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You are here: Home / ADVENTURE / REVIEW: Our Mark Warner Holiday to Perdepera, Sardina

REVIEW: Our Mark Warner Holiday to Perdepera, Sardina

September 11, 2019 by Molly Leave a Comment

The Mark Warner Perdepera resort in Sardinia sits nestled between a white sandy beach and lush green mountains, and when we woke up on our first morning in the resort we thought we’d been transported into an actual postcard. (SPOILER – we would return in a heartbeat.)

We went in the last week of the summer holidays, after a summer that included a back injury, a fairly soggy UK camping trip and countless cancelled family days out (due to said back injury). So when we got on the plane it’s fair to say we were all more than ready for a week of sunshine.

Getting there

We flew from Heathrow T5 to Cagliari airport in Sardinia. From there, it took just over an hour and a half to get to Perdepera by coach. The plane journey itself was excitement for the kids (who are used to travelling to France by ferry most summers), and this was made even more exciting by being invited into the cockpit. Freya got to sit in the pilot’s seat and wear his hat, and I may have cried.

The resort

Perdepera is set on the south-eastern edge of Sardinia, Italy’s second largest island (after Corsica). It’s a fairly small resort, set in a rural location, so it has a really laid-back vibe. This is helped by the fact the accommodation is arranged in small “cottages” rather than a big imposing building. As such, it feels more like a village than a large hotel, which somehow made it feel more family-friendly.

The resort’s flower game is strong, with an Instagram-ready angle pretty much everywhere you look. And if you look closely enough you’ll see a multitude of wildlife including the cutest little geckos which the girls were obsessed with.

Mark Warner share the resort with an Italian tour operator, so there’s a mixture of Italian and English holidaymakers there, but it never felt too busy – probably because there are three pools to choose from, as well as the beach.

Watch our Day in the Life video filmed at Perdepera…

Kids’ clubs

One of the biggest draws of a Mark Warner holiday is the high quality childcare, which is something I’d been told about from countless friends who’ve holidayed at some of the company’s other resorts. As newbies to this type of holiday (we’re used to staying in self-catering houses or camping in France), we weren’t prepared for quite how huge the kids’ club aspect of the holiday would be. But it didn’t take us long to find out.

On the first day Freya told us she didn’t want to do “boring kids’ club” because it would be “just like school”. Within twenty minutes of dropping her off I could see her running around having fun with a new group of friends and when it was time to pick her up she was already asking to go back. Effie – the more outgoing of my two girls – was pretty much ready to book herself into kids’ club as soon as we got there, and was furious when I suggested one morning that she might want to give it a miss and hang out with me at the beach instead.

I mean, I can’t blame her really when you consider the kinds of activities she was doing…

They did windsurfing, sailing, kayaking, pool games, arts and crafts, bug hunts, tennis… the list is endless. The sessions were split into three parts, with the activities for the following day written on the board by the respective club the night before (the groups are split into age category, and then again into smaller groups depending on how many kids there are). This means children can dip in and out if they don’t want to do the entire morning or afternoon session, and parents will always know exactly where on the resort their kids are.

We quickly slipped into a relaxed routine of having a family breakfast together, before dropping the girls off at kids’ club for the morning. Si and I would then spend a few hours doing our own thing, before collecting them for lunch. We’d then spend the afternoon together as a family at the beach or pool (or both), before the girls had a “high tea” at 5.30pm in the restaurant. This was a meal available to all Mark Warner guests under the age of ten and meant they didn’t have to wait until 7.30pm for their evening meal (we eat early in the UK compared to families on the continent!). We’d then go back to the room for showers, and the girls would get into their pyjamas, before going off to “Movie Night” at their respective club in the evening.

This routine meant Si and I had loads of opportunities to spend time together as a couple (we spent more time alone together that week than we have done in eight years married!), and also just on our own. I didn’t realise how much I’d been craving this space to just unwind and spend some time not being needed by anyone, until I really started to properly relax on the second day after we arrived. My cup had been dangerously close to empty and I hadn’t even known.

