2013 10 02 mummytravels by Hugo Nascimento

10/18/13

mummytravels » Blog Archive » 5-star family friendly luxury at Martinhal resort, Portugal

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2 Oct 2013

5-star family friendly luxury at Martinhal resort, Portugal

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Posted by mummytravels It is a truth universally acknowledged* that when you have young children, you can’t stay in luxurious holiday resorts any more. The only flaw in that bold statement is that it’s not true. To be fair, it’s harder than it used to be. Sticky fingers and boutique chic are a recipe for stress, which isn’t really what you want from your holiday. To properly gauge how familyfriendly a five-star resort is, I’d recommend your one-year-old having a full-blown screaming, teething-induced meltdown at lunch in the hotel restaurant. Or rather, having endured it myself I wouldn’t actually recommend it, but it’s a pretty failsafe test. In the perfect resort, none of the other diners would even blink, as they’re all busy with their own babies and silently thanking a string of deities that it’s not them. As a bonus, the member of staff whose job it is to entertain the kids while their parents eat will come over to help pacify your daughter, whisk her away and restore smiles with a variety of toys as you return shakily to your cocktail. The name of this utopia, incidentally, is Martinhal Resort and Spa, in Sagres, Portugal’s far south-west corner. From the moment we arrived to discover one mum breastfeeding in the minimalist reception, everything seemed to be geared towards making life easy and enjoyable for parents and kids. There’s a buggy-friendly path down to the hotel’s beach, for example, and each restaurant has a children’s play area by the side, so adults can enjoy the meal without bored wriggling, and kids can have (supervised) fun rather than being stuck at the table when they’ve finished. Given the inventive kids and babies’ menu (with options from Stage 1 weaning upwards), there’s plenty to keep them at the table too. We started our visit at As Dunas, one of several restaurants on site, overlooking the sea and serving fish and seafood so fresh it was caught from the waves you were

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10/18/13

mummytravels » Blog Archive » 5-star family friendly luxury at Martinhal resort, Portugal viewing. I’m still slightly regretting not copying my husband’s choice of John Dory, to go with my much-needed mojito.

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Then, after packing my husband and Minnie off to the beach pools near the restaurant, I headed off to look round the resort. Any remaining bad mood on Minnie’s part totally vanished with two warm pools for her to splash around in – there’s also a trampoline nearby for older children.

The resort itself is split into several areas around a ‘town square’ with a surf-style beach bar, shops, playground and kids clubs. Starting from six months in the crèche, the various clubs go up to a 13-18-year option, as well as a drop-in room for teenagers including movies, games consoles and the internet. Martinhal has deliberately chosen not to go the all-inclusive route, so you’re not stuck paying for options you don’t want, but this does mean the clubs are extra. These also need to be pre-booked and cost from 18-21 Euros per session depending on age, or 26 Euros per two hours in the crèche.

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The thoughtful design extends to all the villas as well – the ocean and bay versions are upside down, with the living area at the top so you can make the most of the views. The pinewoods and garden designs are the opposite though, so your living room leads straight out into the greenery, and to the private pool for the pinewoods houses. Each area has a pool nearby as well, plus there’s sports facilities at C lub 98 and various watersports to book, and the resort is set in a nature reserve.

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mummytravels » Blog Archive » 5-star family friendly luxury at Martinhal resort, Portugal

There’s 37 hotel rooms plus 132 villas in the main village, all using traditional Portuguese materials and nature-inspired blues and greens, but everything seems so spread out that you’d barely notice your neighbours. But if you do need help relaxing a bit more, there’s the Finisterra spa – this point of Portugal, where Prince Henry the Navigator reputedly had his maritime and mapmaking institute, was known as Finis Terra, the ends of the earth.

Using gorgeous seaweed-based Voya products, an organic Irish brand I love, they’ve got all the usual array of treatments, along with family, teen and tween options, baby massage, plus a mini relaxation area, sauna, steam and Jacuzzi. Having been carting my poor teething baby around for days by this point, my back (and the rest of me) was more than ready for its well-named Relaxing massage. The icing on the cake before we had to leave, was the discovery that Minnie had cheered right up too. This is one place it’s certainly worth going to the ends of the earth for… *With apologies to Jane Austen…

Disclosure: My day at Martinhal, including lunch and the spa treatment, was courtesy of the resort Images: C opyright C athy Winston Like

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