Teenage kicks and tots treats

• 

  Beach at Sani Resort, Halkidiki

If there were a prize for a ‘one-size-fits-all’ resort, Sani Resort in Halkidiki would be in with a very strong chance of scooping the award.

Evolving over time on a massive chunk of scenic Halkidiki coastline, it boasts four different hotels, a marina, an open-air cinema, amphitheatre, art galleries, spas, shops and restaurants – all within flip-flop distance of beaches and a boot or two away from mountains and pine forests on a 1,000-acre private ecological reserve.

If the kids are fussy, hopefully you’ll find something they like amongst the 14 restaurants, brasseries and ouzeries and you’ll find something you fancy amongst the 15 bars and cafes. Particularly relaxing is the Sea You Bar at the edge of the Sani marina where a latte or milkshake seems to go down well in this Ibiza-esque spot. You would think a bar so cool would be perfect for my 15-year-old “why can’t I use my mobile on holiday I NEED to know what’s going on at home” niece. But of course they are nothing without their mates, and anyone over 16 and not a boy - i.e. my sister and me - is SO boring to them (thank God she had the iPod), so her disinterested teenage angst was understandable.

Rest at last

Eventually though, even this hard-to-amuse niece was won over by Sani and gave in to relaxation once she had been out of contact with the outside world for long enough to realise she was still breathing. We stayed at Porto Sani, one of the four hotel options and a nicely sprawling 103 all-suite spa one at that. The standard suite allocated had a sweet patch of sun-lounging garden, which the niece liked, twin bedroom and the comfortable lounge with not-so-comfortable pull-out bed that popped out from a large footstool. Being a martyr aunt, I steadfastly said I would sleep on the wafer-thin pop-out all weekend, but maybe small kids wouldn’t be such moaners. The Family Suites would be better if there are any more than three people in your group, as these come with two separate bedrooms and the living space.

The smartest option on site is the marina-facing all-suite Sani Asterias, in which you can pop a couple of young children in the lounge area without having to pay for another room. Both Sani Asterias and Porto Sani are close to the beach where you’ll find the famous ‘Babe Watch’ babysitting service (the first half-hour is free). There’s even a turn-down service for children with milk and cookies in the resort and other little innovations include beach treasure hunts and outdoor shaded soft play areas. The Sani Beach Club, with plenty of restaurants and the dive centre and the huge Sani Beach Hotel complete the hotel picture.

Keeping kids busy

Just some of the activities on offer in this mammoth resort include six clay tennis courts, Sunball tennis school, a mountain-biking centre, all the typical watersports you can imagine, a PADI dive centre, archery and private boat tours. The crèches and kids clubs clubs are operated in partnership with London-based specialists Powder Byrne to Ofstead guidelines and there’s not a bored looking carer in sight.

At Porto Sani, the food was excellent and the buffet and a la carte breakfast stunning, but dinner at the main Artemis restaurant felt a little stuffy and definitely too boring and grown-up for my niece. In fact, all three of us preferred al fresco dining watching the world go by from the various cafes and Italian and Greek restaurants.

The Anne Semonin spa and its indoor pool were adults-only so became a haven away from the half-term hordes round the main pool at Porto Sani and again, deemed even more successful given the niece liked it here too. Any mum would be blissfully happy with a couple of hours of alone time at this spa.

Another good thing is there is a supermarket on-site if you need to rustle something up for the little ones at any point while at the other end of the spectrum – there’s an ‘ultra all-inclusive’ plan so you can budget upfront on holiday spend. It includes all meals, unlimited premium drinks and a good range of sports and entertainment.

Small words of warning about Sani – it's a quite boring hour or so slow transfer from Thessaloniki, and there are bizarrely loads of toads hopping around the resort who occasionally squeeze under suite doors. Some kids find that fun; others might not stop crying.

By April Hutchinson

Location: Greece