A hip family holiday to Club Med, Malaysia...

We at 'the little hip traveller' love chatting to fabulous mums about their recent holiday experiences. This particular mum, Belinda and her very gorgeous little family have just returned from a holiday to Club Med, Cherating Beach, Malaysia. Having not yet been a guest at a Club Med resort, we are particularly intrigued to hear all about this, so lets delay no longer. 

Thanks Belinda x

So, tell us a bit about you and your family?

 

We are a family of four, myself Belinda, hubby Seth, son Oliver 3.5 yrs and daughter Isla 6 months.

And where have you been of late with your little ‘hips’?

 

We Travelled to Cherating Beach, Malaysia for 7 nights.

How did you get there?

We flew with Malaysian Airlines from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, staying overnight at the Pan Pacific Airport hotel. The next morning we took the short flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan. We were able to use our stroller right up to the gate which was very handy indeed and they specifically pulled us out of the queue and let us board first which was great. The crew were very friendly, the baby meal was not fantastic but Isla had only just started on solids so wasn't a huge deal. They gave both kids a toy pack to keep them occupied. The bassinette for Isla was just long enough for her so keep that in mind. Ollie didn't like using the headphones so maybe a good idea to practice using them at home before you go. Would definitely fly with them again.

 

Where did you stay?

 

We stayed at the Club Med Cherating Beach. We stayed in interconnecting rooms. That worked really well as we all piled into the one room while Isla had her sleeps during the day. We stayed in Block E which was quite close to the main bulding but far enough away from all the night activity and noise.

 

Rooms: I was disappointed in the rooms themselves. The shower had mould in alot of places and I felt dirty having to look at it as with the toilet. If they had done a basic refurb on the bathroom and toilet I would have been pretty happy. The beds were very comfy and had lots of wardrobe space.

The aircon did not work very well in our room but in the other room it did.

 

Food: Was lovely, loads of choice and there was always something I liked. The one frustrating thing was they had set meal times for the main restaurant and dinner did not start until 7.15pm. This was tricky for Ollie as he has dinner at 5pm and is in bed by 7pm at home. The only option was to take him to the snacking restaurant (open till 6pm) which was pretty much chips and nuggets. We got a spare stroller from the resort and put Ollie in that when we went to have dinner so he could go to sleep.

 

Kids Club: We did not make use of the kids club as I had my mother in law with us. But personally would have only felt comfortable putting Ollie in it if he had been maybe 4 or 5 yrs old. They did look like they were very well run and had loads of things going on all day long.

 

I would not stay at this particular Club Med again unless they refurbished the rooms, but I would definitely stay at another one that was in better condition and probably once kids were a bit older.

 

Your biggest challenge?

 

Working around Isla's sleep times

Restaurant not starting dinner until 7pm

Trying to keep Ollie calm as he did not want to wear his seatbelt on take off and was screaming to get it off. 

Any big recommendations?

 

I looked alot at Tripadvisor when researching our trip

What are your main tips for travelling with kids?

 

Lots of snacks, few toys/comforters from home, something new ie. sticker book kept Ollie occupied. If possible try and go on an overnight flight as they hopefully would sleep most of it and don't have to worry about keeping them entertained. Try and pack everything into one bag for the carry on bag so you're not searching around for ages particularly when you need something straight away which is always with kids!

What would you not have left home without?

 

Wipes & Ollie's Rug

 

And finally, anything else you want to add?

 

Try not to stress about the kids eating food. I found myself doing that and decided I had to let go as it's only a week in Ollie's life that he will be living on nuggets and it won't kill him ;) Have fun and enjoy the precious time with your kids and as a family.