10 of the best all-inclusive holidays from TUI

What to look for when booking an all-inclusive family holiday

Room size – Unless you book adjoining rooms with an interconnecting door (which will increase the cost of your holiday), you’ll almost certainly be sharing a room with your children – so make sure there’s enough space for everyone.

Number of pools – You only need one pool to have a good time but a selection – including a shallower children’s pool – means even more water fun.

Number of restaurants – The main restaurant in an all-inclusive hotel or resort is a self-service buffet that offers local and international cuisine plus child-friendly dishes. Other restaurants tend to be themed, à la carte and require a reservation. You’ll also find bars and cafes that offer alternative, and usually less busy, spots for breakfast, lunch and snacks.

Childcare facilities, including kids’ clubs – Whether you’re looking for a safe and secure crèche for your baby or a fun kids’ club for your toddler, you’ll find trusted childcare facilities at TUI all-inclusive hotels and resorts. While kids’ clubs are usually free, crèche and babysitting services won’t be – and you may need to book – so check before you fly.

Activities and entertainment – Your all-inclusive package includes activities and entertainment throughout the day, and children’s discos, bingo and quizzes at night. In larger hotels and resorts, shows and concerts feature in a packed programme that changes every week.

Deals and offers – Going all-inclusive is a great way to manage your holiday budget but you can save money before you fly by looking for great deals and offers on packages. TUI has 1000s of free kids’ places available on holidays around the world, including package deals to family favourite destinations such as Spain and Portugal. There are also low deposits (from £60pp on short-haul and mid-haul holidays), so you can bag a place without breaking the bank.

Transfer time – As well as factoring in flight times when planning your holiday, it’s important to consider the transfer time from the airport to your hotel or resort as it can significantly lengthen your journey. To help you, we’ve given the transfer times to each of the 10 destinations below. TUI usually lays on a coach for the inclusive transfer but renting a taxi or minibus will significantly reduce travel time.

Here is our pick of the 10 best all-inclusive family holidays (from TUI)

1. TUI MAGIC LIFE Plimmiri by Atlantica, Plimiri, Rhodes, Greece

– Best for lone parents

Pools: 3 outdoor, 1 indoor (16+), 2 children’s pools | Restaurants: 4 | Rooms: 411 | Room sizes: 1-bedroom family room, 1- and 2-bedroom suite | Childcare facilities/Clubs: 4 different clubs for children aged 3-6, 7-9, 10-12 and 13-16 | Transfer time: 150 minutes (by coach)

This five-star beachfront hotel, on the tip of Rhodes, is ideal for families of all sizes and types, thanks to a trio of outdoor pools (one for activities, one for relaxing and another with waterslides and fountains) and over 120 planned daily activities. The extensive sports programme includes options for all ages and abilities, featuring activities such as tennis, volleyball and trampolining fitness classes. Throughout the day, there’s a great mix of age-appropriate entertainment providing plenty of fun, including after-dinner shows and live music.

As a TUI MAGIC LIFE property, the hotel offers a wide range childcare options for pre-schoolers to teens, so is particularly brilliant for lone-parent families. Children can make new friends and have fun at their club, while parents can take a yoga class, indulge in a spa treatment or simply flop on the secluded and private sandy beach. When it’s time for bed, there are family rooms with sliding doors and suites with lounges, so you can stay up without disturbing your children. Better still, the single parent offer means a single adult travelling with children can save up to £250 on their trip.

Book now: Prices from £592pp (Sun 01 May 2022 – 7 nights)

2. TUI BLUE Sensatori Coral Sea, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

– Best for foodie families

Pools: 5, including 2 children’s and 1 adults-only | Restaurants: 6 | Rooms: 470 | Room sizes: 1-bedroom family room, including swim-up option, family suite | Childcare facilities/Clubs: BabyClub (from birth to 3), TUI Kids’ club (3-12) | Transfer time: 15 minutes (by coach)

The food at this five-star Sensatori beachfront resort is as magnificent as the views of the turquoise waters and soft, golden sand of nearby Ras Nosrani Bay, near the bottom of the Sinai Peninsula. As well as the expansive buffet, there are three à la carte restaurants - choose from Asian, Mexican and authentic Middle Eastern mezze and tagines. For younger, less adventurous eaters, there’s a children’s buffet.

