Our top picks for family holidays in 2020
19th February, 2020
Membership of The Hideaways Club is all about giving our members the opportunity to own their best life, so here are our top choices for families to do just that in 2020.
Take the teens to Stargazer, Bel Ombre, Mauritius
Take the teens to Stargazer, Bel Ombre, Mauritius
From making friends with 100-year-old tortoises to walking with lions, Mauritius offers up a range of family-friendly activities like nowhere else. A tropical island dropped in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the warm, clear sea, the golden sandy beaches and the luscious nature reserves and forests provide huge scope for adventurous kids and teens. Boasting the longest zip lines in the Indian Ocean, and epic canyoning at Tamarin Falls, Mauritius gets the adrenalin pumping.
Stay at Stargazer, The Hideaways Club's four-bedroom home in the exclusive Villas Valriche Estate on the south of the island. Part of the Domaine de Bel Ombre, a former 18th-century sugar plantation, Stargazer is built in contemporary plantation-house style with an infinity pool and open gardens with views stretching over the estate and down to the ocean.
Teenage kids will love the private beach with numerous water sports available, and the Valriche Nature Reserve, home to monkeys, is a short walk away.
Action for all ages at Chalet Soleil, Chamonix, France
Chamonix isn't just about blockbusting skiing
and snowboarding in winter, it's a vibrant, action-packed town to
visit at any time of year. Don't be deterred by the towering
mountains surrounding it - including Europe's highest, Mont Blanc -
the valley has plenty of easy-going trails, that follow the
contours rather than cross them, which offer gentle introductions
to mountain biking and hiking. For more adventurous and experienced
families, those towering peaks are a world-class playground for
epic experiences.
Check into Chalet Soleil, The Hideaways Club's
four-bedroom Alpine lodge in the pretty hamlet of Les Tines, 4km
from the centre of Chamonix. With a games room and a hot tub to
soak in after an active day on the trails, Chalet Soleil is an
utterly splendid mountain retreat.
Make the most of The Hideaways Club's Local Concierge team to take
care of all the action for your family, from white-water rafting to
rock climbing, clambering through the adventure tree park to taking
a ride on the Montenvers rack and pinion railway to the Mer de
Glace glacier.
Bring the grandkids to Casa Cielo, Sardinia, Italy
Families of all ages will find plenty to love in Sardinia, the Italian island with
out-of-this-world beaches and a wild, rugged interior. The
Mediterranean's second largest island, it's fiercely independent
yet offers all that we know and love of Italy - fabulous food,
unrivalled history and spectacular scenery. Kids young and old will
want to make a beeline for the coast, where emerald seas and
picture-perfect coves promise languid days under the summer
sun.
Take a holiday at Casa Cielo in Golfo Aranci, just south of the
popular Costa Smeralda and the heart of the international jet set.
Surrounded by juniper bushes, yellow granite boulders and olive
trees, Casa Cielo is a five-bedroom traditional stone villa with a
large pool and plenty of secluded spots. Nearby are Porto Rotondo's
beautiful beaches, and it's a five-minute drive to Golfo di
Marinella, with its many shops and restaurants, and stunning sandy
beach.
Teens will love the independence of staying in Casa Cielo's separate annex, and kids of all ages will be unable to resist the simple pleasures of playing in the pool and at the beach.
Surf's up at Villa Asmara, Bali, Indonesia
Indulge any surfing fans in the family with a trip to Bali,
famed the world over for its warm-water waves and year-round
swells. Holidaymakers may come for the surfing, but the island's
other qualities - white beaches, ethereal temples, active volcanoes
and volcanic lakes - also offer plenty to entice. It's a heady mix
of tropical paradise amid stunning scenery, and any family members
not bitten by the surfing bug will find the excellent coral-reef
diving and the buzz of Ubud, the cultural centre of Bali hard to
resist.
Stay at Villa Asmara, The Hideaways Club's five-bedroom
luxury home near the village of Canggu on Bali's south coast. A peaceful, spiritual
and welcoming spot, Asmara is set in lush grounds and designed in
the style of a Balinese temple compound, with separate, smaller
pavilions centred around one large, open-sided 'wantilan' or main
pavilion. The swimming pool is elegant and resembles a traditional
reflecting pool, overlooked by a giant Buddha head.
A great option for younger families too, the villa's live-in staff
will not only cook and clean, they can also provide babysitting -
leaving you free to venture out and explore the incomparable
Balinese cuisine.
Take the toddlers to Villa Palmeria, Algarve, Portugal
Owning your best life comes easy in the Algarve - one of the most quintessential family holiday destinations, its golden beaches are framed by limestone cliffs and the sun seems to always shine on long, lazy days. Children of all ages are warmly welcomed, and it's an ideal destination for a first foreign foray with a baby or toddler in tow, especially in late spring and early autumn when the climate is perfect for al fresco dinners and paddling in the sea.
The five-bedroom Villa Palmeria is the consummate spot to enjoy the best of the Algarve. Set among the exclusive resort of Dunas Douradas, the beach and the wetlands of the Ria Formosa Natural Park are both just a few minutes away, and numerous championship golf courses neighbour the villa, including Victoria Golf Vilamoura, home to the Portugal Golf Masters 2020 European Tour.
