We spent a week as a young family at the Club Marvy resort. It was our very first all-inclusive experience, and also our first vacation where we barely did anything and never left the resort. You can read how we enjoyed it in this Club Marvy hotel review blog, which describes our own experiences. And we’ll be honest: Club Marvy: the good, the bad, and the ugly ;-). It also includes tips on where to book this trip for half the price (oh, I wish we’d known this beforehand), and other kid-friendly all-inclusive resorts we considered.
Tired Parents: Our first All-Inclusive Vacation
Yes, it’s been way too long since I last wrote a blog post… 9 weeks ago, to be precise. How do I know that for sure? Well, 8 weeks ago, I went back to work after maternity leave, and the week before that, I was bedridden for a whole week with Covid (does that still exist? Yes, it does!)
The past 8 weeks have been educational, interesting, and fulfilling. Okay… who am I kidding, they were incredibly tiring! Two children who both sleep poorly (yes, our almost-3-year-old son wakes up an average of twice a night screaming, “MAMA, I’ve taken off my diaper”), and a daughter who still nurses every 3 hours. A job at a Dutch corporate that demanded a lot from day one. A mind that wasn’t always sharp due to hormones. And oh yeah, a relationship you want to maintain, a social life, and a gym membership you don’t want to let completely gather dust. Well, you know it, this is the story I hear from every young parent. It’s great fun, and sometimes quite challenging.
All-inclusive trip to Turkey
Enough complaining, on to a solution. And it arrived in the form of something we would NEVER do (just like so many things you get for your children, you never think you’ll do): “The all-inclusive holiday to Turkey.” Yes, hiking in Austria was amazing, as was road tripping through Portugal and safaris in South Africa. And we’re definitely going to do that again soon (South Africa is even planned for when our daughter turns 1).
But for now, it sounded like heaven on earth to not have to work, pick up, drop off, cook, clean, or wash for a week. And just lie in the sun, exercise, and eat whatever we like. Especially for me, Ries was still a bit sceptical. Not surprisingly, because he doesn’t have to get up every 2-3 hours at night to nurse a baby, he was just a little less tired.
So I spent weeks searching for the most beautiful, comfortable, luxurious, and trendy, all-inclusive hotel within a four-hour flight. And that’s what I found: Club Marvy. I’ll link to other options at the bottom of this article.
Club Marvy Hotel Review: The Good!
Well, the fact that I’m even typing this here indicates I’m starting to relax! As I write this, our daughter is in bed for her first nap, and Ries and our son are at the beach. We slept in (an added bonus of being an hour ahead, as the kids immediately sleep an hour longer) and then had a delicious breakfast. Later, we’ll take turns taking a gym class, and tonight we’ll have dinner at one of the à la carte restaurants with a sea view.
Yes, this holiday is exactly what we need to recharge. We have all the time in the world for the kids: cuddling and playing in bed in the morning, jumping in the waves, and building sandcastles on the beach. And because we don’t have to do anything else, we also make sure we both have some time for ourselves every day, either with a massage in the beautiful massage cabins above the sea (with a view of the sea below from the massage table), or by doing a yoga, Pilates, or HIT class on the beach or in the gym. And Club Marvy offers so much more. Here’s a list of things we really love here:
The beaches at Club Marvy: beautiful!
Let’s start with what we consider our absolute highlight: the beaches at Club Marvy. Club Marvy has two beautiful beaches located on two bays. Both beaches are large enough, but feel cosy. The Adults Only beach is truly idyllic, with its blue-and-white parasols. You’ll be sheltered here, surrounded by green rocks and an azure sea. There’s a restaurant on the beach, and you’ll find true peace and quiet here.
The family beach is more central and close to one of the most beautiful pools. It has comfortable sunbeds, parasols for plenty of shade, and a calm, shallow sea. The sand is clean and soft, perfect for building sandcastles. You’re close to a beach bar, a pizza restaurant, and an ice cream van.
At both beaches, you can order drinks from your sunbed: the ultimate luxury. SUPs, sailboats, efoils, and other watersports equipment are also available for rent.
The food at Club Marvy: fantastic food in the buffet restaurant and the tearoom.
Club Marvy’s main restaurant is a buffet restaurant. Breakfast and lunch are almost always served here. We also dined there four times in the evening. There’s a stunning selection of delicious salads, juices, fresh fish, various types of bread, pancakes, desserts, and cheeses, you name it.
The baby bar is ideal in the buffet restaurant. Here you can have fresh baby food (fruit, vegetables, porridge, soup) and baby bottles made at any time of the day. Absolutely fantastic!
We also really enjoyed the tearoom (B’artisan). Here you can drink the best coffee and tea, and enjoy a stunning array of French and Turkish pastries: macarons, éclairs, tarts, and Turkish cookies. Absolutely fantastic!