Besides outstanding dining, there are top-notch facilities for grown-ups and children, including a fantastic splash pool with waterslides, jets and tipping buckets that’ll thrill water babies, an activity pool for aqua exercise and a peaceful pool reserved for adults. You can even stay in a swim-up room that gives you direct access to a pool – and a great view over the water.

There are things to do and watch around the clock, from awakening yoga and meditation sessions to after-dinner musicals. In between, there’s sensory play, music and dancing games, fitness classes and tennis tournaments, which will help you work up an appetite.

Book now: Prices from £528.10pp (with some amazing upgrade offers!)

3. TUI BLUE FOR FAMILIES Grupotel Turquesa Mar, Cala’n Bosch, Menorca, Spain

– Best for getting the whole family moving

Pools: 4 outdoor, 1 indoor and kids’ splash pool | Restaurants: 2 | Rooms: 192 | Room sizes: 1-bedroom apartment | Childcare facilities/Clubs: BabyClub (0-36 months), Kids’ Clubs (3 to 5-year-olds, 6 to 11-year-olds, 12 to 15-year-olds) | Transfer time: 105 mins (by coach)

This hotel is designed for your whole clan, with spacious rooms and facilities for babies through to adults, including an air-conditioned Baby Lounge close to the pool, a chill-out space exclusively for teens and a café serving proper coffee.

Tui Blue for Families hotels are known for their impressive spread of sports, games and fitness classes, but this place excels, with dedicated sports and activity hosts who lead movement and dance sessions for children, yoga-fusion classes for adults and a weekly fitness for the whole family. Away from the organised fun, you can hire bikes to explore beyond the hotel – there are two beaches within easy reach – or try canoeing.

As well as being the perfect destination for families who like to keep fit together, Grupotel Turquesa Mar is also the ideal place to learn a new skill – there’s a professional swim school that caters to children and adults, plus a football academy for players aged 5 to 15, both open from June to August. Sign up early to avoid disappointment and ensure you and your children come home better kickers.

Book now: Prices from £755.07pp

4. Julian Club Hotel, Marmaris, Dalaman, Turkey

– Best for families with older children

Pools: 3, 1 with waterslides, 1 with kids’ pool | Restaurants: 3 | Rooms: 386 | Room sizes: Twin room, 2-bedroom family room | Childcare facilities/Clubs: Kids’ Club (4 to 12-years-old) | Transfer time: 105 mins (by coach)

Proving that you don’t need an extravagant budget to indulge in a highly rated holiday, this four-star hotel offers a trio of bright blue swimming pools, an excellent buffet restaurant and all-day entertainment that builds up to energetic evening shows. There are also three bars, one of which serves snacks twice daily.

Babies and toddlers are welcomed by warm and friendly staff but we think this is a good option for families with older children as the pools (the main one features two huge waterslides) are open until 8pm, the kids’ club has a late session until 9pm and the hotel is a 20-minute walk from the centre of Marmaris, a large and lively resort.

You can happily stick to the all-inclusive package or stretch your budget a little further and enjoy à la carte dining, indulge in a highly recommended Turkish bath and sauna, or upgrade to a 2-bedroom family room. With a double and a twin, parents get privacy and children get their own space.

