Ask any toddler parents how they are and you’ll be met with a look – through dark, circled eyes – of mild desperation. Tired has a whole new meaning; busy feels like an understatement. In short, they’re exhausted – in almost every conceivable way.
My husband and I are parents to two great, albeit tiring, toddlers (aged two and four) and the last eight months have been intense. In addition to keeping our tiny humans alive, we have also moved house and had three reasonably impactful operations between us.
So to celebrate making it through – with our sanity just about intact – we decided to take a break. However, we’d both taken a lot of time out of the office and, until we were more settled in our new home, we wanted to make it a short one. But we also wanted to go somewhere warm. While avoiding the Middle East. And Europe’s new EES system.
Was a four-hour flight to Turkey with toddlers worth it for a long weekend, I wondered? We decided to find out.
© Getty ImagesSurviving the flight
We picked an early flight to Dalaman, departing at 7.20am on a Friday (it was the cheapest option). We needed to be there at least 90 minutes prior to boarding to drop the bags (you might be able to take a trip without checked bags with toddlers and babies, but this is one of those instances where I think the cost is worth it for the sake of your stress levels) so it was an early start.
Security was a breeze – largely thanks to the relatively new security scanners at Gatwick that meant we didn’t have to pull out all our electronics and liquids – and we survived the flight. The four year old was fine. The two year old refused to nap and was less fine but at least she was hyperactive rather than a sobbing mess – as the child in front of us became. Thankfully the flight was full of young children and the parents all understood; we made it through together.
We disembarked at the cleanest, breeziest airport I’ve ever been to; we were through and with our bags within half an hour. There were no queues. It was almost unnerving. But it meant that we arrived at XO Cape Arnna at 3pm, meaning we had just time to dig out the swimwear and head to the splash pad before it closed at 5pm.
Choose your hotel wisely
If you are opting for a short break that’s meant to let you reset and entertain young children, it’s important not to put too much pressure on yourself. In my life before children, I wouldn’t have dreamed of travelling to a country and not seeing any of it.
But for those three nights, I decided to give myself a break. I picked an all-inclusive with great scenery (the views and setting were quite possibly my personal highlight) and plenty to do; so we’d never need to leave. I couldn’t have mustered up the energy even if I wanted to. Parents put themselves under enough pressure on a daily basis to be perfect; it’s not a feeling I want to extend to our holidays together, too.
Think of the children
XO Cape Arnna was a good pick for the kids. Not only did it have everything that my son asked for – chips, ketchup, a beach and a slide – but his expectations were exceeded by the small waterpark and splash pad. There were also bigger waterslides for those aged eight and over (yes, my husband and I took turns trying them out).
Then there was the teepee we found on arrival set up in our room, the evenings of entertainment, watersports, swimming pools and even a trapeze. Of the beaches, our favourite was the hidden away Flamingo Beach. It had a lovely, calm, shallow gradient into the water and a small toddler-sized play area complete with a “tiny slide” that my daughter loved.
There is a kids club (under 5s must be accompanied by an adult), but I’ll admit I found it a little depressing. It’s well done, with a small soft play area, but there was very little supervision and much of it was indoors – through the doorways I could see kids glued to video games. My heart sank when I discovered that there was even a vlogging room.
Think of the adults
XO Cape Arnna is one of those resorts that caters to children, but puts equal weighting on the experience of the grownups. There’s an adults-only area with a pool, bar and restaurant, a well-equipped gym and a lovely spa.
While the buffet restaurant, The Resort Gastro, catered for every conceivable taste (the offering was vast), the a la carte restaurants had more of an adult vibe. Our children were welcome, but tasting menus are not always the right option for children who won’t sit long enough to finish one course – never mind several.
Cheating the time difference
I was shocked to learn that the a la carte restaurants at the resort also didn’t open until 7pm. Normally I’d be enraged; that’s far too late for dinner in a child-centric resort. But this is where the time difference helped us out. 7pm in Turkey was 5pm in the UK: we just kept the kids on British time for the duration of our stay. Burger and chips or chicken schnitzel and chips appeared to make up 80 percent of the menus wherever we dined. The kids loved it and while we weren’t thrilled, we at least managed to get plenty of fruit in them at breakfast.
The verdict
I had questioned the sanity of travelling all the way to Turkey for just three nights with two toddlers, but it was actually ideal. I tend to get bored at all-inclusive hotels, but we weren’t there long enough for that and it gave us enough of a mental break to feel like we’d had some respite from daily life. Even if it was only fleeting.
How to do it: Rooms at XO Cape Arnna cost from £475 on an all-inclusive basis.
