Kids clubs: what the age bands actually tell you

Start with your children’s ages, not the resort’s marketing

Every family resort on this coast advertises a kids club. The advertised existence of one tells you almost nothing. The age band tells you nearly everything, and it is the field most operators here decline to publish.

The two gaps

Most published kids clubs cover roughly ages four to twelve. That leaves two groups unserved.

Under fours. Below the club’s minimum age, childcare is typically a paid babysitting service rather than an included facility, and it is usually listed among the exclusions. A family with a two-year-old booking a resort on the strength of its kids club has bought something their child cannot use.

Teenagers. A thirteen-year-old is too old for a club designed around younger children and too young for the bar. Resorts that address this run a separate teen space; most do not. A bored teenager is the most reliable way to make an expensive week feel long.

What the operators in our set actually publish

This is where the picture gets awkward.

Of the eight resorts we currently document, one publishes its age bands: three clubs covering ages one to nineteen. That range is unusually wide and covers both gaps above, which is why it is the first thing we say on that resort’s profile.

The others confirm that a kids club exists and do not publish ages. Two name the club. None of the remaining seven state a minimum or maximum age anywhere we could find on their official sites.

We record that as “not published by the operator” rather than guessing, and it is a genuine finding rather than a gap in our research: if a resort will not tell you whether your four-year-old can attend, that is information about the resort.

Whether a wide band means good provision

Not automatically. A published range from one to nineteen is a commitment to cover those ages; it is not evidence about staffing ratios, hours, languages spoken, or how engaging the programme is. We cannot verify any of those from published sources and will not imply otherwise.

What a published band does is let you eliminate resorts that definitely will not work, which is most of the value a shortlist needs to provide.

What to confirm before booking

1. The exact minimum and maximum ages, in writing.
2. Operating hours, including whether the club closes over lunch and in the evening.
3. Whether it is included or chargeable, and whether evening sessions are extra.
4. Whether babysitting for under-age children exists, and whether it is bookable in advance.
5. Whether there is separate teen provision, and what it actually consists of.
6. Whether children must be toilet-trained to attend, which is a common and rarely published requirement.

Question six catches more families out than any other, and no operator we read addresses it publicly.

The other half of the question

A kids club is only one of two ways a resort can be family-workable. The other is layout: connecting rooms, family suites, pools with genuinely shallow sections, and short walking distances between room, food and water.

None of the operators we document publish whether connecting rooms are available, which is a striking omission for properties marketed to families. It is worth asking about early, because it is the sort of thing that is allocated rather than guaranteed, and the answer often depends on how far ahead you book rather than on what you pay.

Last verified 2026-09-12.