The evening childcare offering is until 10.30pm, and Effie would often fall asleep while watching her film, before being tucked up into a cute little camp bed by the Mark Warner staff (the first time I saw all the little ones fast asleep in their mini beds my heart properly melted). The older ones will watch a film and play games – and the teenager club will often do games on the beach in the evening. One evening we picked Freya up early because she wanted to see what she was missing, but she asked to go back because it was more fun at kids’ club!

During the week I spoke to a few other holidaymakers who told me the childcare had been a huge part of the reason they’d booked with Mark Warner. One couple told me they’d been with another tour operator the previous year but the kids’ club didn’t have the range of activities and it all felt a bit less organised than the Mark Warner childcare. I also spoke to single parents who said the kids’ clubs gave them an opportunity to switch off in a way they couldn’t have done on a different type of holiday.

Activities

Another huge draw for Mark Warner guests is the wide range of activities on offer. You can be as active as you want, with sailing, paddleboarding, windsurfing, kayaking, scuba diving and cycling all on offer. Or, if you prefer, you can just lie on the beach or by the pool with a good book.

There are lots of opportunities to get lessons, or you can hire out the equipment on your own. Again, the bonus of the childcare offering is that you can do activities on your own, as a couple, or with the kids too. Si loves cycling so one morning we went together and on another morning he went alone. If we’d had been there another week then he’d probably have joined one of the organised bike tours too.

The Food

This is the first all-inclusive holiday we’ve been on as a family, and I wasn’t sure if the food aspect would work for us. I really enjoy cooking – especially on holiday – and I didn’t know how I’d feel about losing the independence of self-catering, and eating at particular times every day. This turned out to be a pointless worry, because the food was brilliant and I quickly relaxed into not having to think about supermarket trips and menu planning.

Three meals a day are included in the cost of the holiday – breakfast, lunch and dinner. All of these meals are buffet, help-yourself style, and are served in the main restaurant by the pool. At Perdepera, there’s also the option of eating at the beach bar, but only some of the things on the menu are included in the cost and if you want an evening meal there then you have to pay. We chose to do this for our anniversary meal – the first anniversary we’ve celebrated alone together, in a restaurant, in eight years!

At the main restaurant, there’s an offer of pasta, pizza, salads, cooked meats, fresh vegetables, fruit and puddings. And you get wine included with your lunch and evening meal too. I got into the habit of having my evening meal Italian style, over four courses, which I must say I’m very much here for and would happily eat like that every day of my life.

There’s no snack bar at the resort, so there’s no option to eat outside of the main meal times. The only person this really affected in our family was Effie, who’s a real snack enthusiast and would happily ditch her main meals in favour of hourly snacks throughout the day. You can buy crisps and ice-cream from the bar by the pool though, which is what we did.

The accommodation

We stayed in one of the resort’s older cottages, as I wanted to be in the same room as the children. This meant we had a family room, which consisted of a kitchenette area, a bathroom, two single beds downstairs, and a mezzanine level with a double bed upstairs. There was also an outside patio area with a table and chairs and a clothes airer.

(I’m still convinced the bed here had magical properties because I arrived on crutches, still in a lot of pain from a prolapsed disc in my lower back which I did at the start of summer, and I left able to kayak, swim, run and cycle with no crutches in sight!)

Final thoughts

This was a really special week for us, and it’s made us rethink how we do holidays in the future. The catered aspect of the holiday, the childcare, and all the activities on holiday were huge pluses that we’ve never really considered before, and we’d definitely do this type of holiday again. I’d love to return to Perdepera one day and spend a bit more time exploring the area. We went out of the resort on our bikes and ventured to a nearby beach, but I think if we went again we’d hire a car and try to see a bit more of the island.

The girls absolutely loved just playing in the pool and on the beach, and they were very happy to forego any sightseeing opportunities. And as all parents know, if the kids are happy then we’re happy.

For a week, I was completely content to relax at the resort, and there was so much to do things never got boring. The beach is stunningly beautiful – all white sand and crystal clear waters – and is up there with one of the most picturesque beaches I’ve ever been to (it rivals the ones I’ve visited in the past in the Caribbean and Thailand too). We had gorgeous weather for the most part – hot sunshine and blue skies with the odd thunder storm thrown in for good measure. Sardinia’s known for it’s “six month summer”, so it’s a great island to visit out of high season because the sea is warm enough to swim in from May to October.

