Baby Hotel, Austria
Half hotel, half theme park, the Baby Hotel boasts its own farm and petting zoo, a theatre/cinema, several adventure playgrounds, year-round activities and excursions and a giant water-slide from the third floor to the pool. Adults, too, are pampered, so while the kids are learning magic tricks or damming streams in the ingenious water theme park, mum and dad can relax in the spa or head out to the hotel's own golf course.
Adults from €95pp pn, children from €33pp pn. +43 4732 2350, babyhotel.eu.
Caserio del Mirador, Spain
This rural retreat on the Costa Blanca has been designed with families in mind from the ground up. Toys, games, a trampoline, babysitting and a creche, and arts and crafts sessions are on offer, as is baby equipment. If you don't wan to cook, home-cooked gourmet food is available as well as child-friendly meals.
Family suites from £650pw. +34 965 973 024, villajalon.com.
Auberge des VoyaJoueurs, France
If your children are competitive types, this game-themed hotel is definitely worth a gamble. You can learn to play anything from ancient African games of strategy to the Wii, and everything in between – chess, croquet, backgammon, scrabble, mah jongg . . . and the game library has an intriguing collection of game-themed reference books and novels. Nearby, Broceliande Forest, the setting for several Arthurian legends, is ripe for exploration on foot or horseback.
Rooms from €59pn. +33 297 93 22 18, auberge-des-voyajoueurs.com/indexGB.php.
Villa Pia, Lippiano, Italy
A relaxed yet stylish villa in Umbria where parents can recharge while the kids explore five acres of woods and carefully designed play spaces, mostly within view of the sun terraces. Home-cooked meals (including baby food) are prepared daily while an open-access fridge and espresso machine provide drinks and snacks 24/7. There are soft play and toy rooms, art and cooking classes, swimming pools, a sand pit, trampoline and tennis court for older children, and English-speaking babysitters are available.
From £500 per week per adult, children aged 2-12 £200 per week, under-2s in their parents' room go free. +39 075 850 2027, villapia.com.
Club Peligoni, Greece
These luxury villas on the island of Zykanthos surround an activity hub with a restaurant, bar, pool and watersports. The villas vary from two-bedroom bungalows to mansions sleeping 18, and most have their own pool, so you can kick back and relax while teenage kids head off to the club for barbecues, parties and boat trips. Some villas are near the club, others are up in the hills overlooking the Ionian Sea.
Villas start at £420 per week, up to £5,500 per week for an 18-person villa. Watersports packages start from £150pp pw. 020-8740 3046, peligoni.com.
