Greece is the word
Need to relax AND keep your children happy? Well, says Alesha Dixon...
Aholiday in Greece used to be all about flying to one of the islands such as Rhodes, Crete or Corfu. But nowadays it seems to be the large hotel resorts on the Greek mainland near Thessaloniki that are grabbing all the attention.
People with young children obviously like them because they tick most of the boxes for a good holiday: lots of things to do, a good choice of places to eat and plenty of entertainment. The Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort seemed especially appealing as I was travelling with my four-year-old daughter Azura.
The resort is on Kassandra, the western-most prong of the Halkidiki trident: an area of extraordinary natural beauty. The property has 300 rooms, four themed restaurants, five bars and a wonderful two-storey Myrthia Thermal Spa with geothermal water from natural springs of the area.
Another big plus is that the hotel is on a lovely sandy beach where you can dip your toes into the glorious Aegean Sea.
First impressions were excellent. The rooms are well-appointed: we were lucky enough to have a suite with elegant furnishings, a private pool and a superb sun terrace.
Azura quickly discovered that there are three swimming pools dotted around the resort, the biggest of which offers a sea-water Jacuzzi, water jets and water curtains. Another pool is adults only, and the last is for children, who are also catered for with three levels of kids’ clubs and a range of activities to keep them occupied.
If you want to keep busy, there is tennis on grass or clay courts and beach volleyball – or you can hire a bike and explore the local area.
Before this trip I had been busy travelling for charity events – I’d be in Ibiza and Ghana for ActionAid.
Miraggio was pure holiday, four nights with my partner and my little girl. We had planned to stay for six nights, but we had to shorten the trip because I had been asked to step in as a guest judge on The X Factor. So I was grateful for the chance to relax beforehand.
I didn’t actually treat myself to a massage, but we did use the spa facilities, which were really beautiful. When you are on holiday with a young child, however, it’s more about their needs than your own.
The kids’ club was one of the best I’ve ever seen and the staff were incredible. They did lots of arts and crafts, and games, and they had a water splash area. It was well thought out and, as a parent, it made you feel relaxed.
After the first time I left Azura there, she was desperate to go again – and she never wanted to leave.
Perhaps the highlight of our trip was the huge water bucket – it made a nice picture for my Instagram. You stand underneath the bucket as it fills up with cold water; it’s so hot there that when the bucket pours water over you it’s a real delight.
The themed restaurants were excellent. I loved the Italian in particular, which I know sounds slightly weird because you’re in Greece, but it was very special.
As a parent, when you go on holiday, you want to make sure your children can be loud and run around freely. You don’t want to have to worry that other guests are being disturbed. As all the guests had children and were quite happy for them to all mix with each other, there was never any problem.
One of the highlights every evening was seeing them running around, being free and staying up late.
The quality of the entertainment every evening was great. There was a well-choreographed rendition of Grease on one of the nights; it was a full-on performance with all the songs acted out. You could see that a lot of time and effort had gone into all the choreography and all the costumes. It certainly had the X factor. During the day, when Azura was at the kids’ club, my partner and I were happy to chill out by the pool. We had a day out at sea on a boat, which was a nice treat. We also went for lovely walks. But generally, we’d be just hanging by the pool, relaxing, which you don’t often get to do. Greece is now one of my favourite holiday destinations.