Exhausted parents long for real holiday...

We've heard rumours that there are places you can go where they look after your kids while you laze around the pool. Is it true?
We have adorable but bonkers 14 month son. When we were childless we used to read books and laze on beaches. We have camper van and still go on lots of holidays, but come back exhausted from camping nightmares in rainly English seaside towns!
Can you help? Have you been on a holiday where your one-year old was looked after for part of the day/night? Please share your secrets with us, we are knackered! :-)

Many hotels offer baby-sitting service in popular tourist areas. While in Kaikora, New Zealand, the travel agent set us up in one so we could go on a whale watching cruise for a few hours.

We're also staying at the Holiday Beach Resort in Curacao in the Carribean in December which has baby sitting service, so we can go snorkling for a bit.

I know many other hotels/resorts around the world offer the services as well.

We never leave our children for more than a few hours, and always check the place out visually and verbally that they will be staying before leaving them. Only the mid-range and expensive hotels seem to offer the services, so don't expect a budget hotel to have such a service.

Perhaps club med???

Therre are quite a few resorts in Australia that have "kids clubs" or professional childcare / activities. Bit far from England though.

Therre are quite a few resorts in Australia that have "kids clubs" or professional childcare / activities. Bit far from England though.

For younger kids, it can be quite pricey- I paid $50 an hour for babysitting at one hotel. I decided it was less expensive to take a babysitter with us. She had a marvelous time, and I could sit an read whenever I wanted. And we could disappear for adult dinners too. Feeling that our kids were safe with someone who knew them. So you might consider that as an alternative to pricey hotel services.

Here's some places which cater for kids.

Mercure, Surfers Paradise

Broadwaters Beach Resort, Busselton, Western Australia

Pacific Bay resort, Coffs Harbour

Nautilus Resort, Coffs Harbour

Fiji resorts also have an excellent reputation.

Here's some suggestions

Vanuatu is another good location.

Here's some general stuff about Australia and the Pacific and kids

Exhausted Dutch families can go to kidsworld, all-inclusive holiday parks, with children's animation. But i don't think the accomodations are totally Dutch, so have a look at their site. Surely these accomodations are child&parent friendly.

can confirm that at least more expensive hotels in tourist areas do provide this service. i hired a babysitter through the ritz carlton in puerto rico and she was fabulous. my son spent full days with her while i was in meetings and also some evenings. i don't remember the cost but definitely didn't pay anything like $50/hour.

am now thinking of alternatives for a longer trip to mexico. i'm considering taking one of my nieces along on the theory that it would be fun for her to go, and it would be easier for my son to be left with a strange babysitter (this time likely only for a couple hours a couple of times during the trip) if his 8 year old cousin was there too. just a thought.

Several of my colleagues swear by Mark Warner holidays. It costs top whack, but your kids are farmed out to english-speaking clubs all day. Just as if you never had them.