Friday Q&A: Family Holiday Tips with Holly Rubenstein

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1:45Hello and welcome to Made by Mamas, the podcast. I'm Zoe Hardman. And I'm Georgia Dayton. And this is your parenting safe space where no conversation is off limits. With five kids between G and I, we have seen a lot. We really have. Each week, we'll be joined by some famous faces and experts, and we'll chat about the brands and products that have saved us along the way. In short, we're the parenting podcast for you. Before we get started, hit subscribe or follow so you're the first to know when each episode lands. And they're on Tuesdays and Fridays. And it really helps if you leave a rating and a review.

2:18You can also find us on Instagram. We're on at Made by Mummers. But for now, George, should we get into it? Hello and welcome to Friday's episode of the podcast. As you know, Georgia and I love travelling, love going on holiday. Wish we could do it more. Wish we could do it more. And you guys, obviously with kids and stuff, your travel needs changed. So we really wanted to bring you an episode that was really informative with great recommendations, help, advice, tips, travel with kids. And if you want to go away by yourself and have a couple of days, we've got the expert who knows everything about it.

2:51the host of the UK's number one travel podcast, Answering Your Travel Needs, on the podcast today is Holly Rubenstein. Hello! Hi! Thank you so much for having me. The Queen of Travel. Yeah.

3:01Holly Rubenstein: Thank you, I'll take that title. What a nice job to have, by the way. Just tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into it. Yeah, so my background was on red carpet. So I was doing red carpet reporting for Reuters and the BBC in my 20s, like being out every night in the kind of press cages, trying to get my question in with George Clooney and David Attenborough, kind of a whole mix of people. And on the side, I was writing for the papers about travel because that was a real passion of mine. And then one day I decided as a big podcast fan to combine my two loves, travel and celebrity and that's where the travel diaries began so now I interview celebrities about the travel experiences and destinations that have shaped their lives which do you know what it's so um I love that you do that for a job because I know from my side of things that traveling going backpacking at 18 and then 20 to do those two big round the world trips that I did by myself completely shaped me as a person yeah and the experiences that I had the places I worked the people that I met in fact weirdly when I went to the BAFTAs the other week a woman who was two women in front of me she turned around she went oh my god Zoe she said we met in New Zealand when you were 20 on our bungee jump wow and she was like I followed your career she was like what we had like a week together because we were on the Kiwi experience or one of those ones or the magic bus whatever it was and she was just like I never forgot that time we had together and she was like it was just yeah it's formative oh it's formative stuff and it really does those lasting memories and the experiences that you have wow yeah and what's so nice is it unlocks something different in my guests because they're so used to answering the same questions over and over and over again but reflecting on the first place they fell in love with or the place where they learned the most about themselves like on your trip for example it unlocks emotion that they didn't really expect often and you get like tearful moments or like really elated moments and that means you connect with a listener like so much more where did your love of travel come from well I've always been so my dad's American and my mum's English and so we'd always go back and forth every holiday between Miami where my family lived and England and so I think like my first flight was I think nine weeks doing that long haul trip and so I was always on a plane every school holiday and we would start by seeing the US and then I think you know I just gradually fell in love with it as the opportunities arose and I studied anthropology at university so you know I've always had a real interest in like human culture and like the culture of places as well as like the aesthetic as well so it's been a dream to be able to integrate it into like my everyday life it's just so fun it's dream job it's dream job territory now you're talking about traveling with kids which is a whole different ball game oh I'm I feel so embarrassed because my daughter um she's three and a half and she's at nursery and we bumped into one of the dads at the playground yesterday and he had come in for show and tell to talk about his career as a soldier and he said yeah um your daughter came up to me she said she's been on three holidays this year and I was like oh no that's so embarrassing but actually it's for my work so I bring her along with me and um it's amazing to be able to like focus on family travel now because there are so many great options out there for families it's just about knowing where to find them yeah and I think it can be such a mindful because we hear so like you see the same places right on Instagram and social media they come up time and time again and then you go to book them they cost an arm and a leg oh my god and it seems like everybody's going there and everybody's booking it and you think gosh there's got to be other places to go to out there um so it would be great like we've got some like questions from the listeners um if we can just yeah let's dive into it i'm going to kick this off first one from jillian long haul adventure that's not horrifically expensive and avoid stopping in Dubai?

