Beautiful five-star hotels to enjoy sunshine and find bliss… with or without the kids
DONNA Smiley discovered the Canary Islands.
While Sinead McIntyre and her family found bliss on the Turkish Riviera.
Tenerife
Senior Writer Donna Smiley discovered foodie heaven in the Canary Islands.
As three pilot whales playfully leap in and out of the sea, everybody on our boat is grinning.
We’re only 30 minutes into our two-hour boat trip from Puerto Colón, so there’s still plenty of time to have a dip in the crystal waters ourselves, before we sip wine and eat tropical fruit as the sun sets on our journey back to shore.
A two-hour boat trip costs £51 per person for up to nine people (Bluejacksail.com).
We’re staying at Joia El Mirador by Iberostar in Costa Adeje, 10 minutes’ drive away, where all rooms are suites with four-poster beds.
With its lagoon-style pool dotted with palm trees and setting right on one of Tenerife’s best golden-sand beaches, this five-star adults-only hotel makes quite the impression.
So too does the family-run artisanal goat’s cheese farm, Quesería Montesdeoca in Adeje, 15 minutes’ drive away.
With lush green fields and a glimpse of neighbouring islands La Palma and La Gomera from its rooftop, we learn all about the cheese-making process, which is done by hand, and meet the goats and sheep who love being stroked, before the all-important tasting.
Hour-long tours cost from £17 per adult (Quesosmontesdeoca.com).
Back at the hotel’s gourmet restaurant El Cenador, we tuck into a 10-course tasting menu, £72 per person.
Every course is delicious and crafted with local produce, and it ends in style with a passion fruit cake served under a cloud of candy floss, which dramatically dissolves when the sauce is poured over.
Come morning, cooked-to-order eggs benedict, pastries and cappuccinos made with coffee beans from a local farm don’t disappoint, either.
The bus to the island’s capital of Santa Cruz takes 50 minutes, where we find a branch of Zara with prices cheaper than at home, plus more foodie gems.
We wander the charming streets of the old town and grab a barraquito – a local-speciality coffee of condensed milk, Licor 43 (a Spanish vanilla liqueur), espresso and frothed milk, at rooftop cafe La Escala (@Laescala tenerife).
Then we make our way to Colmado 1917, a tiny Michelin-flagged restaurant offering delights such as salted fish with black potatoes and anchovies, £6, and beef tartare, hand-chopped before each serving, £11, with a red from northern Tenerife, £5 a glass (Colmado1917.com).
Finishing our getaway in style, we hit Japanese restaurant Kensei, a short stroll along the beach from our beds (Kenseijapanesetenerife.com).
Its low-temperature wagyu with teriyaki sauce, celeriac purée and lotus root chips, £40, is a delicious end to an equally delicious mini-break.
FYI
Seven-night B&B stays at Joia El Mirador by Iberostar cost from £1,210 per person, with flights and transfers (Easyjet.com/en/holidays).
Tourist travel cards cost £8 a day for unlimited buses and trams (Titsa.com).
Turkey
Editor-in-Chief Sinead McIntyre, husband Alistair and twins Riley and Harris found bliss on the Turkish Riviera.
Diving into the clear-blue sea, my 14-year-old twins are in holiday heaven.
After trying to outdo each other holding their breath underwater, they emerge to slump in our cabana and have their fill of the nuts and fresh fruit on offer.
As I have learned over the past year or so, keeping two teenagers happy on holiday can be a challenge.
But Corendon Playa Kemer on the Turkish Riviera, close to Antalya, has risen to the challenge – and then some.
We arrive at our five-star hotel, a 45-minute drive from Antalya airport, in the early hours of the morning after flight delays, so don’t really take in our surroundings as we wearily check in.
It’s only when we wake and head to breakfast at the main Zephyranthes restaurant that we marvel at the view – outside is a terrace with two sparkling swimming pools and, just beyond, the pristine sandy beach.
The hotel is all-inclusive and the food is excellent.
For breakfast, we feast on eggs, pastries, yoghurt and mountains of fruit, while lunch and dinner consist of grilled fish and meat, salads and desserts, including melt-in-the-mouth chocolate mousse and sticky-sweet baklava.
Playa Kemer beach has a series of wooden jetties jutting out to the sea, lined with luxe four-poster sunloungers and cabanas.
We decide to splash out and book a cabana, from £18 per day, and it proves a winner with Riley and Harris.
They especially enjoy taking selfies with the view behind them to send to friends, as well as seeing who can jump the furthest into the sea off the jetty.
Every afternoon, chilled music plays and there are also live performances, all contributing to a feeling of total relaxation.
As does the on-site spa, where I have a Turkish hammam massage, leaving me feeling completely rejuvenated.
Treatments cost from £61 for 90 minutes.
One evening, we indulge in fresh prawns, mussels and calamari, with Turkish bread, dips and salads at the alfresco Pier Seafood A La Carte restaurant, surrounded by twinkling lights.
The day after is spent parasailing around the bay, £157 for two people.
Riley and I head high into the air on a tandem pulled behind a speedboat and can see for miles – a scary, but exhilarating experience.
And no trip to Antalya is complete without a visit to 40m-high Karpuzkaldiran Waterfall, where the Düden River plunges over a cliff into the Mediterranean.
We look in awe at the men fishing far below on the rocks as the spray from the waterfall covers them.
From there, we head to the old town and browse the bustling bazaar for amazing spices and Turkish Delight, before heading back to our hotel with two delighted teens in tow.
FYI
Seven-night ultra all-inclusive stays at Corendon Playa Kemer for a family of four cost from £1,500 (Corendonhotels.com).
Flights from the UK to Antalya cost from £100 each way (Corendon airlines.com).
