When holidaying as a single parent with two children aged nine and 13, the word ‘relaxing’ might not be the first word that comes to mind. ‘Fun’, might be on the list. ‘An adventure’, perhaps. ‘Brave’ – definitely.
And while I was, I admit, pretty self-congratulatory about the last one, I had no illusions about the first. I expected to have a hilarious, fulfilling, bonding, silly time away with my kids on my first ever holiday abroad as a single parent, but I did not expect to come home flaunting the fact that it was “relaxing” to anyone.
But then we landed at the Westin Costa Navarino – a luxury resort in the Greek region of Messinia, in the southwest Peloponnese – and I started to think it might just be possible.
After all, with a kids’ club programme packed with enough activities to please a hyperactive CEO – plus five outdoor swimming pools, a flawless beach and a sports and gaming centre – had I finally found the secret to having a relaxing holiday as a single mum?
Read more: The best hotels in the Greek islands
It started off smoothly: the family suite with two separate rooms was gorgeous. There were two showers, a freestanding bath and a balcony (complete with its very own sun lounger, plus views of the sea and mountains). My son spontaneously declared that he didn’t just want to be on holiday – he wanted to live here.
“You are only ever as happy as your unhappiest child”, the adage goes – and they were both ecstatic. This boded very well indeed…
Like a pack of overly-excitable Labrador puppies, we set off to explore the grounds. Costa Navarino is so big you need golf buggies to travel around it. My son was stunned. I actually think it might have been the best moment of his life.
Not least when the golf buggy tour (“you can hang off the back, Mama! THIS IS AWESOME!”) revealed a twin resort (the Romanos, with its serene, 12+ swimming areas and breezy, quietly classy reception; its dark blue-tiled pools and grand piano), a waterpark with slides and tubes and ‘Division 16’ – a gaming centre with a bowling alley, VR arcades, an American diner and an NBA academy basketball court. I know.
We’d suddenly gone from “no way – we are not going to kids’ club” to my son voluntarily signing up for a basketball lesson, a rush around a bike track, a paddleboarding session in the actual sea and a private lesson at the nearby Mouratoglou tennis centre, with its 12 tennis courts, two padel courts and a pickleball court.
The downside? The lesson was at 8am. The upside? I had an hour off to go to the spa. Talk about relaxing: at the hands of my masseuse Leandros, I nearly forgot I had children.
To give the organisers of our holiday – Scott Dunn, a luxury travel tour operator who also run one of the on-site kids’ clubs – full credit, they served up a tantalising array of offers: archery lessons (I found myself selling them to my son as being “just like the Hunger Games” – which is in retrospect a bit dark, but it worked), and a “traditional Greek culinary experience” with a local family.
Read more: The tiny Greek island known as the Island of Outcasts
They dangled watersports, climbing lessons, golf and an escape room – all excellent, all mouth-watering – but they may not quite have reckoned with the recalcitrant powers of teenage girls.
My son was sold the moment he heard the word “water balloon fight” and “other kids”. My daughter? “I want to sit by the pool with you, Mummy. I want to watch Married at First Sight Australia and drink mocktails. And I do not want to make friends.”
Read more: This overlooked region of Greece is perfect for a short break
Ah. We had a snag – but when I probed a little further as to why, when it sounded so cool, she used the withering tone only British 13-year-olds (and Regina George in Mean Girls) have perfected: “Maybe try not calling it ‘kids’ club’?”
Right, then. I remember being 13 – she had a point.
For despite the fact that the Scott Dunn kids’ club was thoughtfully named, from ‘Globetrotters’ (4 months-2 years), ‘Adventurers’ (3-4 years), ‘Voyagers’ (5-7 years), ‘Pioneers’ (8-11) and ‘Crew’ (11+) – she still knew it was kids’ club. And (a bit like Fight Club) you can’t talk about kids’ club or even mention that kids’ club exists, when you are 13.
So, I embraced the lesson I was given – and realised that it really is possible to chill out and enjoy time away… with your kids. And that’s the real secret of my first ever holiday abroad as a single parent: your kids are, actually, the best company of all.
I discovered that if you take their devices away and focus on having ‘grown-up dinners’ with them (a sunset-streaked feast at the resort’s signature Flame restaurant at the golf club was a particular highlight – as was our final night eating fresh fish at the Barbouni beach bar, with its moving canopy ceiling), then you can have a blast.
I learned that it only takes one of them to say “yes” to an activity for you to spend quality time with the other one – and that quality time, if you can get it, is worth its weight in golden sunsets.
That spending time together – rather than trying to rush them both into kids’ clubs 9-5 – is precious (but in the moments they do choose to go, my goodness you appreciate them).
I’ve also realised that the scathing put-downs of teenage girls are, truly, a force to be reckoned with.
Read more: The best hotels in Santorini
0 Comments