7:13Okay, that's a good one.

7:14Holly Rubenstein: Well, I've got two that came to mind immediately. One would be Sri Lanka and one would be South Africa. I think that Sri Lanka is a great bet because you don't have to do internal flights to have an adventure. It's a country that's doable just by car transfers. And I think when you're traveling with all the kit that you might need to be able to then I think you can often for a really reasonable rate hire a driver and they can then take you from place to place dump all of your stuff in a massive car and then you know you could maybe do a bit of beach a bit of safari um a little bit of the city or a little bit of the temples or the tea plantation area so I think that it's really really doable and I've had I haven't done it with young children but I've had friends who have actually my friend Olivia Hammond who came on the podcast she's my bumping baby friend and she did that when her son Bo was um about two and she was pregnant and they had an absolutely magical time you can get such good value in homestays in particular and the food is really reasonably priced but absolutely delicious and the people are so hospitable um South Africa so easy because of the time zone um being so similar to ours so you don't have to deal with the jet lag um and then of course you can have so many adventures there because again you can do the safari you can do the garden route you can do the winelands you can do table mountain table mountain cape town i mean the list is endless and if you want to you can just do one direct flight and then you're there and then you can base yourself from say cape town probably cape town is the best bet and go go all around um And again, I think because of the exchange rate, people comment always about how reasonably priced the food is in particular, such great quality, such a burgeoning food scene.

9:11Holly Rubenstein: And then also you can actually go there and get quite reasonably priced childcare. care yeah um I've had friends who've taken whole maternity leaves just out there and you can hire a nanny or you can actually book into some nurseries for like a finite period of time because there are so many people who are based between London and Cape Town that you can rent an Airbnb say for six weeks and there are lots of nurseries in certain communities where you can just book them in for those six weeks and then you've got actual proper child care oh my god we're talking about spending six weeks somewhere i'm definitely sorry i'm like i'm probably i've talked to you about my dream yeah yeah yeah both those places can you recommend any like you've mentioned homestays and airbnb and that kind of thing but what about like any resorts or like brand hotel brands that to look for there well i would say that having looked into both destinations myself now with children that there aren't in South Africa and in Sri Lanka there aren't like proper kids clubby hotels I would say so that's something probably to bear in mind like it is somewhere where maybe you could get child care but it's not a kind of the famous European yeah all-inclusive type hotel resorts um but I do I do think that there are amazing hotels for example in South Africa um well in Cape Town where do I start I would say that the ones that are on my list um to go to once I have kids um is uh one called Babylon Storen it's um in the wine country absolutely spectacular beautiful farmland so that the kids can engage with the wildlife and you know chase the chickens um and then kind of going further along uh there are lots near Hermanus again that I would really really like to visit myself um so and then going over to Sri Lanka well the um the Aman hotels have got a real selection of properties all the way through the country that are really really spectacular and accommodating to children they've got high-end kind of children's amenities that you might want um more specifically I think that's probably like the extent of what I would be able to recommend.

11:37Holly Rubenstein: That's perfect. Sri Lanka's next on my list. Is it? Yes, I am. I'm doing a load of research and it's, I'm definitely, next year we are Sri Lanka. Oh, I'll tell you another one that I really want to go to in Sri Lanka that I've heard is great with kids. It's called Yala Tented Lodge. Okay. For safaris? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And again, it's not that far from the other points that I imagine you might want to be stopping off on. Yeah. Which just makes it so much more convenient. Just imagine eating Sri Lankan curry every single day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I will be in heaven with that food.

12:10Lovely. Someone here, Lucy, has put, fave small hotels in Europe with kids clubs, more farm stays than resorts. So maybe like more alternative places to stay than the usual big European resorts.

