We've just come back from a week at Green Garden Resort in Tenerife with our two and a half year old and four-month-old baby. It was our first trip abroad as a family of four so we were looking for somewhere for a relaxed week of winter sunshine. This was definitely it.
I'd already heard good things about Tots to Travel from friends that have booked other resorts but I've never been all-inclusive before, so initially I was a bit reluctant to go for it. I was worried about what the food would be like and whether we'd all get a bit bored, but my partner convinced me it would be worth it and he was right. It was great not having to think about finding a supermarket just after we'd arrived and we had so much more time to ourselves because we weren't preparing meals, washing up and all of those other things that make the day disappear at home. The package we had included all our food, snacks and alcohol plus two meals in the a la carte restaurant on site so felt like pretty good value. The food wasn't amazing but the choice was good and there was plenty for our toddler too.
Before we even left it was great that there was someone from Tots to Travel at the end of an email to answer any questions we had. They were also able to suggest a car company with car seats for the kids to do our airport pick up which we found really helpful. It probably would have been cheaper to find one ourselves but we decided it was easier to go with the recommendation.
We all know how much stuff you need for small children, so the biggest plus for us was not needing to worry about any of that. Tots to Travel provide everything you need in the room - from night lights to toilet seats, to plastic cutlery to books and toys. It meant we actually packed quite light which I loved! We just went for a basic room and it was clean and reasonably spacious too with its own private garden for us to sit in during nap time.
There was plenty for our toddler to do with lots of activities organised by Tots to Travel including messy play and a pirate party but even if you don't want to take part in formal activities there's a baby pool with lots of toys provided, two sandpits, a playground and ride on toys always available. Even the trip to the beach was easy with transport, water and buckets and spades provided.
I've heard that it's not quite as good at busier times of the year because activities can get booked up and the pool area can be very crowded, but for us booking off peak in January it was great. We may also have gotten lucky with the resort we chose but I can safely say I'm glad we booked through TTT. It's definitely not the cheapest way to do a family holiday (£869 for the week) but we paid for it in advance and barely spent anything while we were there - even though we did a couple of trips out of the resort - so it felt like good value to us. The ease of everything was also just what we needed on this occasion.
We had a great week and would definitely book again - in fact we're already considering it for next year!
Written by Sarah Holmes
Sarah is mum to two little monsters - Skye who is two and a half and Max who is four months. She lives with her partner Kevin and the children in south west London and works as a journalist in her other life. Before kids she and Kevin travelled as much as possible and now they’re determined to try to show the children plenty of the world as well, finances and general sanity permitting!