Sports & Spa at Club Marvy:
Around 15 different exercise classes are offered daily on a deck overlooking the sea. These include four different yoga classes, Pilates, circuit & HIT training, hip-hop dance classes, and TRX. There’s also a gym open from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM and an outdoor strength-training deck with a sea view. After day two, my muscles are so sore that even lifting our 8kg daughter feels like a heavy lift. But it’s wonderful, with all that delicious food, it’s a good way to sweat for an hour every day! Or to unwind during a yoga class where the only sound is the waves crashing on the rocks.
The spa is also fantastic! Massages and other treatments are relatively affordable (we paid 77 euros for an hour-long massage; if you book multiple treatments during your stay, you get a discount), and there’s a lovely sauna. There are two locations: the larger spa on the mainland, and massage cabins on the adults-only beach on decks overlooking the sea. That last location is truly fantastic!
What could be better? It would be great for young parents if the gym didn’t close at 7:00 PM. That’s the time we like to work out, since the kids are in bed at night.
Children’s facilities at Club Marvy:
Most people who come to Club Marvy are families. So you see babies, toddlers, and preschoolers everywhere (including tantrums at the restaurant tables). Perfect for us, as we travel with children ourselves. There are three adults-only restaurants, an adults-only pool, and an adults-only beach, so even if you’re travelling without children, you can find peace and quiet here. But honestly, I don’t know if I would go here without children because in the main restaurant, you’re literally surrounded by families.
For those families, it’s a paradise! They’ve thought about every little detail. You can request a children’s pool for your room; there’s a dedicated Wi-Fi channel for baby monitors, and, as mentioned before, a baby bar with baby food.
But that’s not all. There are high chairs everywhere, children’s meals, a large playground, and a large children’s pool. There’s also a kids’ club and a teens’ club. Our children are still too young to attend the kids’ club (available from age 4), but they also offer fun parent-child activities, such as a (paid) pasta-making workshop and a variety of crafts.
What could be better? We found the cribs really worn out and not appropriate for the price you pay for this resort. Smoking is also allowed in many areas of the main restaurant (outside) and on the beach, which is a bit less convenient with little ones, especially since the non-smoking area in the main restaurant is always full.
Club Marvy’s design & gardens:
Yes, Club Marvy really does this very well! The architecture and decor of the main building, beaches, restaurants, and pools are stunning! Everywhere you’ll find comfortable, beautiful chairs, beautiful art, and a bright, greenery-filled interior. This creates a wonderful atmosphere, and the interior and exterior blend seamlessly. The gardens and all the greenery surrounding the rooms are also beautiful and well-maintained. The buildings, many of which are built against the rocks and have the same color as the rocks, blend perfectly into the surroundings. Several restaurants offer stunning sea views.
Hotel review Club Marvy: The bad and the ugly
As great as Club Marvy is, there are definitely some things we like to see differently.
The price-quality ratio: mega tip: book Club Marvy with a big discount!
Wow, we certainly felt it in our wallets when we clicked book with Tui*. We’d never spent so much money on a single week’s holiday. And because it was a substantial amount, our expectations regarding service, food, and hotel rooms were quite high. But those expectations weren’t always met. As you read above, there was delicious food in the main restaurant, lovely beaches, Club Marvy is really child-friendly, and there are good sports facilities.
But if we’re being completely honest, we don’t think the price-quality ratio is entirely right. At least not for the price we paid. BUT: if you pay only half that, it’s completely different! And that’s possible!
Huge discount on Club Marvy in Turkey
Yes, you read that right, we have a fantastic tip for booking a Club Marvy holiday in Turkey with a huge discount. We booked through TUI Netherlands (click here for more information about a package holiday to Club Marvy, or click here for the hotel on Booking.com). However, during our holiday, we discovered that if you book through TUI Germany, you pay about half as much as we did. Yes, that difference is truly enormous! You do need to be prepared to depart from Germany (for example, Düsseldorf), you have to pay close attention because everything on the website is in German, and you’ll be sleeping four people in one large room instead of two connecting rooms as we did. But if you don’t mind all that, it saves you thousands of euros.
Had we paid that price, the price-quality ratio would have been perfect for us.
Click here to go directly to the German TUI website about Club Marvy and see if this saves you a lot of money too!
Tip: If you absolutely must fly from the Netherlands, it’s still worth booking through TUI Germany, as you’ll save hundreds of euros. Simply enter “Amsterdam” or “Eindhoven” as your airport.
The service at Club Marvy
First of all, all the staff at Club Marvy were friendly, polite, and kind. However, most people spoke almost no English, which made communication quite difficult when ordering food. There was also a lack of proactivity at times. Nothing major, but just that little bit of extra effort you expect at a five-star resort. Suitcases hadn’t arrived in our room after two hours, rooms were cleaned in a hasty manner, and we had to wait 20 minutes in the restaurant to order drinks, while several waiters happily watched videos on their phones.
What went well: the hotel’s WhatsApp service was excellent. Responses were quick and efficient, and follow-up actions were also swift.