12:25Holly Rubenstein: Well, I would say as an alternative to the, what I imagine we're all thinking as the big European resorts. Like a Sarnia, you mean? yeah I just got back from there did you yeah I'm gonna ask you about this yeah but I would recommend to what's her name Lucy Lucy Lucy right what you need to do Lucy is go to an alpine hotel yes this is my big discovery since having children so I have I think been to five or six now in the last three and a half years, I'm a complete convert. You can find the most beautiful accommodating hotels. They're called kinder hotels in the Austrian Alps or the Italian Alps.

13:12Holly Rubenstein: And they have everything you might ever want. Often they actually are all inclusive or half bored, but in a completely different way. It's all farm to table. It's all very wholesome. you've got such a sense of space because there's the far sweeping views of the mountains it's a year round destination so I've been in the winter I've been in March and I've been in the autumn and each season in that environment is just spectacular and delivers in a completely different way I like it in the summer actually because it's less busy it's like if you can go slightly out a season in the summer it's like the dream because you can have amazing weather beautiful green landscapes hike walk play out and play outside with the facilities they all have insane kids clubs like you're thinking you know that beautiful like pine scandy chic kind of plywood toys everywhere you know all that and they accommodate kids so so beautifully so i've stayed in a few most recently one um I don't know if I'd call it boutique per se but it is certainly they're all small they're not behemoths they're not mega resorts they're I think maybe 30 to 50 rooms so yeah boutique in terms of scale um it was called Aki it's a new hotel it opened last year to me where was it so you you fly into Innsbruck yeah and then you drive across the border into the Dolomites, into the Italian Alps area.

14:47Holly Rubenstein: So you're just on the border of the Dolomites there. It's about an hour from Innsbruck. So an easy transfer. They set it all up for you. As far as mountain hotels goes, I think this is going to be hard to beat. It was exceptional. And the kids club is from Nort and Up, which I think is the holy grail. Yeah, because people are always looking for places that have kids clubs for that young age. So, yeah, that was really... And the views. Oh, it's the one beginning with an F. It's like fur... So there are two. There's Führerstein. Yes. I was at one called Natcha Hotel Forstof Goods. Oh, okay. And then there's another one called Falkensteiner.

15:27Yeah.

15:28Holly Rubenstein: So they're all Fs. There's so many and they look amazing. And if you go in the winter, you can ski. Yes, exactly. But it's not the main focus. People are, I think, a bit put off by going to the mountains in the summer. They don't really see it as a destination. I grew up going on holiday to the mountains. La Clouse, we used to go every year in the summer. Oh, right. So you're a convent. It's heaven being in that environment in the summer, but it just delivers. And there's so many activities for kids to do. Luging, mountain biking, you know, hike, you name it. I mean, we had an ice rink. That's where I had my first snog, actually.

16:01Oh, really? Behind La Clouse ice rink. Oh, my goodness. To a lovely French boy. I do think there's a bit of a shift, though, And people are now looking at like the mountains and like going on holiday near lakes and all of that.

16:14Holly Rubenstein: Because it's that Caucasian trend as well, isn't it? Because the southern parts of Europe in the summer are also scorching. And it's so busy as well. Yeah, it's so busy and it's so hectic. There's a place in Austria that I was looking at. I think it's called like Morgut. Yes. Morgut. Yeah. So that actually I was going to mention. Oh, right. Because if you want somewhere that is more boutique, that is a real farm stay, but very high end. Yeah. So that would be a really good shout. And apparently it's quite good for like older kids. Yeah, they're great. They're so great for multi-generational. I mean, in this recent one at Aki, they had these little hammocks for the kids, for the babies.

16:50So I was there with my son who was five and a half months at that age, at that time.

16:56Holly Rubenstein: They had these hammocks that were like strung up to the ceiling and they bobbed up and down on a mechanical thing. Oh my God. So he was just having the best sleep he's ever had, bobbing up and down in this kids' club. Meanwhile, my daughter had like an easel part of her kids' club art class painting the mountains. Then they went and took the llamas for a walk up into the hills. Jesus, that sounds ridiculous. It's amazing. There was a sandpit that was like the size of my garden. And it had diggers and it had a harness thing that you could go across with pulleys. give us a price point though well i think if you're going to pick one i would go for aki now because it's a new hotel and therefore they've got introductory rates and that is one thing to keep an eye out yeah so new hotels yeah yeah yeah for that first year and second year they're soft launching it there might be some teething issues with the operational side of things and so i would say that it's starting for a week all inclusive for a family of four at around 7k We'll be right back after this short break.

