TWISTING the handles of his personal periscope around, my son Billy lets out an excited gasp.
Through the lens he’s able to catch a glimpse of the rollercoasters and colourful rides that await him at Chessington World of Adventures, right on the doorstep of our hotel.
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The Paw Patrol gang cut looseCredit: AlamyOne of the five Paw Patrol roomsCredit: Chris Read-Jones/Chessington World Of AdventuresThe Sun’s Lydia Major and son BillyCredit: Supplied
I’m staying in one of the theme park’s new Paw Patrol-themed rooms, offered up just in time for half term.
Part of Chessington’s Safari Resort hotel, the five new pup-tastic bedrooms offer a glimpse of what’s to come when a new Paw Patrol-themed land opens next spring.
Nothing has been spared on making these spaces as immersive as possible.
Funky bunk beds have been disguised as the famous Paw Patroller truck featured in the show, with a driver’s seat at the front and a steering wheel that little ones can play with.
A yellow periscope in the main room, that fans will recognise as a replica of that from the Paw Patrol Lookout Tower, is surrounded by coloured bean bags which kids can plonk themselves on when spying on the theme park.
And if the view from the periscope isn’t enough to impress them, the bedroom window one will be.
Rooms overlook the park’s Wanyama Reserve, and one afternoon we were treated to the sight of two giraffes munching away on their leafy dinner.
I was grateful for some tranquillity to balance out the “wow” of the all-singing, all-dancing bedroom.
The decor here is bold and bright, with huge murals of the pups showing their wacky adventures.
Rooms sleep up to two adults, in a plump double bed, and three children.
They also come with a special Paw Patrol parking outside.
Even when you’re dining at one of the two restaurants, you’re likely to bump into your little ones’ favourite character.
As Billy tucked into his junior Wanyama burger (£7) at dinner, he clocked Skye giving some of her fans a high-five and a cuddle across the room.
If you don’t get to meet your hero at the hotel, Paw Patrol guests can nab fast-track entry to daily meet-and-greets with Chase, Skye and Rubble in the park.
A night’s stay comes with a huge buffet breakfast – which has everything from a full English to pancakes and pastries and is available from 7am to 10am.
Access to the hotel’s Savannah Splash Pool means children can burn off any extra energy.
After an action-packed day here, adults will be just as grateful for the ultra-comfy beds as the kids are.
Paw Patrol stays start from £155 for a family of four, including bed and breakfast. Stays include early ride access, a Pup Pass (meet-and-greet fast track pass) and a Reserve & Ride one-shot pass.
Guests staying before the Paw Patrol-themed land opens will have a chance to be one of the first to ride the new rollercoaster in 2026.
FANCY a bit of the royal treatment? I know just the, er, palace.
The Mazagan Beach and Golf Resort on Morocco’s north-west coast is regal in both size and design.
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The Mazagan Beach and Golf Resort, MoroccoCredit: SuppliedRick’s Cafe replica bar inspired from the iconic flick CasablancaCredit: AlamyA giant bed and sea view at MazaganCredit: Supplied
With its dreamy arches and soaring ceilings, traditional Zellij tiling, tree-lined atrium and central courtyards, this five-star wonder is truly fit for royalty.
Inside, everything smells of rich orange blossom. You could get lost here. In fact, you want to.
Pop princess Paloma Faith stayed here with her family this year and Moroccan golf star Ayoub Lguirati — winner of the first Arab World Professional Championship in 2023 — often plays the resort’s beachfront course designed by one of the sport’s greats, Gary Player.
Oh, and now I was there.
The 500-room Mazagan is so grand that it is home to one of North Africa’s largest casinos — and one evening, my friends and I joined the guests trying their luck on its 37 gaming tables, 80 roulettes wheels and 370 slot machines.
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Good news for risk-takers is that the casino stays open 23 hours a day, so this hotel almost never sleeps.
But as amateurs, we didn’t fancy losing a king’s ransom on Blackjack, so moved on to the 1940s-themed Studio 42 lounge bar next door which is swathed in royal-green velvet drapes.
It has live music at weekends and serves glam cocktails including a homemade rosé liquor and gin concoction for £10, or local beer from £5.50, so is a sure bet for a nightcap or two.
When it came time to hit the hay, my ocean-view room was similar in its grandeur to the rest of the hotel, with traditional metal hanging lanterns, dark-wood furniture, and a bed that could fit a family of four.
Thankfully, 80 per cent of the rooms are connecting, so parents do not have to share with little ’uns.
Even with the balconette doors to my room closed, I could hear the inviting roar of the Atlantic Ocean.
