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Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai: Twenty-First Century World Once a small fishing port, the Gulf Coast emirate of Dubai is now a fascinating fusion of ancient culture and vibrant modernity. Its oil wealth has enabled it to invest in desalination plants, telecommunication systems and all the trappings of technology but, when the oil runs dry, Dubai can fall back on one commodity that will never run out: the sun. In little more than a generation, this sleepy emirate has transformed itself into a cosmopolitan city – the Vegas of the east. We are literally witnessing the birth of a new civilization. And one of its most stunning constructions is the prominent Jumeirah Beach Hotel, known as the Wave, housing 598 sea-facing rooms, suites and villas on twenty-six floors. It has unspoilt beaches, four swimming pools, a magnificent variety of restaurants and sporting facilities, and a terrific kids’ club – in fact, of all the top hotels along this coastal strip, the Jumeirah offers the optimum experience for families: of course, there are superb facilities for adults, but children are by no means side-lined.

Elements of nature Entering the hotel, you’re immediately drawn into its ‘Elements of Nature’ theme. Different floors represent earth, air, fire and water through distinct colour schemes dividing the hotel into four separate levels: restful blues and greens for water; comforting browns and muted reds for earth; tranquil blues and white for air; and brilliant reds and yellows depicting a vibrant sun. Take your pick as the mood takes you. In the Atrium a colossal sculpture, ninety metres high, portrays a satellite view of the earth with the United Arab Emirates at its centre, complete with a galaxy of stars and a moon in orbit.

A Food-lover’s Fantasy Dining is a serious affair in Dubai and is at the heart of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, whose twenty restaurants, cafes and bars represent every region of the world. The Apartment restaurant is based on the concept of a ‘home away from home’ interior of a residential apartment, and includes a bar, music room, cellar and dining room offering a gourmet menu prepared by two-star Michelin chef Patrick Lenotre. La Parrilla is the first and only Argentinean restaurant in the region, where fine steak is cooked before your eyes to a melting tenderness while tango musicians and dancers cavort around the room. Al Khayal is a traditional Lebanese restaurant styled after an Arabic tent. Der Keller reflects the atmosphere of a stylish, rustic German restaurant serving traditional food from different parts of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Alternatively, choose Carnevale – an authentic Italian restaurant offering traditional pastas. And it’s definitely worth trying the innovative Asian fusion menu that combines traditional dishes from Asia with new European cuisine.

Fun factory

Between meals there are plenty of options for amusement. The Sports Club overlooking the beaches is a two-storey building situated on the Marina breakwater between the bay and tennis courts. Downstairs it offers many activities including tennis, squash, water sports and a PADI dive centre. Upstairs features a gymnasium with sixty nautilus machines and a free weights section. In addition, the health suite incorporates all the usual water treatments and spa therapies.   Outside there are four swimming pools. The leisure pool, a twenty-five metre training pool, a family pool and a shallow, shaded children’s pool ideally located right next door to Sinbad’s Kids Club, which has a clubhouse designed like a ship. The club offers a programme of activities for children under the supervision of highly trained and qualified staff. Children can come and go throughout the day and take part in the daily activity programme, which includes arts and crafts, nature trails and swimming games. Small children flock to the family adventure playground, consisting of raised walkways with a variety of safety-conscious, padded play features including swings, tunnels and rope walkways. For older children the water sports on offer include sailing, water skiing, parasailing, snorkelling, wind surfing, scuba diving, kayaking, boogie boarding, wake boarding and banana boating. For all guests, other outdoor facilities include seven floodlit competition standard tennis courts, one of which is multipurpose to include volleyball and basketball, a mini putting green and golf driving nets surrounded by three butler-serviced beaches. Last but certainly not least, the next-door Wild Wadi Water Park is an attraction as popular with adults as it is with children. For guests of the hotel, entry is free to the twelve acres of themed water activities that includes twenty-three adrenaline-pumping rides that leave you gasping for more.   In a nutshell, the Jumeirah experience is a never-ending kaleidoscope – a fantastic fun factory in the sun for kids of all ages.