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19:32Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? Staycations in the UK, please, with private pool. Eight months pregnant in August with two kids, nine and seven. UK private pool. It says private pool, but I think maybe even at the hotel or that there's a pool there rather than having to go. And the kids are? Nine and seven. Nine and seven. And she's eight months pregnant as well. Oh, well, congratulations to her. The grove is really great. for a staycation. I love the going there in a couple of months. Oh, it's brilliant. Oh, it's great. It's really, I was getting, as soon as I was like, well, this isn't, it's not a private pool, but that's the age of my kids pretty much and it's perfect for them because there's golf and there's like, you know, the pool, there's loads of activities and outdoor cinema.

20:16There's all sorts and even just like being able to roam. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, great hotel. And I think Harry Potter world is close by. My kids aren't into Harry Potter, but I know that a lot of people do that.

20:27Holly Rubenstein: Yeah, that's a good shot, George. A couple that came to mind for me were Cool Cop and Spa. Oh, yeah. Have you been there? Yes, I had. Is that in the Cotswolds? Yeah. So that's the first Christmas that Doz and I had together. Oh. Yeah. We spent it there without kids. Oh, yeah. Well, you see, it is nice because it does appeal to, well, you can have your adult time. And you can have, because there's a proper kids club there. Yep. So that caters to all ages. And then there's a really nice spa. Watergate Bay Hotel was another one that came to mind Gorgeous, down in Cornwall Yeah, because I don't know, the pool when I'm picturing it is indoors, but there is a private pool, there's a pool for the people who are there, but then you're literally steps from one of the most beautiful beaches in the country and they do surf club for kids that age so that would be a really nice year Watergate Bay is amazing Just in case she is thinking about like a home sort of stay, any websites that you can recommend where you might get like an amazing sort of house with a private pool to stay in just in case that's what she's thinking yeah where should we look for stuff like that because uh rentals yeah like obviously airbnb they put what 20 i mean my airbnb story for the for the ski holiday was wild yeah it was on airbnb it was coming in at seven and a half grand and obviously she couldn't tell me to go and look elsewhere so she was like i i can't give you a discount on this site in capital letters but hopefully you'll find me somewhere else because obviously airbnb monitor it and thanks airbnb put it into google it came up on another site five and a half grand it's two grand cheaper same apartment wow that's wild i've never heard it that drastic but i've heard a lot of it is interesting isn't it when they often say that if you go direct to the hotel or if you go direct to the property that you can yeah often they'll often match it or give you a better a better deal I have to say that I'm more of a hotel person rather than a homestay person I tell you why it's just because I find it then you're just like doing all the cooking and cleaning somewhere else so I'm with you totally if I can a holiday for me with kids is actually not having to do that yeah I can I totally get that and I think now the kids are a bit older I find it a bit easier yeah like and I quite like having more space yeah you know that you get from an apartment or a villa um not always don't get me wrong like coming down and my breakfast being cooked and all of that but i don't mind it so much now that they're a bit older i really didn't yeah enjoy it that much have you heard of the lakes by you oh yeah i haven't been there oh you went there for and i went there to um i did i went with f and f i've stayed the night there yeah and you've stayed yeah i love it it's so nice isn't it and i mean that has a pool as well Well, some of them have that.

23:17Holly Rubenstein: So it's, for people who aren't familiar with it, it's a collection of villas and cabins and apartments in the Cotswolds near Letschlaid. And they're around these beautiful lakes. And it's so serene there. Yeah, it really is. But then in the summer, it kind of comes to life. They do like outdoor barbecues and people are all out on the lakes on their paddle boards and canoes. And it's really, really fun. Some of them have their own pools. And then there's a kind of communal spa, which is very high-end spa with a really nice pool and now they've got a new restaurant as well yeah um so that would be that's a good balance as well because you've got your own space but also the facility of a restaurant yeah and like you know communal stuff there's that that's a good that's my holiday balance yeah like if i could do that everywhere i would i think it's lakes by you which is spelt y-o-o yeah for those of you that are looking for a deep dive on it i did for october half term with a five-year-old that's quite broad where should we think well I think October half term by the way is my favorite of all the school holidays because in Europe everywhere's still gorgeous so the world's your oyster I would say definitely not long haul keep it short haul for sure um where should you go well if you're not going to the mountains uh which is my best shout But I mean, I have to say, I know that we were going to come on to it, but I think I'm a Sani convert.

