The best hotel Kids’ Clubs in Europe, as chosen by a parent travel writer of two

This fairytale palace perched high on an olive tree-flecked hill above St. Tropez is one of the most expansive wonderlands in Europe for well-heeled little princes and princesses. A train pulls up to reception, then winds down through gardens bursting with lavender and oleander. It comes to a stop next to a magnificent wooden pirate ship, alongside playgrounds, trampolines, swings and tennis courts. The Kids’ Club itself is as stylish as the hotel. This is the kind of place where matching Dior at breakfast don’t look out of place. Games rooms for older children are stealthily hidden away next to banks of organic energy bars, cold pressed juices and stacks of fruit and handmade cookies. There’s a photo booth to create fun holiday memories, one of the most impressive pool areas – complete with full size pool for older children and splash pool for younger, the most adorable bespoke mini sunbeds and umbrellas and eagle-eyed guard and swimming coach.

Upstairs a pastel nap room with scalloped cots shielding cooing babies is enough to make the most frazzled parent feel broody again. The joys keep coming. The Kids’ Club has its own farm where children can coax shy bunnies from shady corners and unearth eggs hiding under hay, filled with the promise that they’ll be whipped into the most magnificent cakes for tea. The food here is standout and for serious mini gourmands. Imagine sesame seared tuna tataki to sole meuniere with brown butter and Cajun chicken with quinoa. The undisputed highlight of the day is the treat-filled afternoon tea, where watermelon dinosaurs, fluffy brownies and galettes smothered with salted caramel keep energy levels going for the rest of the day.  If this isn’t enough, there are pony rides, make-up lessons and a Lego room – and it is a hard task dragging the brood away as night falls. This is all included in for those staying in the hotel for children over three (as it all children’s laundry throughout the stay). The Kids’ Club also offers a daily, weekly or monthly membership for non-residents which includes all food (rates from €225 a day rising to €3,650 a month). Side note: the Kids’ Club is open from April until October.

Park Lane Resort & Spa Limassol, Cyprus

Scott Dunn has cornered the market on seamless family travel (for skiers, nothing can beat its family concierge at Portetta in Courchevel, who whip kids from breakfast into ski clothes and onto the slopes). Their Scott Dunn Explorers Kids’ Club brand oversees the renovations of existing clubs to make them bloom into destinations in their own right. Two years ago, it waved its magic wand over Park Lane Resort & Spa Limassol in Cyprus and added an eco-conscious edge to the club. Now it’s filled with softly hued organic toys by Le Toy Van, beautiful costumes by in the dressing up room and a raft of activities for all ages, divided into four different groups, from Globetrotters to Pioneers. There is so much to do indoors and out. Every time we check on my youngest (age four), she is gleefully playing in the water fountains in the pirate themed pool area, bouncing high on the trampoline or careering across the shady garden on a zip line. A two-storey 3,000 square foot air-conditioned castle is the focal point for all indoor activities, from yoga to baking and craft such as tie-dye T-shirt making.

This spot is rare in that it is open all year around – and with luck, temperatures can hit the early 20s in winter. It’s also reasonably priced (€20 for a four-hour session for three and above but younger children are welcome from four months old, at €15 an hour). Hotel residents themselves are a mixture of down to earth families who seek out its excellent value and glamazons who like to top up their family wardrobes with finds from on-site Loro Piano and Dior as they tuck into lobster linguine at LPM.