IDEAL AGE: 4–16

Holiday Highlight: Along the Marina breakwater is one of Dubai’s most ingenious venues – the circular Seafood Market, elegantly decorated and offering the freshest and finest seafood in the Gulf, displayed on a specially designed ice show table. FYI: Sinbad’s Kids Club for children aged between two and twelve, open daily 9.00 a.m. – 9.00 p.m

 La Petite Ecole at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, England: Heaven’s Kitchen

No one could accuse Raymond Blanc of not being passionate. In fact he’s about the most passionate man I’ve ever met – when it comes to cooking that is, or looking after his sumptuous Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxfordshire. ‘It’s my dream, my vision, my life’, Raymond enthused to the children – and at the end of the day it was their dream too. Just south of Oxford, in a fold of low hills overlooking rich water-meadows sits the secluded fifteenth-century house, and it was love at first sight for Raymond who bought the house from Lady Cromwell in 1984. He brought in twenty-five tonnes of compost, waged a war with the rabbits, cleared the jungle of Brussels sprouts and planted the seeds given to him by his father. Lovingly restored, each of the bedrooms has a different theme inspired by a painting or statue collected by Raymond during his travels around the world. The latest of which is the Lalique room, filled with exquisite pieces of bijou modern opalescent glass. Each room poses a surprise – resulting in a homely feel with devoted individual flair.

After a scrumptious dinner on the first evening, we were allowed a sneak back-of-house preview of what was to come. Walking round the kitchen at ten o’clock, we saw two commis-chefs plucking twitching langoustine from a huge tray and twisting off their heads. Rosie (my eleven-year-old daughter) winced, wondering if she was going to have to repeat the exercise. She had nothing to worry about. The next morning, donned in chef-whites, aprons and hats, the eight boys and girls (aged between nine and sixteen) began with a tour of the herb garden. ‘It’s essential you make the connection between eating and growing food’, enthused Raymond, wafting a sprig of rosemary under their noses.

If there’s a right place to awaken gastronomic senses, this English country garden is the equivalent of tasting vintage Krug as your first sip of champagne. Every which way you turn there’s countrified perfection: a church tower; circular dovecot; Jacobean chimneys peeping over the immaculate yew hedging; row upon row of neat organic vegetables; sculptures galore and a wildflower garden brimming with cornflowers and baby poppies from Flanders. It all serves as an appetising sight of where your meals are coming from. And Raymond’s motto, if he had one, would be ‘from garden to table’ for his kitchen is as much about raw produce as culinary transformation.

‘My hotel is not a temple’, explains the fast speaking Raymond ‘I want little people to trample through and feel at home.’ Still cautious, they began to pick and smell their way through the garden, tasting here, looking there, and fingering everything from the giant spiky artichoke to the humble carrot. .While Raymond regularly pops in to check on progress and enjoyment factors, his right-hand man, course director cum child entertainer Steve Bulmer, holds the fort. Like his maestro, Steve’s enthusiasm oozes from every pore.

Heaven’s kitchen

Lesson one was not to be afraid of the kitchen – translated in this case to an egg catching game and a talk on ‘happy chickens’. As they whipped their meringues into shape, both the egg whites and the little group consolidated. Lesson two was how to mix pasta with your right hand (so you’re free to pick your nose with your left, he joked). And so it went on until they’d produced an impressive array of foccaccia, pizza, pea puree, salmon fishcakes, chocolate mousse and Raymond’s favourite childhood dessert – Maman Blanc’s floating islands.

Forget Hell’s Kitchen, this is Heaven’s Kitchen. While every second is spent educating and inspiring the junior-chefs, parents are welcome to spectate or relax in the grounds. Most come and go as they wish, as their offspring confidently absorb the simple, rewarding and creative joy of cooking.

The pot of seeded basil the young epicureans took home was really about planting something that would germinate into a growing passion for food. Passion is contagious – and cook they will. Armed with a recipe book and hotline telephone number straight to the kitchen for any emergency questions they left grudgingly. Raymond smiled at his budding prodigies, adding a final note of wisdom, ‘the family that eats together, stays together.’

Ideal Age: 8–16

Day Highlight: An interactive demonstration tasting sweet raspberry jam, acidic lemon, bitter chicory and salty crisps which showed the Children how to use their tongue and not be fooled by deceptive appearances.

Oman: A Fantastical Arabian Adventure for all the Family

Oman represents a treasure trove of experiences for families. Let’s get children’s priorities straight; swimming does come before souks and henna before history, but with careful planning, a fun balance is easily struck. Oman is sunny, clean, has next to no crime, is exceptionally friendly and over half the population speaks English. So much of Oman is familiar to little ears; tales of Sinbad and Ali Baba, treasure souks, Aladdin and his Genie and the Queen of Sheba. Children watch camels mingle with limousines; spotting satellite dishes on ancient forts and see how the past can live hand in hand with the present.

For millennia water was the Sultanate’s most precious commodity, but when oil was discovered in the 1970s, Oman enjoyed new prosperity. Keen to protect its culture, it moved at its own pace, slower than its neighbours, taking time to observe and learn. You could be left unaware of many modernisations; the telephone exchange looks like an old fort; new buildings are built in traditional style and the government has laid over 700 kilometres of pipelines under the sea, to preserve the views. Oil brought the car industry, which in turn meant roads. At the start of the Sandhurst-trained Sultan’s  reign there were only ten kilometres of tarmac anywhere in the land; today over 10,000 kilometres of treacle smooth surfaces stretch across Qaboos bin Said’s nation. And they love him for it.