24:47Holly Rubenstein: Oh, God, are you? I didn't know what to expect. And I thought that it was going to be wild, like full of children everywhere. And then it might be just a bit much. Oh, my God. I was in absolute heaven. I loved it. I actually think I want to go back every year. I do not love the price. I know so many people who do this. I do not love, I'm just going to throw it out there. 20 odd grand for a holiday. It's way too expensive. Is that a fair reflection? I don't think it's that expensive. And it's still holidays for two weeks. Maybe two weeks. Oh, maybe two weeks, yeah. I suppose I haven't ever gone anywhere for two weeks, really.

25:33Holly Rubenstein: But I went for five nights. Right, how much? And I think you can... How much was it? how much was it well you can get flights um accommodation like packages um with your half board and I think for five nights it it's starting per person at around 1200 okay I literally was looking at it myself on the back of a magazine just yesterday um and the thing with Sani is that there are different actually it's pronounced Sani I just realized yeah um so sorry I should correct myself there um but there are like five different hotels within the broader property that reflect different price points and different needs so I was being hosted for disclosure so I was in a villa that had two bedrooms and its own pool right no wonder you loved it yeah exactly exactly but I did look around at the different other room setups because I was thinking to myself how can I how can I come back here on my own dollar right and I was really impressed with the room with the quality of the rooms whatever the category got it and you're spending so much time outside of the room the communal pools the beach it's like powder soft white sand I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful it was have you been have you been no I know so many people who have been yeah and like I haven't heard a bad word no I mean yeah I have to say give it a go honestly What about other, like those sorts of resorts?

27:04And I guess in October, half term, they're cheaper than they would be in August. So things like Hillside Beach Club, that is firmly on my list. Is that Turkey? I really want to go there. Yeah.

27:15Holly Rubenstein: I've not been there myself. It's on my list of going as well. For me, with a little one, the flight time to Turkey on those kind of shorter haul planes is just like bordering on how long I want to be on one of those flights. it's another really good shout so hillside beach club is beautiful it i recently released a turkey destination special of the podcast or turkia as we now as we now call it and um my turkey destination expert who came on her name's annabelle thorpe she was a travel editor at the times and has been a turkey expert for 20 years her favorite family property hillside beach oh right interesting it's got such a high return rate yeah that it's literally being studied yes so they cannot believe how many people go back there year on year yeah really want to go there what it is yeah i mean like i don't know there's so many one thing to bear in mind is that the kids club is from four plus right so if you have little ones it might not be as kind of useful uh the beach is pebble that's the other thing but if you look just type it into instagram and look at the photos of it it's hard not to be like i want to be here it's this dreamy bay surrounded by pine covered hills with turquoise water with um kind of decks that go out into the sea with beautiful sun lounges on it's really really really lovely we'll be right back after this short break

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30:07Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? So we're trying for our holiday at the end of August. We are going to Lemnos in Greece and we are doing a Mark Warner holiday for the first time ever because normally we do always get our own villa or, you know, we will always do the sort of self-catering thing. But we've decided actually we're going to do a hotel this time and we want some activities for the kids. So it's very much like sailing, water skiing, pickle, paddle, tennis. Every day there's stuff on. And actually for two weeks, we paid with flights and half bored,$8 ,200.

30:42For two weeks? Yeah. That is spectacular. Yeah, it's really good. For two weeks, for four of us. Yeah, it's really good. It's got two bedrooms. Yeah. I mean, there's either something horrendously wrong with it. No. Or I've got a bargain. You've got a bargain. Okay. I'm excited for you. Yeah, yeah. I can't wait to fill you in on that. But I think a Mark Warner is also something to look for for October Half Time. I've heard amazing things about it. and it's one below Sarni in terms of, because it's not going to be, my friends have been and they said it's not shiny, but it's also not plastic chairs and ketchup out of a pump.