The hotel rooms at Club Marvy
We chose this hotel partly because of the rooms. With a baby and a toddler (and different sleep patterns), our experience is that sleeping four in one room doesn’t lead to rest and enough sleep. Club Marvy was one of the few resorts where we could book a connecting family room without having to pay for two separate rooms. So we chose this family room, so the kids could sleep in one room and we in the other. And when the baby was napping, our toddler could play in our room. It worked out great, and we’re really happy with it.
What we were less satisfied with was the condition of the rooms. Again, this was due to our expectations, given the high price we spent. The rooms were a bit outdated and quite noisy. They were nicely decorated, and the beds were wonderful. However, the shower drain wasn’t draining (and was dirty), the baseboards were broken, and two electrical outlets didn’t work. The two rooms weren’t very spacious either, and there was a significant lack of hanging space. Minor issues, but we expected a little more from a five-star hotel.
The food in the à la carte restaurants at Club Marvy
While the food in the buffet restaurant was high quality, the à la carte restaurants were a bit disappointing. And that’s a shame, because dining in the à la carte restaurants is much more enjoyable because the seating is more intimate, everyone gets their food at the same time, and there aren’t people constantly milling around the buffets. The dishes were often pre-made (which you can taste) and simply not that good.
Disclaimer: We didn’t try all the restaurants because some were adults-only. There were also two restaurants that charged an additional fee. Well, as typical Dutch people, we didn’t bother 😉.
Conclusion: How did we like Club Marvy and this all-inclusive holiday?
We had a truly fantastic holiday. We never expected it, but at this point in our lives, we really enjoyed this all-inclusive holiday! The four of us had a wonderful time, ate well, rested, cuddled lots, and built beautiful sandcastles. Club Marvy is a very nice place with friendly staff and lovely other travellers. And also important, we didn’t see anyone drinking pints of beer at 10 a.m. (which is a bit of a stigma associated with an all-inclusive). We can definitely recommend Club Marvy, especially if you’re not paying top dollar, so you get good value for money.
Will we do it again, an all-inclusive holiday? Who knows… Maybe this winter. But we’re definitely looking forward to going on more adventures!
Other child-friendly all-inclusive resorts:
Yes, I spent hours searching for nice, child-friendly resorts within a 6-hour flight. Below is a brief overview of the other options we considered:
Sani Beach in Greece (Halkidiki)
Sani Beach is located on the Halkidiki Peninsula and is part of a group of resorts under the Sani umbrella. Each Sani resort caters to a different demographic, but is adjacent to the others. Most of the restaurants at these resorts are situated on a charming harbour, and you’re welcome at all of them, even if you’re not staying at another Sani resort. The Sani Beach resort is known as the most child-friendly of the various Sani resorts.
You can choose all-inclusive or half-board (breakfast and dinner only). Click here for Sani Beach on the Booking.com website, here for the Tui website in the Netherlands, and here for the Tui website in Germany.
We ultimately decided against Sani Beach because of its location in Halkidiki. This is much farther north than Club Marvy and has less warm weather in early October.
Source: booking.com
Ikos in Greece
Ikos is a well-known chain with beautiful, child-friendly resorts in beautiful locations across Europe. It’s a bit more expensive than the Sani resorts (which are already quite expensive). The most affordable one is also located in Halkidiki (just like the Sani resorts) and looks stunning. There are a total of eight Ikos resorts in six different locations, with locations such as Corfu, Kos, Marbella, Crete, and Mallorca. Ikos is known for its exceptionally luxurious and excellent food. The meals are created by Michelin-starred chefs, and the concept is ultra-inclusive. So, all sorts of special luxury wines are included in the price, as is dining at local restaurants.
Here you can find all the different Ikos locations:
Ikos Kissamos (Kreta):
Click here for this resort on Booking, click here for this resort on the Dutch website of TUI and click here for this resort on the German website of TUI.
Ikos Aria (Kos):
Click here for this resort on Booking and click here for this resort on the German website of TUI.
Ikos Oceania (Halkidiki):
Click herefor this resort on Booking.com, click here for this resort on the Dutch TUI website, and click here for this resort on the German TUI website.
Ikos Andalusia (Marbella):
Click here for this resort on Booking.com, click here for this resort on the Dutch TUI website, and click here for this resort on the German TUI website.
Ikos Dassia (Corfu):
Click herefor this resort on Booking.com, click here for this resort on the Dutch TUI website, and click here for this resort on the German TUI website.
Ikos Odisia (Corfu):
Click here for this resort on Booking and click here for this resort on the German website of TUI.
Ikos Porto Petro (Mallorca):
Click here for this resort on Booking.com, click here for this resort on the Dutch TUI website, and click here for this resort on the German TUI website.
Ikos Olivia (Halkidiki):
Click herefor this resort on Booking.com, click here for this resort on the Dutch TUI website, and click here for this resort on the German TUI website.
Click here for all my blogs about Turkey!
Like this post? Pin it!
Hi Charlotte, loved reading this. Just wondered what the temperature was like of the outdoor pools when you went? Thank you! Roz
Hi Roz,
Oeh I have no idea. For me a bit cold ;-).
Kind regards,
Charlotte