Strong traditions

Tradition still reigns strong in Omani society. It is commonplace to light frankincense and sprinkle rose water on the hands of guests in honour of their visit. Men are elegantly dressed in cool flowing white dishdasha with scented furakha or tassel and intricate filigree-worked silver khanjar hanging from the waist – purely for decoration our affable guide Hussain assured. In comparison women are predominantly dressed in black abayas and gold or indigo burkhas emphasising flamboyant eye make-up, colourful jewellery and diaphanous veils.

In a land made rich on trading there are plenty of shopping opportunities for local produce from each region. From the tenth century, dhows sailed to far reaching shores creating an Omani empire that stretched from exotic Zanzibar to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, trading in everything from silks and spices, to warriors and slaves. Hussain knew how to hook the children’s attention as he engaged them in tales of Sinbad the Sailor and his travels in search of treasure across the globe.

Muscat’s a singularly sanitary city where you’re fined more for a dirty car than for speeding – the spotless roads are lined with whitewashed villas, manicured municipal gardens. Locals are particularly proud of their new mosque. Finished in 2001 and costing more than three hundred million dollars, its cool shiny marble exterior defies the intricate grandiosity that lies within. Home to the largest carpet in the world, an Iranian masterpiece, which took six hundred women three years to weave, not to mention the seven-tonne Swarovski crystal chandelier whose droplets radiate a golden light over the 6,000 all-male congregation – Islam is very much alive. Children over ten are allowed in but need to cover their heads with the scarves provided at the entrance. Muttrah’s fish market is a real eye-opener for children. Packed to the brim with white-robed men touting a ‘stinky’ array of giant gambas, waist high tuna and eponymous trumpet fish. The nearby souk is good for souvenir shopping and local produce such as pink rose buds, painted perfume bottles of precious frankincense, simple kunjas and cotton dishdasha (at a mere ten dollars an irresistible buy).

Dramatic and memorable

Muscat now has two luxury family-orientated hotels. The newest is the vast Shangri-La Barr al Jissah Resort, which is really three hotels rolled into one mega-resort. For families the best choice is the Al Waha section with its complex of interconnecting shallow pools where kids can let off steam to their hearts content without upsetting anyone. However, our favourite hotel was a little further down the coast. Arriving at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel at night was dramatic and memorable. It sits in an oasis between beach and mountains like a knight’s sanctuary, its opalescent dome, turrets and archways shimmering as searchlights criss-crossed the starry skies. The Chinese restaurant was particularly good and amazingly well set up for children, who decided that Chinese, eaten with chopsticks held together with elastic bands followed by novel fortune cookies, was their new favourite food.

Each day we snorkelled with the resident turtles, and, just as we despaired of seeing dolphins in the bay, we spotted three gracefully dipping and diving only metres from the shore. Al Bustan’s scenic beach is great for kids – hundreds of metres of private paradise. You literally walk the red carpet down to the shore, rolled and unrolled each day to save you from scorching your feet.

A two-hour drive from Muscat, through the dramatic Hajar Mountains, lies the fortified town of Nizwa, Oman’s old capital. Make sure you go early on a Friday morning, market day, when hectic scenes of cattle and goat trading display locals in full swing. Auction fever is everywhere.In the vegetable souk, blind men, not privy to eye-medication in the pre-oil days, handled knobbly green pumpkins, huge vats of fresh limes and mountains of coriander and garlic. Interestingly the Bedouin tribes, who spend all day working in the sun, have no eye problems due to the henna-like substance called Kyhal they paint on their faces.

After a wander around Nizwa we proceeded through the ruined village of Tanuf to Jabrin, one of hundreds of forts being restored throughout Oman. We wound our way through the lovely town of Bahla and its famous pottery factories stopping to stare at the old fort currently being renovated by UNESCO. In Jabrin we delved into a seventeenth-century castle with wonderful hideaways and painted ceilings. The children found some young Omanis to play hide and seek with, as they chased along the Falaj, the ancient irrigation system, which flows through its ramparts.

Aladdin and the Genie’s cave

Other overnight trips included four-wheel-drive Wadi bashing, camping under the stars on a hundred-metre-high wave of sand in the Wahiba Dunes in a tent made of goat’s hair; swimming in the Wadi Shab – a lush oasis of palm trees, mangos and bananas – and watching turtles hatch under a full moon. The second largest cave in the world has been discovered in Wadi Bani Jabir – the size of seven aircraft hangars – and is said to be the home of the Genie (think Aladdin). Covered in colourful stalactites and stalagmites it’s a thrilling sight.