31:12Holly Rubenstein: I'm going to somewhere quite similar actually on Sunday, which again, it's on Zakynthos. So that's, have that same weather hopefully in October called Pelagoni Club. Oh yes, I've heard that. I've heard good things. And what's really interesting about that is that similarly, it's kind of, it's not glossy. It's kind of barefoot luxury, like kind of rustic chic but the way that it works is everybody has different villas of literally all price points and I do mean all price points so you can get ultra luxury huge glossy villas with their own pools and then there are bed and breakfasts and there are little smaller apartments that are very very nice but they're just more basic and what they offer yeah But everybody goes down to the main club, which has a pool there.

32:00Holly Rubenstein: It has water sports of every description. It has a creche, again, nought and up. And then a kids club with, I've looked at the many of activities and it's really like charming, really cute stuff that they offer the kids. Lovely, lovely food. Big feasts that they put on three nights a week where everybody comes down and long trestle tables, like candle lit. all different kinds of piles of greek cuisine um and guest chefs that come in so i think that that would be really nice yeah and can i give you one more yeah um i went in october half term this is somewhere that is slightly more um of a splurge yeah but it's kind of bucket list hotel for families called borgo ignatia in pulia in italy it's called what borgo ignatia borgo ignatia Egnatia.

32:49Egnatia.

32:49Holly Rubenstein: And again, it's known for having an exceptional kids' club. I think it's got one of the highest reviewed kids' clubs in Europe. Again, Puglia, at that time of year, it's that dry heat. You're likely to get really good weather. There's a real range of accommodation options. So you can get a big villa. You can get these little kind of casitas, like little tiny houses that are a room downstairs stairs and then a little room upstairs and a little bunk room so they have different setups for kind of kids of different ages but the reason it came to mind was not only because it's just got an exceptional kids club and it's got a farm and it's got a playground and it's got lots of different pools and adults only areas and kids kids pools but every um every Saturday night it has this incredible banquet in the square that's in the middle of the hotel so it's like a kind of fake village which you kind of have to buy into it's a little bit like sunny in that way you're kind of stepping into an alternate reality and you just have to buy into it like you're not in the authentic part of puliette right in that precise moment but you're in a in in a one that looks like it and oh my gosh it was like the most beautiful wedding i've ever been to wow it was one of the most memorable moments that i've ever shared with my daughter there was live music playing the whole square is enveloped in stands that are selling different um cuisines you know different pastas different meats different all different things it was it was magical there was um it was it was literally twinkling because every table was just lined with flickering candles and there There were like light installations above.