Book now: Prices from £TBC

5. TUI MAGIC LIFE Calabria, Pizzo, Italy

– Best for watersports fans

Pools: 4 plus mini-splash park | Restaurants: 5 (3 all-inclusive; 2 a la carte) | Rooms: 641 | Room sizes: Double room, 2-bedroom family room, split-level family room | Childcare facilities/Clubs: Mini Club (3-6 years), kid’s club (7-9), youngster’s club (10-12) and Teens Time (13-16 years) | Transfer time: 30 minutes (by coach)

As you’d expect from a Tui Magic Life hotel, this beachfront paradise elevates all-inclusive to the next level, with food and drink available 24 hours a day, a professional entertainment team and an extensive sports programme. The Calabria boasts a whopping 11 tennis courts, 2 beach volleyball courts and an archery range, as well as a cycling tour programme and fitness classes. But it’s the water-based activities that really stand out here, with everything from aqua dance and water polo in the main pool to windsurfing, canoeing and sailing on the Med courtesy of the dedicated watersports centre at the nearby private beach.

Back on dry land, you’re spoilt for choice with 3 all-inclusive restaurants, including the Magico buffet which hosts themed nights and live-show cooking, and 4 bars to revive you. And when the 100+ different activities planned for each day come to an end, there’s a mini-disco for younger guests each evening, followed by a family-friendly party, movie night or show, sometimes held at the amphitheatre for added drama.

Book now: Prices from £673.10pp

6. Protur Bonaire Aparthotel, Cala Bona, Majorca, Spain

­– Best for your first family holiday abroad

Pools: 2 plus splash pool and children’s pool | Restaurants: 2 | Rooms: 208 | Room sizes: apartment | Childcare facilities/Clubs: Creche (0 to 3-years old), Tui Kids’ club Minis (3 to 6-year-olds) and Maxis (7 to 12-year olds), plus parent-and-baby sessions | Transfer time: 90 mins (by coach)

This beautiful and thoughtfully designed four-star hotel won a Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award (2021) for its fabulous and caring staff, excellent family friendly facilities and spotlessly clean rooms. In short, it’s the perfect destination for your first foreign family holiday as it’s ideally suited to families with young children.

The main draw for younger guests is the children’s splash park, complete with chutes, slides and a giant pirate ship. Be prepared to spend hours watching your child mess about in the water – fortunately, there’s a pool bar serving drinks and snacks just alongside. Grown-ups might prefer the main pool, which winds like a river through the hotel’s immaculate grounds and is edged with palm trees.

Away from the water, there’s an outdoor playground, indoor soft play area and, in the evening, perfectly pitched children’s entertainment, including talent shows, live acts and mini-discos. If bedtime can be started in a buggy, parents can sample more grown-up entertainment such as musicals and comedy, or wander to the local harbour or around the winding streets of nearby Cala Bona, a relaxed fishing town.

Like the look of Majorca? Take a look at more family hotels in Majorca.

Book now: Prices from £360.90pp

7. Jupiter Albufeira Hotel – Family & Fun, Albufeira, Portugal

– Best for guaranteed fun

Pools: 4 | Restaurants: 2 | Rooms: 362 | Childcare facilities/Clubs: Kids’ club (4 to 12-year-olds) | Transfer time: 45 mins (by taxi)

This pink-hued, 10-storey hotel has strikingly modern and decidedly cool interiors, with room designs and furniture finishes you’ll want to recreate at home. Outside, things are more laidback, with two freshwater pools and, for children at least 120cm tall, an onsite waterpark. Here, you’ll find six waterslides, including a multi-lane racing slide that allows riders to compete against each other. We defy parents not to join in with this raucous activity, though if you’re struggling to convince your children to do something else, you may be relieved to know it closes at 5.30pm.

For fun away from the water, try archery, tennis or table football in the day and karaoke, live music and mini-discos at night. If your family are keen to explore the local area, take advantage of the hotel’s proximity to the shops, bars and restaurants of Albufeira, the place that put the Algarve on the map, by wandering to the picturesque old town. Or take the free shuttle bus to one of the town’s beaches – a journey that’ll take under 10 minutes.