The only thing I’d change about the holiday? I’d leave that blasted flying unicorn (Pegasus?) behind because it took FOREVER to blow up…!

Thank you Mark Warner for a fantastic week – we can’t recommend it enough and will definitely be back.

***

DISCLOSURE: Our flights and all-inclusive accommodation were provided in return for us creating content and sharing our experiences of the holiday. All footage, images, words and opinions remain my own.

Filed Under: ADVENTURE Tagged With: Family holidays, family travel, Mark Warner, Mark Warner holiday, Perdepera, Sardinia

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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Hello. How are you? . I’ve noticed something th Hello. How are you? 
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I’ve noticed something this lockdown that feels different to first time... the sense of people being more disconnected than ever, more divided, more isolated. 
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Maybe it’s because we’re all on our last nerve now - the loss, sacrifice and stress is amplified that bit more. 
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And we’re so deep in it, often confined in our thoughts at home, our only connection with the outside world via a screen, that it becomes harder to appreciate our differences in circumstances. 
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We forget that we are all just humans muddling through a global pandemic, trying to come out of it alive, with our minds intact and hopefully our jobs too. 
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We’re angry, sad, frustrated, scared. And in the absence of those regular social connections we need a place to direct those feelings. The social media platforms and comments sections on news sites have never been so busy. 
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Except it’s not just faceless people on the internet that we’re upset with anymore. It’s our neighbours, family and friends. 
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Dr Vivek Murthy wrote about the importance of social connections and community in his book Together, pointing out that loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. 
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We are sociable creatures. We need community not just to thrive but to survive. 
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So check in with your friends today. Maybe even send them a voice note. Don’t assume you know how they’re doing based on their latest Facebook post. We need to get through this together, not apart ❤️
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[Image description: Molly is looking at the camera, smiling in a tired, resigned sort of way. She’s outside and is wearing a fantastic hat that her husband says looks like a tea cosy.]
✨Art from @emilycoxhead gorgeous book You Are In ✨Art from @emilycoxhead gorgeous book You Are Incredible Just As You Are✨
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A reminder that loving every bit of ourselves isn’t just about embracing all the parts on the outside, but also about accepting - and maybe even celebrating - the bits on the inside too. 
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I’ll go first: I am a worrier and have a tendency to think deeply on things. If we’ve ever had a disagreement - be it an exchange on Twitter in 2018 or a row in the playground in 1992 you bet I’ve stored that away in my brain ready to ruminate on in the depths of a night when I can’t sleep. 
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But in the spirit of loving every bit of ourselves I say that rather than looking at these parts of ourselves as “flaws”, we choose instead to view them with loving kindness and a heavy dose of self-compassion. 
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I worry because I am sensitive, and I care. This sometimes means I’m more vulnerable to allowing others’ opinions of me have too much power... but it also means I feel remorse when I make mistakes and try my very best to learn from them. 
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And this also means I work hard in everything I do because I genuinely care about doing a good job. Meanwhile, my tendency to think deeply on stuff means I’m able to see the nuance in things and appreciate other perspectives, because as I grasp for an answer I often find two things can be true at the same time. 
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These are not traits I would view as “pathetic” or “needy” or “indecisive” in my kids and I would never tell them to “just get over it”, so I’m trying to remember this for myself too.
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Tell me, what parts of the inner you are you working on learning to love? 
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[Image description: A double page spread from Emily Coxhead’s book You Are Incredible. It’s a yellow page with a red heart and white writing which reads “Here’s to loving every bit of you.”]
Let’s talk joyful movement and.... PRIVILEGE! A Let’s talk joyful movement and.... PRIVILEGE! A nice juicy subject for a Thursday evening 😅
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I absolutely love to see the narrative shift (albeit ever so slightly) to the intrinsic benefits of movement. The focus on intuitive movement and moving our bodies for how it makes us FEEL over how it makes us LOOK brings me huge happiness. 
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BUT... even when we take movement away from a diet culture context, I still think there’s often a lack of acknowledgment of the many barriers preventing people engaging in movement in the first place (hot tip: it’s not “just cos they’re lazy” 🙄). 