34:40Holly Rubenstein: It was, just thinking about it, it gives me shivers. When I turned the corner and I saw it, I literally nearly burst into tears. I've never seen something so beautiful. So when I'm asked about my most memorable travel memory, that was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. Let's take the kids. Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. You pay for it. It could be my birthday. My early 50th. Can we please talk about Ibiza? Sure. Can you, are you, do you go to Ibiza? Lots of questions about Ibiza. that's really interesting for a family podcast and that is reflection of I guess how the reputation of Ibiza has changed you know like it has this quiet side it has this party side and you can dip into either um I've only been to Ibiza full disclosure without kids so my experience of it isn't isn't probably what your listeners might be wanting recommendations on interestingly on the podcast my podcast this season um Ibiza has been the all-time favorite destination of three of my guests if I came on it would be four yeah Eve remember Eve who's there yeah she Ibiza is her like go-to place the north the quiet part having those kind of tranquil boat days um in terms of hotels I I would say that the only one that I myself am familiar with would be the Six Senses um which is very family friendly and has a really family friendly program and there's the Nobu as well I think but it's one of those ones where I personally it's it's maybe not the highest on my list I think I'd probably go to Formentera instead maybe do do a dual center um with my kids and there are lots of new hotels on Formentera that really appeal to me and it's like slightly slightly more low-key more kind of barefoot yeah Formantera is like the beautiful sleepy sister and it gives you so much you can get a bit of everything on forms I think but I do think you can get we obviously go every single year you go every year I go six times a year just me personally no no just because you love it I love it more than anything else in the world but we always take our kids there for our two week family this is the first year we're not taking the kids so Luna's been like already eight times she loves it but I think you can get you can definitely get that family vibe from Ibiza depending on where you stay I would stay definitely get a self you know get get a villa do it that way because and then like you said you know anything above sort of Santa Lucia and even on the west coast there's some amazing places but you can you know Ibiza town is a great destination to take kids like mooching around at night and I think people think San Antonio for me not so much to take the kids over but Ibiza town absolutely and perfect and also the clubs are not based in those areas you have to drive you know to the destinations you're not going to see like twatted clubbers you know coming up to your table and if you do you know tell the kids that they're just excited on their first night you know like I just yeah I do think it's a great destination for a family holiday so you obviously mentioned villas and I know that villas in Ibiza are probably still quite expensive but I would say like when I look at August holidays now my kids are old like a bit older we are looking at self-catering more like doing apartments booking on airbnb like i'm we just came back from spain we stayed in someone who worked through that um her apartment and i would 100 % do that again and i've looked on airbnb at you know for august proper school holidays you can get decent places near the beach for under 200 pounds a night yeah and i really would recommend doing it I don't know if I would I wouldn't have done it if my kids were under five I definitely wouldn't because stairs and you know all of the things that you forget that come with a hotel yeah but actually you know we could get away with doing a really low cost holiday and then spending our money on going to really nice beach clubs in the day with them and having a little bit of luxury like that so yeah I mean I know we're obviously talking lots of lovely luxury um hotels and stuff which I absolutely love yeah but just to you know caveat that there are other ways of doing it yeah yeah yeah I love that and we've probably got time for one more let's do one more what about which are the best spots with kids clubs zero and up not four not two that is the search term that is probably most put into my google um I have to say um well Well, I can give you a few that I think are spectacular for naught and up.

39:24Holly Rubenstein: So aside from Aki, which I mentioned, there's another one in the kind of similar realm called Sonvise. Sonvise, again, has a kids club that went viral on my Instagram and TikTok because it was so jaw-droppingly awesome. um what was amazing about the kids club was again it had this incredible itinerary of activities for kids of all ages from naught and up and I felt like my so I took my daughter there when she was six months I felt like she was in such kind caring hands the staff there are all kind of officially registered I can't think of the precise name like Ofsted registered type thing yep um so you know that they're they're like being properly looked after meanwhile there's a lovely lovely spa for the adults to to go to as well I mean I think a naught and up kids club is a bit of a holy grail I have to say um one that is two and up can I tempt you with that was another one that I went to recently called like Natur Hotel Forstof Good and that again had a kids club that was insane it had a sand school where you could do pony riding it had jesus christ it had yeah it was it was so wonderful it was so outdoorsy if your child is really outdoorsy this is a really good one and again it had a real range of accommodation prices per night so from a smaller family room up to like bigger villas i thought it was a really good option and I feel like I'm fixating on mountain hotels at the moment and I need to just take my...

41:04Holly Rubenstein: You're very much in your own. Put yourself to the beach. I'm in my mountain area. I feel like I know a lot of hotels, they're not maybe kids clubs zero to four, but they do offer like babysitting. Yeah, oh yeah, loads of those, yeah. Like is it Candia? One of my friends went to... Candia? Candia. No, isn't that thrush? Yeah, but I think it's called, no, I think it's called Candia Park. Candia Park. I've heard a lot of people going there I think it's like Crete I know they definitely do babysitting yeah yeah well there was another one that I wanted to mention actually in Mallorca called Sonbreul which is just really lovely hotel for being near Palenca which I think is such a beautiful old town to like walk around in the beach is so lovely there and it has lots of little tiny villas that are kind of two rooms but they all have little plunge pools oh gorgeous and I think that's really really nice and a little bit of green garden that you can play around in which is really lovely um Villa Vita Park is a hotel in in Algarve that I really recommend that has a good really good kids club that's kind of renowned across Europe for for being really really fabulous and so accommodating for kids and it has multiple pools it has a lovely beach really great restaurants and again that kind of holy grail I think of accommodation which is like two-bedroom apartments or where you're not having to have dinner in the bathroom situation I've done that is that in is that Val de Lobo or Albu Fira it yeah it's it's I think it's near Albuferra.

