined to the creche: The fully qualified nannies take the little ones down to the pool, the beach and even get them on boats.
Later in the day I spotted 6 or so toddlers holding onto a foam chain and marching down to the beach. It was so cute! Similarly, babies get to go to the beach even when mum and dad are busy taking part in activities, sports or just chilling. They are wheeled down in shaded buggies for a bit a splash about and fresh air.
I’m all for family time and shared experiences, but the few days at Levante beach resort made me realise that at Mark Warner resorts you can still have that too, but you have the option to have some real me time and indulge in spa treatment or sports without having to keep half an eye on the kids. With childcare included in the holiday (all you need to do is pre-book the sessions) there is no extra expense and the guilt is removed because the kids have an amazing time, from what I witnessed. When finally we go on a Mark Warner family holiday, my biggest fear is that the kids will want to spend more time in childcare than with me and Dadonthebrink, their boring parents!
For those without kids of their own wondering if Mark Warner holidays are full of loud kids: An added bonus of the childcare: there will always be a good portion of kids- 4 months to 17 years- in childcare. Those not in morning, afternoon or evening sessions are therefore better dispersed through the resort and not likely to be bored or creating havoc. It makes for a calmer holiday for everyone who choose Mark Warner holidays for the facilities and sports options.
Our tour of the resort ended on the waterfront and the real fun was just about to begin for me…
Waterports! And it earned me a nickname with my fellow bloggers.
Can you guess what nickname I was given?
Info:
Mark Warner flies its guests out with British Airways from London Heathrow on Saturdays. The flight is about 4.5 hours. (There are also flights from Manchester on Wednesdays)
The transfer from Rhodes ariport to Levante Beach Resort is about 30 minutes.
A 30 minute walk from the resort is the small town of Kolymbia, which offers good souvenir shopping, a nightclub and restaurants. Taxi to the town was 8 Euros, and it was 5 Euros to come back, though the taxi driver asked for 6 Euros because there was 5 of us.
Pricing a similar stay up for us as a family of 5 works out to just over £650 per person next year, leaving the last weekend of August. (I love the East Med in September: the temperature is perfect and the water is lovely and warm.) It’s not cheap, but then childcare is included (free for 2-17 year olds), all I need to do is reserve it. It also includes half board, similar delux suite as I stayed with and extra bed for Max. Furthermore windsurfing and sailing with tuition, paddle sports, tennis, cycling, fitness programme are all things we could do without extra cost. If we wanted to get RYA qualifications, those would be extra.
Check out what my fellow travel companions had to say:
Kara at Chelseamamma
Kate at Witwitwoo
Emily at A mummy too
Victoria at Vevivos
Rebecca at Mum of 3 boys
Katrina at Cool Bananas blog
Carissa at Little Likely Lads
Alyson at Not another mummy blog
Lisa at Hollybobbs
Racheal At RachaelLucas
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You’re right about the childcare – when D and I were enjoying our ‘me-time’ we barely noticed the children on the resort. They were all off, in groups, discreetly enjoying themselves. As for your name….Cap’n Monika? Great post.
Ah Monika, I particularly likes the nicknames!! A great post, & it was fab to spend time with you….even if you were at sea most of the time, whilst i floated on my lilo lol!! XX
It was such fun wasn’t it and I have almost forgiven you for the dunking ;0)
Great review – such an awesome holiday! x
Such a great review lovely, pleased you had a nice time. We love Rhodes, have not been with kids there, but hopefully will be back one day soon.