It is safe to swim here — there’s a lifeguard during the day — but you can also rent paddle and bodyboards, or make the most of the swell with surf lessons.
Even in late September, temperatures in El Jadida can reach 30C.
Animal-lovers will enjoy a trip to the Mazagan’s farm, which has goats, cows and chickens. Its beachfront stables are immaculately maintained and the horses and ponies have shiny, glowing coats.
Riding on the beach has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, so on an unusually grey afternoon I climbed on to a palomino-coloured mare called Rosa and headed for the shore.
She trotted along Haouzia Beach, steadily swerving the incoming tide, as I sat back — nay, upright — to enjoy the view. The next day, for something more fast-paced, our group zoomed along the sand — thankfully flat — on quad bikes.
The Mazagan also has laser games, go-karting, paintballing, a 22ft climbing wall, archery, a gym, and pickleball and tennis courts. There are daytime clubs for both kids and teens, too.
But a holiday in Morocco calls for a spot of haggling in the medina — and just the place for that is Casablanca which is the country’s largest, most cosmopolitan city, just an hour’s drive from the hotel.
Built in the early 19th century by the French, the New Medina is smaller and less chaotic than its walled older counterpart but just as authentic.
We find everything from artisan teapots and pottery, leather bags and hand-woven Berber rugs, to stalls piled high with native olives for a fraction of what we would pay at home.
Casablanca also has a striking mix of religious buildings, owing to its colonial history.
Many of these, such as the monumental Hassan II Mosque on the city’s promenade, offer guided tours.
Arabesque carvings
The Hassan II Mosque is a gem — with the world’s second-tallest minaret at 689ft and an elaborately decorated prayer room which can fit 20,000 worshippers.
As is customary if entering a mosque, we removed our shoes.
Our guide then recounted tales of its craftmanship as we quietly admired the stonework, arabesque carvings, Murano glass chandeliers, and titanium doors weighing several tonnes.
It’s always cocktail time at MazaganCredit: SuppliedThe stunning Hassan II Mosque in CasblancaCredit: Getty
For many Brits, though, Casablanca will conjure memories of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman’s 1942 film — although the wartime classic was actually filmed in Hollywood.
Disappointed to discover Rick’s Cafe from the film did not exist, an American woman opened a replica bar, with grand piano and Moroccan hanging lanterns, in the Old Medina in 2004.
“Of all the gins joints in all the towns”, to quote from the film, this one was well worth walking into for a boozy pit-stop on the way back to the Mazagan.
But, of course, there’s nothing wrong with spending a week simply lazing beside the resort’s lagoon-style pool, having treatments in its award-winning spa and eating and drinking like royalty in its 13 restaurants and bars.
Horse riders on Haouzia BeachCredit: SuppliedFor many Brits Casablanca will conjure memories of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman’s 1942 filmCredit: Alamy
The Market Place evening buffet offers an abundance of local and international dishes, from salads to saffron slow-cooked lamb, shawarma and a wok station.
Or the hotel’s jewel in the crown, the dimly lit Bushra restaurant, serves up Middle Eastern dishes and a live band to its impressively receptive diners.
Sat under gigantic brass chandeliers and dramatic drapes, even the grannies sang and clapped cheerily between mouthfuls of hummus with beef fillet, grilled jumbo shrimps and the most tender slow-cooked lamb.
Just like the flavours, the service is five-star — waiter Wafae deserves mention.
But I had my favourite-ever starter in Sel de Mer.
The nautically-themed seafood restaurant has an extraordinary signature dish of blue lobster salad with fennel remoulade and mustard jus. At £26, it is not cheap, but lobster never is.
I could get used to living like a queen.
Hayley Doyle at the stablesCredit: Supplied
GO: MOROCCO
GETTING THERE: Royal Air Maroc offers daily direct flights from Heathrow to Casablanca with fares from £250, including 23kg luggage.
YOU’RE in the Alps for a ski holiday – you’ve got your gear, your lift pass and the optimism that you won’t wipe out on a blue run as kids whizz past you.
But what if skiing on a skiing holiday is optional?
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Alpine Glasto gets in the swingCredit: GettyDJs get the crowd goingCredit: Gwilym Thomas
What if there’s an Alpine world that doesn’t require you to throw yourself downhill at speed?
The wild and wonderful phenomenon of après-ski only gears up after the lifts stop — and the party gets going.
Après-ski is no small affair — this is not just drinks before dinner.
In the Three Valleys area of the French Alps, après is a daily festival and feels like a way of life.
Picture this: a live band steps on stage ahead of a DJ surrounded by strobe lights, crowds are dancing on the tables (in ski boots) and bobble hats are thrown in the air.