42:47Yeah, you fly into Faro. Faro, yeah. Have you been to the Viceroy?

42:51Holly Rubenstein: No, I have heard. It's really nice. Yeah, I went for the day because I grew up in Portugal. I know it really well. But I always get stuck when people ask about hotels to stay in because usually we'll like rent a villa or an apartment or whatever. And I went to the Viceroy for the day and it wasn't near the beach. Right, it's more rural. It's a little bit more in the hills, but still only 20 minutes from the beach on a golf course. and that was for me like if I had a young baby I would go there because it's quiet the food was unbelievable and it felt really luxe and adult so I take a baby I wouldn't take maybe two to five and then over five again I would go okay you know like one of those where it's like Like, not because, I mean, you definitely could take two to five, but I'm just saying, like, to get the most out of it, I think I would be taking a really little baby.

43:47Yeah. Or a... The Viceroy. The Viceroy, yeah. I was so impressed by it.

43:52Holly Rubenstein: I love that. A more, slightly more affordable option that a lot of my friends have really enjoyed also down there. It's Octant Hotel. Yes. In the Algarve, which is slightly smaller in scale. it's not like a big chain and it's meant to be really lovely Is that in like a farm type of one? Yeah, there's one there are a few of them Yes, I've wanted to stay in one of them it used to be called something else and I think that sort of group took over and the food is meant to be unbelievable at those hotels Same kind of thing I think like when you have a young baby it would be really nice and then maybe when they're a touch older as well It's more like they're just not activities Yes, exactly, put on It's child-friendly, but there's just not, like, a kid's class.

44:38I'm writing all these down. And also, we haven't really had time to talk about the Maldives with kids, but I'm going next year with Centara Hotel, Centura, Centara Hotel. Oh, wow. And they've just opened a brand-new, very kids-friendly, but Maldives. But they've also got, like, slides going into the sea, and there's, like, a little water park and all that kind of stuff. So I can't wait to report back on that. That would be amazing. Actually, they were like, oh, did you want to do a job? I was like, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. What do I get paid in holiday? Yes, I'm in. What do I need to do? So I will report back, but I'm really excited.

45:12It looks amazing because I think people have put off about the Maldives because if they've got kids, what do they do? I'd say it's the most family-friendly place ever. No, but people don't think that, George, because they think, oh, I'm just going to be sitting around, but this looks like activities coming out your ears. Well, the kids' clubs typically don't start until four.

45:27Holly Rubenstein: Right. So if you want to dump your kids in the kids' clubs in the Maldives, then maybe you want to wait until they're a bit older. But if you want them with you and you want to hang out with them and you're doing wonderful activities with them. Until they get in the way. Yeah. And then often you can go with them, you just have to accompany them, don't you? That's the rule. Just before we finish, one question. Best hotel you've ever stayed at? So not kid-friendly, not just your absolute favourite, number one. well actually the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithafushi I think was one of the most amazing places I went there on my honeymoon and it was absolutely spectacular but I'm going to say Aurel Chateau de la Massadier which is in the south of France it's where the new White Notice is being filmed and it actually does have an amazing kids club but I don't think I will ever get to go back there now because all the Americans and everybody will want to be going there but it has a kids club from three and up it is a converted chateau that has views over rametwell and the beautiful south of france it's this white white gleaming white chateau on the top of a hill the pools were insane the food was wonderful there was a nobu pop-up when i was there it was like it was also the first place i went after covid so it has that special thing where it's like we're back traveling again like it's so nice to be away but yeah on the new white lotus keep an eye out for it amazing thank you i want to go on holiday now i don't want responsibilities i want pina coladas in the sand um holly thank you so much for coming on thank you it's been so fun i mean we could have come up for another hour another time holly everyone thank you Yay!

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