Problem is with the holiday village type setups is you are often paying for all the extra facilies that they provide . Often you need to pay extra for much of it there too which can get expensive if you have older children . A toddler is not going to be making much use of it .
If you can get one for the same cost as you would pay for something decent without the facilities then it would probably be worth it .

Many moons ago now when we took our eldest son on our 1st holiday as a family (he was 6 months old) I chose one of the Thomson superfamily hotels in Majorca. I chose it thinking it would be cleaner, have a better cot etc & if help was needed thomson would be on hand for me . All those things you think about when you have a young baby . To be honest it wasnt that great and thinking back now I could have done better had i not been attracted to the "superfamily " eliment . We never made any use of the facilities on offer either . We walked to the beach , spent most of the day there and then went out to eat of an evening as it was Self catering .

I think it would be more beneficial if you intend to go A/I where you will be spending a lot of time on site but i dont think you will get any better for your money than another A/I with good reviews.

hi
you could try the sol tordors/mirlos in palma nova as they have plenty going on for the kids and you can choose either h/b or a/l .it's all done in the flintstones theme .direct holidays were doing not bad prices for this hotel we are taking our 2yr old grandaughter there in may and it gets good reviews. family and friends have been and recommend it . plenty of entertainment at night and cbeebies for the kids to keep them amused if you want a lie in .

hi, i didnt realise you had to pay for the activities at the hol villages! blimey its expensive enough as it is. we did look at the flintstone hotel and it does look good but unfortunatley it does not have rooms with kitchents which ive decided i want so we can have our own meal in peace having already fed the baby, and also somewhere comfortable to go back to and be able to sit on balcony/terrece an put baby bed, maybe even have a bedroom and living area so were not creeping round too much incase of waking him. so ive decided thats important for us.

i know we could go sc but by the time ive paid for the hol (there coming in at around £1000 for sc 10-11 nights) we would need £1000+ for spends and especially with how the euro is now, we used to budget £100 a day for just the 2 of us and that was when the euro was good, and we used to come back with 1-200 maybe but now we have a toddler too! so would prob need more money than that even! im keeping an eye on the hol villages see if they come down i price, but think id be lucky if they did!

With a yong child I would advise going to a self catering apaprtment rather than a hotel as it gives you more space and more flexibility. You can prepare food for your little one, you will have a fridge and most importantly (for us anyway) you have a separate bedroom so that when they are sleeping you have somewhere nice to sit rather than being stuck in a hotel rom.

Have been to both Thompson Super Family and First Choice holiday villages and would recommend both, The only thing you would have to pay extra for in my experience are football academies and learn to swim sessions. The rest of the stuff is all included.

They are a bit more expensive but things such as the soft play areas are a real bonus to entertain and get the little ones out of the heat.

The other big thing when considering accommodation like this is the fact that everyone else has kids , so a toddler running around and letting of a bit of steam wont upset anyone as everyone is in the same boat.

As for self catering or AI we have done both, Most decent AI complexes do a variety of food aimed at little ones. We prefer the AI option as its less hassle. I suppose a lot depends on where you go , your not going to get a big choice of supermarkets in a small Greek resort. If your tot is a fussy eater I suppose self catering may be the better option.

Hope this helps you decide.

thankyou, yes i want a break from the cooking and washing up! its my hol too after all! its not like its just the 2 of us to russtle up a sandwhich for anymore, we gotta think of j and make sure he has something healthy and nutrious to eat, so prob lots of cooking/preparing! i dont mind a few nights making him his evening meal in before we go out so we can relax when we have ours out.

i was looking at the protur aparthotel bonaire in majorca, looks good and a bit cheaper than hol village's, just another question though, with j been our first child, i dont know whats to come next really, i dont know what a 16 month old is like (the age he'll be when we go), if he would want to be joining in entertainment, disco etc, i know he is lively now and i can see him wanting to get into everything!

just wondering as the entertainment dosnt seem to start untill 8pm at PAB and i think it could be a bit late for j, i was hoping for some ent about 7 so we could take him there a bit, tire him out lol then go for our meal and i would really like for him to be able to join in the disco and watch or join in with the other kiddies, he loves other children all ready! i dont know, maybe routine will go out the window when were away!? lol

All a child that age needs is a pool - no need for all the potentially expensive added extras which you may never use.

We took our daughter to Menorca and the Algarve when she was a similar age. Menorca was a villa, Algarve was a friend's apartment. Both with all mod cons so we could DIY, but they were also within walking distance of plenty of reasonably priced restaurants so no problem eating out.

I know we spent nothing like £100 a day for either trip and Menorca is much more expensive than the Algarve.

I agree, all my girls were interested in during the day was the pool or the beach when they were babies, they are still happy with that even though they are 6 and 4 now. Babies really don't need entertainment and I wouldn't think he would be ready for the disco at 16 months!

We always go SC and apart from the odd night I never cook or wash up, we eat out practically every evening but it is nice to have the extra room and the facilities of an apartment or villa. SC doens't mean you have to stay in and cook every night, that certainly wouldn't be my idea of a holiday either It is good though to be able to give the baby something to eat that you have prepared yourself some nights.

Let the routine go on holiday, it's only for a couple of weeks and he will get back into it when he gets home

thankyou, more food for thought lol

hi linzi lou we went to the bonaire when my daughter was 16 months it was lovely, they have a little play park and a indoor play area, i now know they have a big pirate ship in a big pool for the little ones, my little one loved the disco on a night, and her routine changed to what it was at home thei is some lovley places to eat in cala bona as well, i said we would go back one day.

hi julie, thankyou, thats good to know. yes i thought my little un is nearly walking now at 9 months (he pulls himself up on furniture and walks holding onto to our hands) so i dont think it will be long hes also very active and into everything! so i can imagine at 16/17 months he will prob be running around! im not saying id let him go off dancing or something with the other kids but im sure he would like to have a little boogie with us at our table :-) or we could take him onto the dance floor and have a little dance together. well we will see!