{"id":567,"date":"2016-03-15T04:48:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T04:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/can-you-have-an-island-getaway-with-your-kids\/"},"modified":"2022-08-08T23:21:21","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T23:21:21","slug":"island-holidays-with-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/island-holidays-with-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you have an Island Getaway with your kids?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, and you can do it very cheaply if they fit into your suitcase and are good at being quiet.<\/p>\n

I jest! I jest. Luggage restrictions are so tight these days that it would actually cost more<\/em> to pop your kid into your Samsonite than pay for his or her seat. (Also, where will all of your vacation Crocs go?)<\/p>\n

It’s a valid question.<\/p>\n

Last year we went to the Maldives<\/a> \u2013 a destination typically thought of as being a Honeymoon destination, a lover\u2019s paradise, a rekindle-the-flame getaway, and the perfect place to renew your vows or propose.<\/p>\n

In short: couples, not multiples.<\/p>\n

But while the bulk of resorts in the Maldives are perfectly and expertly crafted to exclusively accommodate couples, featuring the kind of luxurious over-water bures that would give any parent a heart attack, extremely sophisticated fine dining, and not a single Pixar offering on the in-house movie menu, what you may not know is that many resorts and islands in the Maldives, (an increasing number, in fact) understand that some families like each other enough to want to holiday together, and it can be terrifically bonding and the genesis of life-long memories.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s no longer just the super swanky 5-star resorts, either: from nannies, to kids clubs, kids-only pools, and healthy, fresh menus for children, if you do your research, you\u2019ll discover you can<\/em> take the family to the Maldives, and if you\u2019re clever, still thieve a respectable amount of couple time, too. (Bandos<\/a> and Kurumba<\/a> are among the better-priced resorts with kids clubs.)
\n<\/p>\n

Don’t be afraid<\/h2>\n

We went with our toddler son, and you bet your bananas I thrashed Google with, \u2018can you take a baby\/toddler to the Maldives\u2019 searches beforehand. I wasn\u2019t convinced that blending island life with my carefully planned routine and nap schedule and the fact that he couldn\u2019t walk or swim yet would make for the most relaxing holiday. Also, the food<\/em>! I would need to pack a week of food for him, just in case food was tricky over there. Also: would we need a pram? Would they have cots and high chairs and would we be annoying all the gorgeous honeymooners by having a squealy little 13-month old splashing in the pool?<\/p>\n

But I needn\u2019t have worried. We were far from the first people to shimmy to the Maldives with a wee one, and by ensuring we chose a resort with a kids club, babysitting service, plenty of cots and high chairs, and an assurance that baby food could be prepared by the chef upon request, (we stayed at the outstanding One&Only Reethi Rah<\/a>, see my review here<\/a>) I felt a lot calmer boarding that flight. (And pretty bloody relaxed when I re-boarded a week later.)<\/p>\n

For one, I did not know that toddlers and babies are hailed as royalty in the Maldives. We could not walk into breakfast without a rush of adoring staff singing our boy songs and bringing him little flowers to smell and play with and making funny faces, lunch and afternoon tea were no different. It was so genuine and delightful.
\n<\/p>\n

Kids Club<\/h2>\n

It goes without saying (but certainly not writing or reading, apparently) that a resort with a kids club is a must <\/em><\/strong>if you are heading to an island resort. Kids love it, parents love it; everyone wins because everyone gets the holiday they want: a plethora of activities (including cooking and snorkeling) and fun for the kids, plenty of books and ros\u00e9 and diving for the oldies. (Not all at once, ideally.)<\/p>\n

Because our son was under four, he had to have a babysitter or one of us in the kids club with him, (this age is two at some resorts) but we loved taking him in there to splash around in the kids pool, (shaded beautifully and very shallow and safe) or play with all of the rad toys (it was like a day care centre in terms of toys and things to do, spanning from babies to teens), or squiz at the fish in the aquarium. The staff were warm and engaging and stimulating. He became quite attached to them. (I tried not to be offended when he didn\u2019t want to kiss me or get back on my bike and head home for his nap.) And the babysitting was CHEAP. Well, in comparison to everything else in the Maldives, which is widely known to sit somewhere between expensive and ludicrous.<\/p>\n

But oh, the babysitting was worth the money. Always is. Why fly halfway around the world to skimp on spending alone time with your partner when you\u2019re both happy and relaxed and literally<\/em> in paradise? I can\u2019t advocate it enough. It meant we could dress up in our tropical finery and enjoy one of the 389 restaurants on the island every couple of nights, and just be gently sunburned lovers just enjoying a cocktail without a care or a dirty nappy in the world, instead of creeping around in our villa when our son went down at 7pm. Plus, if we wanted a massage, or to just do something parents never get to do: nap\/swim\/read for a few hours in the afternoon, we could.
\n<\/p>\n

Splurge on space<\/h2>\n

Obviously when you are on holiday, space is at a premium, your children don\u2019t have their own room to babble and wail and snort in as you rest soundly at the other end of the hallway. And while an extra room would be wonderful, well, that can blow your costs out enormously. We\u2019ve travelled all over the world with our boy, since he was three months old, and our system is to pop the cot in the bathroom, or even any enormous walk-in wardrobes, (I\u2019m talking room-size) available just so that we have some, any<\/em> division of room. Then we make it as dark as possible with black sheets over windows and so on. (See my baby-packing post here<\/a>.) Yes, the evenings can be tricky when young kids go to sleep and need a dark, quiet room, but we rely on a white noise app on our iPad near his cot, having a balcony, and some cracking TV shows on our laptop we could watch in bed quietly as we ate room service ice cream.<\/p>\n

I really believe in family holidays. Whether it\u2019s camping or road tripping or an island stay, holidays act as the crucial paragraph breaks in life. They allow bonding and force relaxation, and they\u2019re the chapters of your life you will really remember,<\/em> as opposed to all the day-to-day stuff that whooshes by. (Also: THE PHOTOGRAPHS. Dear God the photographs.)<\/p>\n

Expedia compensates authors for their writings appearing on this site, such compensation may include travel and other costs<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keen to take the kids on a romantic island getaway? Can it be done? YES! Zoe Foster Blake shows us how.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,6,2,5,7,18,4],"tags":[11,58],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia","category-destination","category-experiences","category-family","category-oceania","category-relax","category-type-of-holidays","tag-family","tag-tips","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIsland getaways with kids | Expedia.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Keen to take the kids on a romantic island getaway? Can it be done? YES! 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