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When it comes to my own family - here are some of the privileges we live with which make movement easier for us: 
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✨ We live in an area with access to lots of safe green spaces to play and walk.
✨ We can afford to pay for a gym membership, and extra curricular activities for the kids like gymnastics, Street Dance and swimming.
✨ We have access to the technology needed to take part in online classes over lockdown.
✨ We are non-disabled so experience no physical access issues preventing us from joining in with these activities. 
✨ Our work schedule allows us to get out together during daylight hours. 
✨ None of us lives with a mental health condition which might make getting outside / engaging in movement really hard or even impossible.
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Kids access to movement is not equal so if we really care about encouraging more children to move then, as a nation, we need to level the playing field (pun intended). 
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Some accounts which often discuss movement and privilege: @thephitcoach @amysnellingpt @theaishanash ❤️
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[Image description: Molly and her two daughters standing on top of a hill smiling, with their arms in the air.]
It’s pretty well accepted that certain “fad di It’s pretty well accepted that certain “fad diets” are not the one. But if our definition of diet culture stops there, and we fail to see how diet culture IS fatphobic in its very nature - and that it absolutely depends on a collective cultural fear and vilification of fatness then we’ll never get anywhere with tearing it down.
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Dressing up fatphobia as “health concern”, or “tough love” or “helping people” is just a fluffy way of saying you don’t acknowledge the huge complexity around health, or the many factors that impact weight, or the research showing the harmful (and unhealthy) impact of weight stigma, or the evidence into the long term effectiveness of diets and intentional weight loss. 
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And essentially, those who assert that health only looks one way, and that people have a moral responsibility to prove their health via the shape of their body and not be a “drain on society”, are saying that only people with their version of a “healthy body” are worthy of respect, equality, dignity.
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Children pick up on these messages and learn from an early age that “fat = bad”, and to see some bodies as better, and more deserving of love and respect than others. This could be why we’re seeing a rising number of pre-teens with eating disorders and mental health issues associated with poor body image. 
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Yes we need to lose the fad diets. But we also need to lose the deeper prejudices and anti-fat biases that make them profitable in the first place, otherwise they’ll just continue to show up in different ways, coming in ever more aggressive and insidious ways for our kids.
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(Image description: A yellow slide with multicolour shapes and a screenshot of a tweet overlaid which reads “FYI you can’t be simultaneously anti-diet culture and pro fatphobia. (And yes, fatphobia includes continuously asking “But what about health?” and not listening to the answer...)
You might have missed this in the news over Christ You might have missed this in the news over Christmas. It didn’t get nearly the same amount of coverage as all the diet-related features that are everywhere right now. It was hidden away behind the before and after “amazing weight loss” stories, celeb diet plans and “o*esity causes covid” headlines. But that doesn’t make it any less shocking or heartbreaking. 
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I believe there’s a link between the rise in children being diagnosed with eating disorders and the rise in children suffering poor body image. These issues are fallout from a culture that idolises thinness, vilifies fatness and continually promotes one, narrow, over-simplified version of health. 
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Diet culture is coming increasingly aggressively for children, and the pandemic with the huge mental health toll it’s taken has not helped one bit. We already knew the number of pre-teens diagnosed with anorexia in the last decade had doubled, and it seems the figures are rising even higher. We need change. Fast. 
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Check out the Body Happy Kids resources, workshops and Masterclass and the #FreeFromDiets campaign in my bio, if you want to help change the culture our kids are growing up in. They deserve better.
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[Image description: a section from a news article about rising numbers of children suffering with eating disorders. Full text can be found in Alt Text.]
I’ve been looking a lot at old photos lately. Th I’ve been looking a lot at old photos lately. This pic is from summer 2018, when I could hug my mum and travel abroad on holiday. If I close my eyes I can almost feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, smell the salty sea air and hear the laughter of other families playing on the beach. Holding on to these memories and the hope that the hugs, sunshine and bikinis will come again one day. In the meantime it’s video calls, trackie bottoms and WhatsApp. ❄️☀️ 
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[Image description: Molly and her mum standing on a beach in France, in 2018. They are both wearing brightly coloured bikinis, hugging and smiling. It’s a hot sunny day and the sky is blue.]
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