Family holidays: a hotel for every age

A family hotel is not a family hotel for every age at once. The one that warms bottles in the night may have nothing to occupy a fourteen-year-old boy, and the one that runs a teenagers’ club does not always have a cot for an infant. The right choice therefore starts with the children’s ages, and can be read in a few details: a bottle room, a section for toddlers, a club up to the age of twelve, a pool at the depth older children need.

The seven hotels that follow are arranged roughly from youngest to oldest, from the properties that think first of babies to those that make room for teenagers. Most cover several ages; what is said of each is what sets it apart.

At Calodyne, facing the northern islands, the Zilwa runs a bottle room open from 8:00 to 21:00, with a changing table, a bottle warmer and a steriliser. Its free kids’ club takes three to twelve-year-olds, looked after by trained and certified staff, and serves them a buffet at their own height, with dedicated tableware. The spa also adapts its treatments for three to twelve-year-olds.

To house everyone, the Deluxe Family room, of fifty square metres, has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, for two adults, two teenagers and a child. Babysitting is charged and must be booked forty-eight hours ahead.

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Ocean’s Creek Beach Hotel

★★★★BalaclavaSee the hotelBook on Booking.com →

At Balaclava, where the Tombeau river meets the ocean, the Ocean’s Creek has a kids’ club divided into separate sections for babies, toddlers and older children, with indoor and outdoor play areas and a children’s cinema. The children’s pool is round, temperature-controlled and open all year.

The Family rooms, of forty-three square metres, close off the children’s bedroom, fitted with bunk beds, behind a door; the Family suites add a second bathroom for them. Twenty-six units have a fully equipped kitchenette, which changes the nature of a family stay. For older children there are giant water slides and a covered climbing wall that can be used in the rain.

The Friday Attitude, near Trou d’Eau Douce, has only fifty rooms, fifteen of them family rooms with a separate space for the children. It rents out baby equipment on site, so families can travel light, and offers bicycles fitted with baby seats.

The free Ayo le Dodo mini-club runs treasure hunts, sandcastle contests and cooking classes, and the hotel houses a Little Marine Discovery Centre. Île aux Cerfs lies just opposite, with a free shuttle, and the spa adapts its treatments for three to twelve-year-olds.

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Coin de Mire Attitude

★★★Cap MalheureuxSee the hotelBook on Booking.com →

Between Cap Malheureux and Grand Baie, facing the islet of Coin de Mire, the Coin de Mire Attitude has twenty-one family rooms out of one hundred and twenty-two. The Family Apartment, of sixty square metres, keeps a separate space for the children. The free mini-club takes three to twelve-year-olds from 9:00 to 16:00, and thirteen to seventeen-year-olds have their own mocktail workshops.

The hotel has its own catamaran, which leaves from the beach for a day on the lagoon with a snorkelling stop near Coin de Mire. Bain Bœuf beach is on the other side of the coast road: it has to be crossed with the children.

The Westin at Balaclava presents itself as a hotel for families spanning several generations. Westin Family, open daily from 9:00 to 19:45, welcomes each child with a travel journal, a box of colouring pencils and a guide to local activities, then moves on to shell collecting, crab hunting, a glass-bottom boat trip, an introduction to sega and a film night. The Super Chef cooking class is extra.

The Heavenly Family Junior suite, of sixty-six square metres, adds an alcove bed to the large bed and can connect with another room. Snorkelling, kayaks and pedal boats are among the water sports included.

At Roches Noires, on the north-east coast, the Ti Krab Kids Club opens from 9:00 to 22:00, with activities drawn from the place itself: discovering the mangrove, a picnic in the mangrove, kite making, cinema under the stars. The Blu passport also gives free access to the sister hotel’s Aqualand, transfers not included.

One point to know: the villas with private pools do not take children under twelve. Families therefore take a Premium room in the two queen-bed configuration, of fifty-three square metres, which sleeps two children, and connecting rooms exist in the Premium Garden category.

In the heart of Grand Baie, the Veranda has provided two separate pools for the young, one under sixty centimetres deep for children, the other 1.20 metres deep for teenagers. A children’s and teenagers’ kiosk runs a daily programme of activities.

The Comfort Family room, of thirty-six square metres, has a separate bedroom and a trundle bed. At the spa, treatments are adapted for four to twelve-year-olds, and adult treatments begin at thirteen. For teenagers, the address is also part of the appeal: the shops and nightlife of Grand Baie are within walking distance.

When booking, three questions are enough: the age of the youngest, the age of the eldest, and the room that will sleep them all. A hotel that answers all three well is worth more than one that answers a single question brilliantly.