IT'S ABOUT five hours into the packed flight to Dubai, a sleepless, wriggling,
restless bundle of a child on my knee, when I really start doubting that
this is going to work. None of the air crew has even acknowledged my son's
existence except to dangle a special safety belt in his face, and there is
no child-friendly meal either. In fact, there's no food for him at all.
I shouldn't have expected anything. As an under-2, Christian is flying
virtually free, which on this BA flight at least, seems to make him a non-person.
But that's exactly why we're stuck on this wretched plane in the first place
- to have a last blast at free flights before his second birthday.
As that milestone brings with it the prospect of fares about 75 per cent of
what adults pay, I wonder if we'll venture out of Europe again before he's
15.
I don't even want to go to Dubai - I visited when I was pregnant and felt that
one visit to this desert Disneyland was quite enough. But when I started
researching all those child-friendly hotels and consulting the crop of tour
operators that has sprung up specialising in child travel (and what a dull,
bland offering they had), I was stumped.
When you're looking for somewhere far enough away for winter sun but not so
far that either the flight or jet lag become onerous, it's surprising how
little there is. I ended up scratching through pretty much all the pages of
my mental atlas: Caribbean (ridiculous time difference); South Africa (no
time difference but hellishly long flight); the rest of Africa
(malaria/health risk); Mauritius (fabulous childcare but just too far).
Elsewhere, children's clubs were closed outside the summer period, or didn't
cater for two-year-olds; the Four Seasons Resort in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt
sounded great until I found out that the kids' club is for the over-6s. So
it was that I was left with Dubai - a seven-hour flight and only a
three-hour time difference before the clocks went back - and somehow agreed
to make it two nights in the desert followed by three on the beach.
As we roll up at the Bab Al Shams Desert Resort at 1am local time, Christian
crashed out on a mound of cushions by reception as I check in, I am pretty
sure I've made a huge mistake. But after a night in a room whose brown walls
and stone floors are designed to look rustic but whose deliciously
comfortable bed, power shower and yet more cushions give the necessary
luxury, things start looking up.
We take one glance at the series of pools, ingeniously arranged to give
child-friendly areas, shade under awnings and infinity edges looking over
the dunes, and we're in the water, under the watchful gaze of a bevy of
lifeguards. When we want a break, we move to Sinbad's Club, which has free
morning childcare for the over-2s (and three helpers clucking over one baby
who agree that the almost-2s count, too).
We move from play area to pool all day, wandering around this replica Arabian
fort, which is tasteful rather than tacky - surprise rooftop terraces here,
oases watered by trickling irrigation channels there.
But the pièce de résistance comes along at 4pm in a stinking, spitting,
grunting guise. Free camel rides on the dunes by the pools is a
masterstroke, as the line of children waiting their turn bear out. I wonder
if Christian will be scared but, in the end, it is me who gets off feeling
shaky after the 90-degree tilt when the camel stands and later sinks into
the sand, and Christian who gets off chanting “more”.
I ignore this and we watch the falconry display as the sun dips beneath the
dunes and the sudden evening chill descends.
I'm reluctant to leave this tranquil desert oasis, especially for the Jumeirah
Beach Hotel, which I'd labelled on my previous visit to Dubai as big (600
rooms), brash and full of lots of swirly carpets.
What a difference a child makes: my opinion makes a sudden U-turn shortly
after the 90-minute car journey. It seems that everything in this hotel
revolves around children, from the free food for under-4s (over-4s pay half
price) to the child toiletries and dressing gown in the room. The Wild Wadi
Water Park is next door, and though it's mainly for older children, we take
advantage of the hour hotel guests can enter before the park opens to the
public to ride the river on inner tubes and bob around in the wave pool.
We are cossetted and cared for; Christian is acknowledged everywhere we go.
One night I get a babysitter who looks after him while I enjoy a proper
grown-up evening. Another night, he develops a fever and the hotel, which
has a pharmacy in its row of shops, whisks up a paramedic, free of charge,
to check on him. OTT? Perhaps, but it's also service with a capital S.
What really makes us feel special, though, is that we are staying in a premium
leisure room. Actually, the room is the same as everyone else's - so
spacious you could sleep a dozen without getting squashed, its
floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the marina to the landmark hotel Burj
Al Arab. But for about £130 extra, we have access to a special lounge,
equipped with toys and PlayStations, which we frequent often, but especially
for free afternoon tea as well as complimentary canapés and drinks in the
evening.
We also have privileged access to one of the hotel's five pools, and a special
section of the beach.
Strangely, the kids' club isn't great. Nor is it free. The advertised ratio is
four children to one member of staff, but in the morning we spend there, I
count six or seven children per staff member. Because it's outside with its
own pool, some children get temporarily left behind when the supervised
group moves on to another activity, although there is a lifeguard watching.
The gate isn't supervised at all times either.
It's not the kind of place I want to leave Christian, but that doesn't matter.
In the end, we are far too busy hopping on and off the golf buggies that
take you round the grounds (a constant source of delight) from beach to
restaurant, then visiting the various swimming pools where we paddle up to
the bar to order cocktails of chocolate milkshake.
By the children's pool, while we gorge on free ice lollies brought to our
sunbed, we meet the Fleming family from Walton-on-Thames, who are as
impressed as we are. “I travel extensively around the area and this hotel is
easily the most child-friendly and the best for families,” Brett Fleming
says. He's right. Even the swirly carpets don't matter any more.
NEED TO KNOW
A six-night holiday in Dubai costs from £1,215 per adult and £125 for children
with the Private Travel Company (020-7751 0880, www.theprivatetravelcompany.co.uk),
staying three nights in a deluxe room at Bab Al Shams Desert Resort &
Spa and three nights
in a premium leisure room at Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The price is based on two
adults and one infant under 2 sharing and includes breakfast, private
transfers and flights with British Airways. The cost of the same holiday
with one adult and one infant sharing is £1,773 per adult and £125 per
infant.