This melee of strangers is swaying together, drinks in hand, as revellers sing at the top of their lungs.
This is a kind of Alpine Glastonbury, where people swap flower crowns and flags for puffer jackets and goggles.
And the best part? You don’t have to ski or snowboard to enjoy it.
The Three Valleys is known for some of the best slopes in the world, with almost 600km of pistes, as high as 3,000 metres, to pick from.
But interconnected Valleys resorts Méribel, Courchevel and Val Thorens also showcase thousands of music gigs.
The magic is thanks to London and Méribel-based agency Après Ski Bands, which books more than 3,500 such events per season across 130 venues.
These aren’t bog-standard cover bands — they’re high-energy pros, picked in X Factor-style auditions in the UK, who turn ski resorts into concert venues during winter.
In five days in the Alps, I saw nine superb acts without even trying — starting with party band Magnolia, ending with DJ and MC duo Rio & Rhymes and acts in between including emerging alt-rock talent Pattern Pusher and diverse après heroes The Wingmen.
For folk fans, there’s guitarist Chris Quinn, who opened for the Jools Holland Orchestra, and singer-songwriter Albert Jones, who appeared on BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
Performing in the Alps is hard graft, as musicians play up to 140 dates in a single season.
At Lodge Du Village in Méribel alone, there are 900 live gigs each winter — with Mondays to Wednesdays often wilder than Saturday nights (free shots for those who arrive early).
Le Rond Point — or Ronnie — in Méribel is one of those places where you show up for one drink and suddenly it’s four hours later, and you’re leading a conga line and wearing someone else’s unicorn onesie.
And let’s not forget ultra-Insta La Folie Douce, a venue likened to Ibiza in the snow. If it sounds like an attack on the senses, that’s because it is.
But if partying isn’t really your thing, there are other things on offer in the Valleys.
For a touch of luxury, hit a hotel spa or soak in your chalet’s outdoor hot tub with a glass of fizz, watching skiers from a distance.
If you want to be on the white stuff minus the face-planting, then snowshoeing or sled-dog walking are great for exploring at a gentle pace.
Then, of course, there is the ultimate Alpine sport — eating.
Revellers get ready for the apres-ski bashCredit: Supplied
Food here is an attraction in itself, with Méribel’s Le Cro Magnon and La Terrasse du Village delivering everything from hearty Savoyard to refined French-British fusion.
If you come to the Alps and don’t eat fondue, tartiflette or raclette, did you even visit the Alps?
And now it’s not just a winter thing, with resorts shifting towards year-round tourism, meaning the party doesn’t stop when the snow starts to melt in April.
Whether you’re dancing on tables, belting out rock anthems with a crowd of strangers, exploring snowy forests, or eating your bodyweight in cheese, you’ve made it down a black run to holiday heaven.
GO: THREE VALLEYS
GETTING THERE: Private transfers from Geneva Airport to Meribel cost from £59.50pp for a group of four people.
STAYING THERE: Seven nights’ self-catering at the Chalet Rosa Apartment in Meribel Village, just a couple of minutes from the piste and La Terrace du Village, costs from £258.34pp, based on six sharing in low season.
From gorgeous Getxo to the City of Love, you won’t want to come home from these mint mini-breaks
Find foodie heaven near BilbaoCredit: Supplied by PR
SPAIN – Palacio Arriluce Hotel, Getxo
Commissioning Editor Martha Cliff and fiancée Lauren found foodie heaven near Bilbao.
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THE PAD
Check in and zone out at the Palacio Arriluce
Perched on a striking cliffside overlooking the Bay of Abra in Getxo and with a beauty of an outdoor pool, this 18th-century boutique gem sits in a palatial setting and offers the perfect blend of historical charm and contemporary elegance.
Craving vistas of the rolling Basque mountains? You’ve got it. Want to gaze at boats bobbing in the harbour? No problem. A city view more your vibe? It’s got that, too.
Be sure to eat breakfast – think other-worldly Spanish tortilla and Iberico ham – on the terrace to take full advantage.
Meanwhile, come dinner at Delaunay, try local specialities such as grilled kokotxas (hake chin) on stewed spider crab, £35, and Iberian pork shoulder with passionfruit, £31.
Make sure you’re there on a Thursday to join locals in Getxo for “pintxo pote”, a foodie’s dream bar crawl and Basque country tradition.
Restaurante Ixta Bide offers four pintxos (small savoury snacks) – our fave was pintxo de txaka, akin to a mini crab sandwich – and two vinos for a mere £9.
Just don’t expect to bag a seat! Wind your way up the steps of Algorta to reach Arrantzale and finish on its perfectly salted pork belly (Arrantzale.com).
