Where kids stay, play and eat (healthily) free

Tracey Spicer Jan 18 2015 at 12:15 AM

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There is great joy to be had in staying at resorts designed specifically for children. I know that sounds like Special Subject: The Bleeding Obvious, but often, we drag them along to wherever we want to stay then berate them for behaving like well children!

At the Holiday Inn, you don't have to worry about how loud they are, whether there's anything they'll eat, or if they'll utter the phrase, "This is BORING".

The founder, Kemmons Wilson, created the company back in 1952, after discovering few hotel options for his family; it was the first to use the slogan, "Kids Stay & Eat Free".

Now, Nutrition Australia has created a revamped kids' menu for Holiday Inn hotels and resorts across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, to provide "a wider variety of healthy options for kids much more than just the standard burgers, pastas and chips", says Phil Broad, vice-president of food and beverage for the InterContinental Hotels Group.

We got a taste of this recently (pun intended!) at two of their properties in Phuket, Thailand. The buffet in Patong was one of the best I've ever seen, with a low bench for young children to get their own breakfast, and a cool room full of fresh fruit, veggie sticks, and sushi.

In Mai Khao, kids can tick boxes on the menu to design their own pizza, sandwich, or salad perfect for fussy eaters. We also did a mum-and-kids cooking class, creating tom yum goong, green chicken curry and green papaya salad.

Each property was a water wonderland, with a plethora of pools, fountains and waterslides. Activities ranged from animal balloon making for the littlies, to table tennis comps for tweens, and Thai kickboxing for teens.

Oh wait. Apparently, I forgot the most important point. "They had free Wi-fi!" the kids squealed. Not so they could incessantly play their iPods: so they could face-time dada. With hubby working, I thought these resorts would be handy in proving extra sets of er hands.

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Where kids stay, play and eat (healthily) free