Book now: Prices from £640.82pp

8. Riu Olivia Beach Resort, Corralejo, Fuertaventura, Canary Islands, Spain

– Best for families who love the beach

Pools: 4 | Restaurants: 3 | Rooms: 814 | Room sizes: 1 and 2-bedroom family rooms | Childcare facilities/Clubs: RiuLand Kids’ Club (4-7 years and 8-12 years) | Transfer time: 30 minutes (by coach)

Buckets and spades at the ready! This extra-large hotel may have over 800 rooms and a huge outdoor pool but it’s positively dwarfed by its surroundings. At 11km long, Grandes Playas is Fuerteventura’s biggest sandy beach, while the sweeping dunes in the distance are the largest in the Canary Islands. Near-white sand spreads for miles around, leading out to clear turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean on one side of the hotel and striking red and black volcanic landscape the other. The views are spectacular – as are the surfing, digging and sandcastle-building opportunities.

You won’t go hungry here: At lunch, choose from the main buffet and the poolside snack bar, while for dinner there is an Asian-themed buffet and a Canarian buffet serving paella and grilled meats. Just don’t forget to book first.

This resort is part of the RIU portfolio – a collection of properties that offer an experience designed exclusively by TUI. Expect an emphasis on service, as well as a comprehensive schedule of fitness classes, a packed sports and entertainment programme and creative offerings such as RiuArt Atelier, a brilliant art workshop.

Book now: Prices from £217.92pp

9. TUI SUNEO Cortijo Blanco, San Pedro de Alcantara, Costa del Sol, Spain

– Best for multi-generational families

Pools: 3 plus 2 children’s pools | Restaurants: 1 | Rooms: 311 | Room sizes: Twin room | Childcare facilities/Clubs: SuneoPlay playroom | Transfer time: 2 hours (by coach)

For holidays with your children and your parents, you need a hotel that pleases everyone but is isn’t too big or too busy. After all, you’ve come away to spend time together. The low-rise Cortijo Blanco on Spain’s enduringly popular Costa del Sol is just the ticket, with activities aimed at every generation and rooms arranged around pretty courtyards and pools.

There’s an outdoor play zone for children, as well as an (unsupervised) playroom, while adults can join in with table tennis, archery, darts, boules and more. Even if everyone ends up doing their own thing between mealtimes, you’ll all come back together in the hotel restaurant.

As a TUI SUNEO property, the Cortijo Blanco is great value and makes an ideal holiday base for families who like exploring their surroundings as much as they enjoy soaking up the sun. The hotel is a stone’s throw from shops, restaurants and bars, a 10-minute walk from the sandy beach, and a free shuttle bus ride to snazzy Puerto Banus. With extra adults around, you might be able to leave your children and their grandparents to enjoy quality time at the hotel while you slip off for some shopping, a quiet meal – or a dip in the sea.

Book now: Prices from £241.17pp

10. TUI BLUE for Families Elounda Breeze, Crete, Greek

– Best for large families

Pools: 5, including a splash park, shallow and baby pool, plus a family pool | Restaurants: 3 | Rooms: 185 | Room sizes: 1-bedroom family room | Childcare facilities/Clubs: BabyClub (0-6 months); Kids’ Clubs (Minis: 3 to 5-year-olds, Maxis: 6 to 11-year-olds, The Hangout (12-15-year-olds) | Transfer time: 2 hours (by coach)

This fabulous, whitewashed hotel had a full revamp in 2019, making it even more family friendly, and it’s still looking as sparkling as the nearby sea. There’s now an impressive buffet which offers a superb mix of cuisine that you can tuck into at big tables designed for groups. Large families with three or four children will love the 1-bedroom family room that sleeps up to six and has sliding doors that separate the bedroom from the spacious lounge, allowing for space and privacy. Though with so much to do for children – and adults – of all ages, you probably won’t be spending much time in your room.

There’s a focus on wellbeing at all TUI BLUE For Families hotels, and here you can try a family mindfulness and relaxation class. Other activities include pool games and exercises, team sports and fitness classes, plus childcare for newborns to 15-year-olds. After dark, entertainment spans the ages with mini-discos to professional shows in the amphitheatre.

Book now: Prices from £1074.04pp