Summer vacations are a great opportunity to create unforgettable memories and enjoy time together as a family. However, traveling with children can present some challenges that should be anticipated in advance to ensure that you all have a wonderful and relaxed experience. But I have realized something over the years, that a good experience for me does not mean that it will be the same for someone else, because the concept of rest is very different for different people. What I want to present through this article are some details from our choice this year, hoping to help families interested in the same concept.
I think that every choice for a vacation has its own peculiarities and absolutely no choice leaves another in the shade because from change, experience lives and collects memories. Someone just enjoys the seashore, wants peace and family choices like Borshi; someone else the noise of Drimadha, someone else the all inclusive concept of not having to wait for the order in restaurants or worrying about how much to pay here or there, etc.
Again this year, as a family of 4, we decided to be guided by 3 principles for choosing our holidays:
- no more than 500 euros per person for one week, so that we can afford other holidays as well
- family concept with facilities for children
– all inclusive concept
We spent 6 nights and 7 days at the Iberostar Bellevue Budva hotel, 4 stars. It is a hotel with large capacities, a chain of hotels located in Greece (Crete); Montenegro (2 in Budva and 1 in Herceg Novi); Portugal (Lisbon and Algarve); and a total of 35 hotels in Spain (in places like Barcelona, Malaga, Tenerife, Majorca, Madrid, Lanzerote, Ibiza, Huelva, Forteventura, Cadiz).
A peculiarity of this chain of hotels is that they are all built with sea views: what could we want more, right?
Well, in fact, in a country like ours where the average salary is around 60 thousand lek, we look for some things in such a way that we can be satisfied and achieve that price-quality ratio.
This year we were torn between the Iberostar and another hotel in Antalya (both of which we had tried before) but chose the proximity, lower price and flexibility of traveling by car versus fixed flight schedules.
On July 7-13, the price for a standard family room (4 people, 2 adults and 2 children 6 and 3 years old) was 1499 euros, with early booking in April. Prices are cheapest in June and most expensive after July 15 until the end of August. Our agencies have agreements with hotels in Montenegro, therefore they have preferential prices compared to individual bookings, so we booked through an agency. Montenegro has an established tourism infrastructure, early experience, experience with concepts such as all inclusive and in recent years, there has been a significant improvement in the quality of food.
To get to this hotel, follow the road to Muriqani Customs and through a GPS device, you are able to choose the less busy route (the difference is through Ulcinj on the coastline or a narrower but paved road that takes you to the town of Bar and then arrives at the resort, through a very panoramic road. It is suggested to respect the road rules as the road is full of speed cameras).
The hotel follows the policy of check in 13.30-15.00 and check out 11:00. If you arrive earlier, you are equipped with the customer's bracelets, leave your luggage at the reception and you can continue to enjoy the hotel's facilities, until the room is ready. We arrived at 11 and the room was ready at 13.00.
What was included in the price at this hotel?
- the room
- unlimited food, drinks, snacks from 7.30 to 23.30
– sunbeds in the resort's 5 swimming pools
– gym
-spa, massages
- camp for children 3-14 years old
- festive nights / shows after 20.30
What was not included in the price?
– the alla carté restaurant
– white/red wine
– some of the massages/sauna
- beach chairs (prices start from 12 euros, managed by local authorities)
What did I notice this year?
- The presence of more Albanians than in previous years.
– Exceptional service, polite, educated, multilingual, ready to help you
- Frequent checks by superiors on cleanliness in the hotel, orderliness in outdoor areas, in the kitchen
– Good food quality. Lots of variety. More seafood than other years. Fresh. Self service.
- Cleanliness in the room 10/10, daily change of sheets and towels.
– Dedication and professionalism from Kids Club staff.
- On one day of the week, they organized Montenegrin Night, an initiative supported by the local authorities to promote the country's culture among foreign tourists, not few in number.
Facility: You were allowed to take snacks/coffee/water in the room without any problem (we were once in a hotel that didn't even allow you to take water). The room has a refrigerator. Depending on the standard, the view of the balcony, the quality of the room and the size of the bathroom vary.
I did not like it: The price of beach umbrellas was not included; pool towels were taken on the first day and delivered on the last day (dry them on the chaise longue or the balcony of the room. It's not hygienic, they should be washed every day in my opinion, so every day the customer gets new ones)
I liked: Security. Extraordinary. Not a single hairpin was missed, very dedicated staff. The children's camp is an opportunity for us parents to enjoy the peace with each other for at least 2 hours.
Would we go back there? The children shout in unison POOO. me? I still don't know. Maybe after a few years, I will give way to new adventures.