While day-tripping, step into one of Bilbao’s oldest bars, Café Iruña, just a hop from Arbando metro station.
Dating back to 1903, the beautiful tiling is reason enough to visit, but coffee for just £1.75, is a big pull, too.
Or opt for a glass of the local txakoli white wine, £2.70, instead (Cafeirunabilbao.com).
DON’T MISS
The works inside Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum are, of course, breathtaking, but the building itself and its surrounding sculptures – including Puppy, a massive dog made of flowers by American artist Jeff Koons – are worth the trip alone.
Fly to Bilbao from London Gatwick and Heathrow with Vueling from £56 return (Vueling.com).
FRANCE – Hôtel Dame des Arts, Paris
Creative Director Mark Hayman and wife Margaret fell for cocktails and culture in the French capital.
Fall for cocktails and culture in the French capitalCredit: Getty Images
THE PAD
Rest easy at Hôtel Dame des ArtsCredit: LUDOVIC BALAY
This sleek bolt-hole in the city’s Latin Quarter has shaken off its Holiday Inn past to channel full Hollywood glamour.
Think rich woods, bamboo accents and pretty palms, with rooms that feel like film sets, thanks to glass dividers, velvet finishes and luxe bathrooms made for long soaks.
Downstairs, Pimpan serves up bold Franco-Mexican fusions on a leafy terrace – highlights include beef tartare with piquillos, £12.50, lamb shoulder with harissa, £25, and hibiscus-poached pear, £11.
But the real scene-stealer is the rooftop bar, where 360-degree skyline views stretch from the Eiffel Tower to Sacré Cœur – even locals come here for the vistas.
Order a Spritz del Arte (Aperol, mango liqueur, rum and prosecco), £17, or the punchy Uno Mas margarita, £14, pop on your biggest sunglasses and watch the city turn blush at sunset.
There’s also a sauna and a gym kitted out with sculptural wooden equipment for those partial to a designer workout.
EXPLORE
Explore the history of Notre-DameCredit: Getty Images
First time in Paris? Glide down the Seine aboard the Batobus – this hop-on-hop-off riverboat is a relaxing (and photogenic) way to tick off major sights like the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre.
For more treasure-hunting, swing by the flea market off Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine – a weekend haven of vintage mirrors, mid-century ceramics and nostalgic postcards.
There’s no entry fee, just bring cash and your best haggling game.
Then head to the Panthéon, a neoclassical gem where Voltaire, Rousseau and Marie Curie lie in dramatic crypts beneath a rooftop dome offering jaw-dropping views.
Lively, retro-chic Brasserie Dubillot’s espresso martinis, £10.50, are a must, but equally good is the sausage and mash with truffle sauce, £16, steak-frites, £21, and the perfect crème brûlée, £8 (Lanouvellegarde.com/brasserie-dubillot).
Craving something casual? PNY serves next-level burgers with aged beef, brioche buns and toppings like smoked cheddar and pickled jalapeños, from £11.50 (Pnyburger.com).
Or just nab a pavement perch at Café Saint-André for a croque monsieur, £10.50, a glass of sancerre, £7, and some world-class people-watching.
Double rooms at Hôtel Dame des Arts cost from £226 per night (Damedesarts.com).
Psst…
Fancy something a little more party? Rixos Premium Dubai JBR sits in one of the UAE city’s buzziest neighbourhoods, with captivating views of Ain Dubai, the world’s biggest ferris wheel.
Suave rooms come with huge tubs, rain showers and espresso machines, from £304 per night (Rixos.com).
Rixos Premium Dubai JBR sits in one of the UAE city’s buzziest neighbourhoodsCredit: SuppliedThe suave rooms have captivating views of Ain Dubai, the world’s biggest ferris wheelCredit: SuppliedHead to Aussie beach club Byron Bathers for great foodCredit: Byron Bathers Club/Instagram
Downstairs is Azure Beach Club with its large pool, pumping soundtrack, outdoor gym and private beach (Azure-beach.com/dubai).
The breakfast buffet is, in true Dubai style, eye-poppingly big – you can even blend your own fresh peanut butter.
Plus, you’re half an hour’s cab ride from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, for that classic Dubai selfie – viewing platform visits cost from £37 per person (Burjkhalifa.ae).
When you’re craving a chilled day, head to Aussie beach club Byron Bathers for lobster linguine, £37, and burrata pizza, £17, with excellent Whitsunday spritzes – an exquisite blend of grapefruit bitters, strawberry shrub, pink grapefruit, citrus vodka, Aperol and prosecco, £14 (Byronbathers.com).
