Hotels for kids - Family holidays

With children, everything changes and so as well casual trips are now no longer as uncomplicated as before; a family holiday requires beforehand more planning.

It would be a good idea to decide together where you would like to spend your holidays and once you have decided, start early with the organization in order to be able to book your perfect location and benefit from the early bird discount.

Younger children endure the flight better than elder children or even adults. To compensate the pressure during takeoff and landing, you can use nursing bottles and pacifiers for the smaller kids and chewing gum for the elder ones.

The Costa del Sol (Sun Coast) is not called like that without reason; the sun is very strong throughout the year, so please make sure to apply onto your kid’s skin several times a day a sun cream with a high sun protection factor. And if you put them a hat on, even better! Avoid the midday sun in summer.

If you want to be mobile and flexible during your holidays you can book a car hire Malaga. The companies usually provide you with special seats for children. Make sure to have breaks every two hours and that the child drinks enough water, this is especially important in the hot climate in Malaga in summer. There are also available many car hire models, like 7 seater car hire, 12 seater van hire in Malaga or even Malaga airport transfers in the car model you require or a bus transfer to your hotel or destination if you are looking for a private taxi instead of a car rental.

Travel sickness is a common phenomenon. Take care that the child is placed in a way that it can see the horizon in front.  Other useful tips are games, Audio books or a portable DVD to keep the kids entertained.

It is highly recommended to pack a cooler with drinks and snacks, which is placed within easy reach in the car. If it is very hot in the car, you can place a towel below the child´s seat to soak up the sweat. Even with very hot weather you should not drive with open windows, since the draft almost always leads to colds. There it is useful to cover the car windows with blankets, in order to protect the child from the scorching sun.

The shallow beaches along the Costa del Sol are very family friendly with many children´s playgrounds, showers, beach chairs and umbrellas for hire, restaurants and beach bars as well as other installations as for instance pedal boat rentals.

Fuengirola is a very good resort for families, as it is in comparison to other resorts along the Costa del Sol quieter and most of the Hotels are situated along the beach. In Fuengirola there is as well a Zoo. Kids always enjoy going to amusement parks and there´s a nice one in Torremolinos. During summertime there is also a water park. Sea Life in Benalmadena is open all year long and kids love to explore the magical undersea world there. If you feel like experimenting different sceneries you can rent a car in Malaga and go exploring the mountains and Natural Parks.

When you are booking Hotels in Malaga, make sure at the time you make your reservation that your desired family amenities are still available.

Here you have a checklist of facilities which should be available in a child-friendly Hotel:

• Childcare in the Hotel (extra Charge)?
• Playgroups? Playground integrated in the resort or outside?
• Baby phone? 
• Children´s menu? Buffet?
• Fast service for the little ones?
• Children´s games?
• Children´s books?
• No traffic, quiet road in front of the hotel?