At the other end of the country, Dhofar’s lush greenery, cascades and streams are unique in the Gulf, brought about by the hydrating Khareef monsoon. From the first to third centuries, this part of Oman was actually the wealthiest region in the world due to ancient trade in Arabian horses and pure frankincense. Situated on the coast, Salalah’s unspoiled beaches are ideal for a plethora of water sports and diving activities. Several luxury family-friendly resorts have opened along the stunning stretch of coast – and dozens more are planning to throw open their doors over the next few years. But this quiet land is wise to stay clear of pseudo tourism. Its charm lies in its subtle and rather unassumingly gentle way of introducing tourists to its natural wonders and age-old Islamic-cum-Bedouin culture, secure in the fact that once tasted it is never forgotten.

IDEAL AGE: 2–17

 

Feather Down Farms, England: Wholesome free range fun

The Feather Down concept is a simple one. Guests, predominantly urban couples with young children and a vaguely eco-friendly consciousness, get back to nature on a small, working farm in a ‘tented cottage’. We’re talking canvas, but with wooden floors, real beds and duvets, and even a flushing loo – although there’s no electricity or hot water. The farmer goes about his or her daily work, and guests can get involved, or enjoy the great outdoors in their own way. Being on a real working farm, the children get to go semi-feral for a while. And, for a slummy mummy, it’s fun to wear the same clothes day after day, not put on make-up – a rare break from Nappy Valley of the Dolls where immaculate mums push equally immaculate children around all day.

Manor Farm in Hampshire, run by thirtysomethings Anna and Will Brock, is the first of ten Feather Down Farms planned around the UK. Ferrying our luggage in a wheelbarrow across the field, our tent, one of five, looked worryingly primitive. But inside it had a charming Little-House-on-the-Prairie-meets-Heidi vibe. A collection of mismatched wooden chairs sits around a huge table, and the focal point is a wood-burning stove. There’s a sink, enamel crockery and glasses (no plastic here), framed photographs of cute animals straight from central casting, and a vintage toy or two. Beds are in three sleeping areas: a double room (two singles pulled together), a room with bunks and a ‘canopy bed’ – a cupboard with mattress. The latter, with hinged doors and heart-shaped cut-outs, was a huge hit with the four children in our party, who rolled around in it like puppies.

Don’t be misled Feather Down’s cutesy good looks, because a stay here is surprisingly hard work. You cook on top of a wood-burning stove that’s easy to light but takes a while to get going. It also goes out overnight. Washing up is a nightmare in the tiny sink, and nights with real darkness are a shock to urbanites. Cooking, even with the help of Anna’s Kitchen, an established business selling ready meals (we had excellent lamb tagine and beef stroganoff), took imagination.  But it’s these ‘hardships’ that make staying in a Feather Down Farm such a worthwhile experience. Basically, you’re forced to relax into a slower pace of life, because there isn’t any choice. When it takes an hour to make a cup of coffee, you appreciate drinking it all the more.

Get away from Nappy Valley

Getting into this way of thinking at the beginning is a fairly tortuous process, especially when you wake up in a freezing tent and aren’t able to flick on a radiator or have a bath. But by the end you’re more organised and try not to let the fire go out and, more importantly, you learn not to get so stressed about stupid things like the pasta taking an extra half hour to make. You also find yourself with more time on your hands, despite being busy keeping the fire stoked and endlessly hosing mud off the children.

I stayed with my sister-in-law (a first-time camper, who didn’t find even the halfway house of a Feather Down experience the most relaxing holiday of her life), her seventeen-month-old son and his three male cousins aged seven to eleven. The children loved it, they climbed on to enormous combine harvesters, were chased across a field by llama, and the little one fell face first into a dung-filled puddle (admittedly, he didn’t like that bit much). The older boys churned up fields on hired bikes. Little girls in neighbouring tents made friends with the chickens and sheep housed in a pen in front of the tents and swung on rope swings. It was good old-fashioned fun. The Feather Down Farm concept is idealistic, not necessarily for everyone, but you return looking at your electric kettle in a new way, and proud at having ‘survived’. And if survival means a real duvet, then I say carry on camping.

Ideal Age: 2–16

Top Tip: Feather Down Farms are a little too cold for comfort at the beginning and end of the season. Take thick, warm socks.

N.B: There are also farms in Somerset, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Warwickshire and Scotland. There are five tents at each site. Accommodation is in tents sleeping up to six people